Today, Amazon announced that it’ll officially begin rolling out end-to-end encryption for a selection of its Ring devices. With several of its more recent or high-end video doorbells, as well as indoor and outdoor cameras eligible at launch, this marks the latest attempt for Amazon to bring added privacy and security to its devices. Head below for all of the details.
Amazon begins Ring end-to-end encryption rollout
Amazon’s ownership of Ring has long been a sore spot for smart home owners looking to outfit their setups with one of its popular video doorbells or other security gear. Today, Amazon is looking to address that with yet another feature geared towards the increasingly larger crowd of privacy-conscious shoppers.
The feature was originally slated to be released before the end of 2020, but after seeing some delays, it is finally rolling out as part of a technical preview. We’ve seen Amazon make some strides towards helping with peace of mind in the past with its Privacy Zones feature; today’s announcement goes notably further.
Obviously one of the big questions is whether or not your existing device will be supported, and be Amazon’s firsthand account, it looks like most of its more popular models will be receiving the feature. As of now, there will be eight devices at launch compatible with the added end-to-end encryption spanning its lineup of indoor and outdoor cameras, as well as video doorbells.
Most of its more recent additions have been confirmed to support the feature, but surprisingly, its recent Video Doorbell 3 and 3 Plus will be missing out. There’s no telling if that’ll change once Amazon moves its Ring end-to-end encryption from technical preview to official release, but hopefully, we’ll see its latest releases clued in, as well.
Here are the devices officially supported at launch:
- Video Doorbell Pro
- Video Doorbell Elite
- Floodlight Cam
- Spotlight Cam Wired
- Spotlight Cam Battery
- Stick Up Cam Plug-In
- Stick Up Cam Elite
- Indoor Cam
But because we’re talking about Amazon here, its Ring devices won’t be enabling end-to-end encryption by default. Once it rolls out, you’ll have to go into a camera’s settings in order to opt-in for the feature. It would have been nice to see them replace the existing one-sided encryption that’s automatically enabled with the more robust privacy policy here, but this is a start, as least.
Electronicsforward’ Take:
With the privacy-invasive hole that Amazon has dug themselves into over the past few years, it’s going to take more than a single announcement to change the tune of their overall stance on the matter. But if there was going to be a single feature added to bring some actual peace of mind to its Ring lineup, end-to-end encryption would have to be it. So hopefully, this is the first of many policies that begin to put privacy at the forefront of Amazon’s smart home security efforts.
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