While the company has told SecurityInfoWatch it will not have any product announcements at CES, Ring on Wednesday launched end-to-end encryption for compatible Ring doorbells and cams as an opt-in security feature for customers who want to add an additional layer of security. The feature began rolling out to customers Wednesday as a technical preview, and Ring is soliciting feedback from its customers on their experience with the new feature.
“With the launch of video End-to-End Encryption, I'm proud to continue delivering on our commitment to offering privacy and security features that keep customer control front and center," Leila Rouhi, President of Ring, said in a press release. "We will continue to innovate and invest in features that empower our neighbors with the ability to easily view, understand, and manage how their videos and information stay secure with Ring.”
By default, Ring already encrypts videos when they are uploaded to the cloud (in transit) and stored on Ring’s servers (at rest). With end-to-end encryption, customer videos are further secured with an additional lock, which can only be unlocked by a key that is stored on the customer’s enrolled mobile device – designed so that only the customer can decrypt and view recordings on their enrolled device. Customers can easily enable and turn off the encryption on compatible Ring devices from the Ring App.
In the last year, Ring rolled out a mandatory second layer of verification for all Ring account logins, launched the Control Center dashboard in the Ring App where customers can manage important privacy and security settings, provided customers with more control over video sharing links, and rolled out adjustable video storage times so that users can control the amount of time their videos are stored in the cloud.
“I believe Ring’s launch of End-to-End Encryption underscores the company’s commitment to safeguarding customer videos,” Patrick Moorhead, Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said in the release. “We know home security customers are eager to implement further safeguards on their videos.”
