The announcement comes a few days late, as the Amazon company said in September that E2E would arrive by the end of 2020. Currently, Ring encrypts the content when it is loaded or stored on its cloud servers. Once activated, data and videos will be encrypted in all parts of the chain and can only be viewed by the user. Ring also enabled users to determine how long their videos were stored online before deleting them.
The addition of end-to-end coding to its platform will hopefully divert criticism that Ring has played fast and loose with its customer safety. For the past two years, advocacy bodies and security groups have said that the Ring app for Android is third-party trackers. Other high-profile burglary attempts, in which malicious individuals gained access to doorbells, forced the company to double security. And until 2020, the company focused on regaining user trust.
It comes at a time when a number of internet-of-things devices have been exposed as less secure, with video bells being singled out for attention. After all, it is an important tool for many homeowners to greet (and screen) visitors, as well as to monitor activities on their doorstep. Two months ago, British consumer body Which? look at a number of doorbells from outside the brand and find all dangerously insecure.
Ring’s announcement will hopefully encourage other manufacturers to take the safety and privacy of their users more seriously. Although many questions still need to be asked about the closeness of the company with some law enforcement agencies in the US, and the implications therein.