Do not call end-to-end encryptio addedn (E2EE) to a certain number of smarthome cameras to protect it videos recorded by your Ring devices with an extra layer of security. It still does not make us very excited about ring devices, given all the issues the platform has experience, but it’s a feature worth knowing if you already are use of a Ring the doorbell or camera.
Ring videos are encrypted while uploaded to Ring’s cloud servers, but this new feature secures them with an additional AES 128-bit coding layer that can only be decrypted and viewed on a mobile device enrolled in Ring’s E2EE application. (You can read more about Ring’s E2EE policy in a recently published white paper on the function.)
E2EE can prevent outsiders from intercepting and watching videos while being recorded or sent to your devices; not even Ring will be able to decipher it. However, Ring’s E2EE also disables a handful of end-of-user features, including motion verification and the ability to view live camera feeds on an Amazon Echo Show or Fire TV device. Your recorded videos will be more secure, but you will lose the real-time viewing and cloud-based monitoring features as important as the extra coding layer that E2EE adds.
If you’re cool with the compromises, it’s easy to turn on Ring’s new E2EE, as long as you have the right hardware. E2EE is only available on a handful of devices at launch:
- Video Doorbell Pro
- Video Doorbell Elite
- Floodlight Cam
- Interior
- Spotlight camera wired
- Kollig-nokkering
- Stop Cam Plug-in
- Stick Up Cam Elite
Further support may be added in the future, but for now you will need one of the devices to use E2EE. You also need the latest version of the Ring app any android or iOS device you want to enter. If you meet the requirements, you can enable E2EE in the Ring app:
- Open the Ring app.
- Go to Control Center> Video Encoding> Advanced Settings.
- Choose “Video End-to-End Encryption.”
- Tap the scroll bar to turn on the feature, then tap “Start.”
- Follow the in-app instructions to enroll your account, mobile devices and ring cameras in End-to-End encryption.
- You can deactivate E2EE at any time by pressing Video End-to-End Encrption slider.
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You will be asked to generate a password during setup – do not lose it! It cannot be retrieved and any encrypted videos you have will be lost. You will need to restart with another mobile device to use E2EE again.