Amazon’s Ring has now announced plans to deliver end-to-end encryption for its security product lines. And it’s bringing better user controls along for the ride, via Control Center updates meant to enhance both security and privacy.
Of course, there will be one big caveat to the encryption feature too. Users will need to turn on end-to-end encryption for each individual device they want it enabled for. And it won’t be available for all devices. The company hasn’t detailed exactly which of its devices will be compatible with end-to-end encryption just yet. But it has outlined how that will work.
Once the feature arrives, users will be able to log into the Control Center and enable the feature as described above. Then, Ring will encrypt the directly on the Ring camera in question. And the key to that encryption will be stored only on the user’s signed-in mobile device at the same time.
That will ensure that only devices allowed by the user can decrypt and view stored recordings.
Here’s how Ring user controls are improving security and privacy too
As noted above, the Ring Control Center is getting some significant updates too. And those are arriving today. With the update in place, users can visit a new “Video Encryption” page in the Control Center. That page will walk users through details pertaining to how videos are being protected.
Additionally, Ring users will be able to disable the Neighbors feed. That’s the social network-like feature that provides real-time crime and safety alerts. Ring pulls the alerts themselves, as the branding implies, from a user’s local area and directly from the police. Now, users will be able to turn that off.
For users that are subscribed to a Ring Protect recording plan, users will also be able to adjust how long the videos stay in the cloud. Videos will be deleted once they hit that user-defined limit. The Amazon-owned company hasn’t given any indication as to whether those limits will be completely user-controlled or chosen from Ring-defined options, as of this writing.
When will these features finally arrive?
For the time being, Ring hasn’t provided a clear date for users to expect end-to-end encryption to arrive. But the additional security features — stacking on those released in earlier updates and just in time for other, related announcements — should be going live now. End-to-end encryption itself will arrive, at least according to Ring’s announcement, “later this year.”