How To Get The Most Out Of Ring’s New Privacy Features

Lately, it seems like there’s been a new controversy surrounding Ring’s smart home security products every few days.

This makes us sceptical of Ring’s privacy policies, but we also understand why people continue to buy and use Ring products despite the potential security issues; when Ring products work as intended, they make home security relatively inexpensive and simple. Ring seems to finally be taking steps to correct its recent blunders, and will soon make its privacy controls easier to find with a new Privacy Dashboard that will be added to its Android and iOS apps later this month.

For the most part, the new dashboard will simply be a consolidation of various options and account settings that were already available. However, there will be some new additions as well, including the ability to monitor all the locations where your Ring account is currently signed in. This should theoretically make it easier to catch unwanted account access by outsiders. It’d be even better if Ring also auto-reset your account credentials in instances where login info is compromised, but that feature remains on our Ring security wishlist for now.

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The Verge also reports that the new dashboard will make it easier for users to opt into or out of two-factor authentication (2FA) for account sign-ins. Text message-based 2FA has been available for all Ring users for a while, and new users will now be asked to opt-out rather than opt-in when they create their account. Ring plans to add other 2FA options in the future—which is good news since text-based 2FA isn’t actually that secure. Other privacy features will also be added to the dashboard in the future.

Ring users can look forward to the new dashboard in an update slated for later this month. You’ll likely be notified by the app once the privacy dashboard has been added, but you can always check for new features for the Ring app. Just tap the three-line “hamburger” icon to open the side menu, then tap “New Features.” 

However, you don’t need to wait for the new update to tighten up your Ring account’s security. You should update your password, add secondary users with unique passwords, and turn on 2FA for each of those accounts right now. Not only will these help secure your Ring account and devices, but it’ll also give you a head start once the Privacy Dashboard is available.