Newsletter
Ring has been in the news a few times for giving out video recordings to law enforcement, and reports of employees being able to watch video recordings at will. While Ring has denied it (as expected), those reports are still out and on the internet. So to kind of combat that, Ring has decided to add end-to-end encryption to its products. It was previously only available on a few of the “pro” doorbells. But now it is available on most of its current products.
End-to-end Encryption, also known as E2EE, encrypts the data from every aspect. Without this enabled, Ring does encrypt your videos when they are in the cloud. So they aren’t just out there for everyone to see. Ring doesn’t enable E2EE by default because it will turn off a lot of features, that make Ring better than the competition.
So here, we’re going to tell you what you need to know about its E2EE process, like the features you’ll lose. What devices are supported and finally how to turn it on.
What you need to know about Ring’s end-to-end encryption
Given recent news about Ring and how it hands over video recordings to law enforcement, many are likely happy to see end-to-end encryption or E2EE available on their devices. But there are some things you need to know before you enable this feature.
Firstly, there are a lot of features that will not work with end-to-end encryption enabled on Ring cameras and doorbells:
- Shared Users will not be able to view your videos.
- You will not be able to view encrypted videos on Ring.com, the Windows desktop app or the Mac desktop app.
- You will not be able to use Live View from multiple mobile devices simultaneously.
- You will not be able to see camera previews on the Dashboard.
- You will not be able to share videos or links.
- You will not be able to use the Event Timeline.
- You will not be able to see Rich Event Notifications.
- You will not be able to watch Ring videos on Amazon Echo Show, FireTV, or FireTablet.
- You will not be able to watch encrypted videos on third-party devices.
- You will not be able to use Alexa Greetings.
- You will not be able to use Quick Replies.
- You will not be able to use Bird’s Eye View.
- You will not be able to use Virtual Security Guard.
The good thing is, you can easily unenroll in end-to-end encryption and get these features back. But a lot of these features are reasons for people buying Ring products. So it’s good idea to know about this ahead of time.
What Ring products are eligible for E2EE?
Ring recently expanded the compatibility of its end-to-end encryption to more doorbells and cameras. It’s basically available for every doorbell that does not use (only) existing wiring. Like the cheap video doorbell. But here’s the full list of compatibility:
- Ring Video Doorbell Pro
- Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2
- Ring Video Doorbell Elite
- Ring Spotlight Cam Wired
- Ring Spotlight Cam Mount
- Stick Up Cam Elite (2nd Gen)
- Stick Up Cam Wired (2nd Gen)
- Stick Up Cam Plug-in (3rd Gen)
- Stick Up Cam Wired (3rd Gen)
- Stick Up Cam Solar (3rd Gen)
- Indoor Cam
- Ring Floodlight Cam (1st Gen)
- Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro
That’s the majority of Ring’s currently offered cameras and doorbells. So you can set up end-to-end encryption on these and keep things private.
How to enable End-to-end Encryption (E2EE) on Ring Video Doorbells & cameras
To get started, you’ll want to open up the Ring app, and make sure you are on the latest version.
Next, head over to the Control Center in the Ring app.
From there, tap on Video Encryption.
Next, tap on Advanced Settings.
Then tap on Video End-to-End Encryption.
Now you are in the Video Encryption setup. So you need to tap on Enable end-to-end encryption.
You’ll be directed to create a new passphrase.
The next step is going to be enroll mobile devices. So tap on Resume Setup and follow the instructions.
Now, you’ll need to Enroll Ring Devices. So tap on Resume Setup again and follow the in-app instructions to add each Ring product.
Finally, you can test your device. Once you have E2EE set up, push the front button on your doorbell or trigger motion on the camera to test. This will then initialize your Ring device for Video E2EE.