How to Use Ring's Control Center for Better Privacy and Security

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is mandatory for all Ring users. That means anytime you attempt to access the Ring app, you’ll be prompted to enter a randomly generated secondary passcode, which can be sent to your phone via an SMS text message or authenticator app. You’ll need to input a new secondary passcode from your phone or authenticator app each time you log in to your account.

From the Account Verification page in the Control Center, you can change whether 2FA secondary codes are sent via text message or an authenticator app. It’s a good idea to make sure Ring is using the method you prefer and not sending the codes to a phone number or an app you no longer use.

You can also use this page to generate a verification code for Ring Customer Support, which allows Ring to temporarily access your account information if you have a technical problem.

An authorized client device is any smartphone, tablet, or computer that has the Ring app installed and logged in to your account. If, say, you check your Ring cameras on an iPad, a work laptop, and a smartphone, they will all appear on this list.

If you see any devices on the list that you don’t recognize, or even old devices that you no longer use, revoke their access. A device you don’t recognize could belong to a hacker, while old devices—which can be stolen or hacked themselves—could be used to access your cameras.

You can revoke devices individually by tapping the red trash can icon next to them, or remove them all and start fresh by tapping the red Remove All Devices button. Keep in mind that if you go for the nuclear option, you’ll need to log back in to the Ring app on the devices you want to keep.

If a bad actor is using your account, this step will kick them out and ensure that they can’t log back on, thanks to two-factor authentication. Of course, if you think your account has been compromised, you should also change your password, which you can do from the Control Center’s Account Management page.

Linked accounts are for third-party smart home devices and services that connect to Ring products, such as a Schlage Encode smart lock or Samsung SmartThings smart home hub. This setting lets you view the third-party accounts that are linked to your Ring account. If you see any that you don’t recognize, or even old accounts that you no longer use, revoke their access by tapping the red trash can icon. It’s a good idea to remove old linked accounts because if they’re ever hacked, people could potentially view your live camera feeds without actually breaking into your Ring account.

A shared user account is an account you create for family members and friends so that they can access your Ring devices. These accounts are a much more secure alternative to handing out your own username and password. This setting lets you see and remove all of your shared users. To see the list of shared users, tap Manage next to your home address in the Shared Users menu. If you see people you don’t recognize or those who should no longer have access to your devices, revoke their access by tapping on their email address and then the red trash can icon that appears next to it.

Ring lets you store your video recordings online through its Ring Protect subscription service ($4 per month for one camera or $10 per month for unlimited cameras). By default, your videos are stored for 180 days, but you can opt for shorter time frames. (All videos are encrypted, but the longer they stay online, the longer they could technically be vulnerable to a hacker.)

The company allows you to shorten the storage time to 120 days, 90 days, 60 days, 30 days, 21 days, 14 days, seven days, three days, or one day. To do so, tap Video Storage Time, followed by Edit next to your camera(s). Then select a new storage length and tap Save Changes.

You can also manage whom you share your videos with. By selecting Shared Video Management, you can view all of your shared videos. It’s a good idea to review them to see whether there are any videos that you no longer want people to be able to view, and unshare them. This will prevent anyone who received the videos from being able to view them again.

Ring automatically encrypts your videos, but for a higher level of security, the company recently started rolling out end-to-end encryption for select Ring cameras. End-to-end encryption makes it so that only your personal smartphones and tablets that you enroll in the feature can access your videos. Hackers won’t be able to view your videos (without physically getting your devices) and neither will Ring or Amazon. The only downside is that end-to-end encryption disables a number of other Ring features, including shared user accounts and Amazon Alexa voice control.

The relatively new feature works only with certain models of Ring cameras and doorbells. You can check to see whether it’s available to you by tapping Video Encryption, then Advanced Video Encryption, and finally End-to-End Encryption. For more information on the security feature and compatible Ring cameras, see our article on Ring end-to-end encryption.

One of the many features of Neighbors by Ring (and one of the most controversial) is the ability for Ring’s partner law enforcement agencies to create Request for Assistance posts on the network asking users to share video that might be relevant to their investigations.

The Public Safety page of the Control Center allows you to opt out of receiving notifications about these posts. In the past, law enforcement agencies could have Ring personally send you email requesting footage, but Ring removed that functionality in favor of the more public Request for Assistance posts.

“It’s up to you whether you want to share video footage with the police,” says Justin Brookman, director of technology policy at Consumer Reports. “Just keep in mind you won’t have any control over how long they retain the data or what they do with it.”

Ring states that local police can’t view live video feeds or control Ring devices. It also says that the only video the police can see is video that consumers either post on the Ring Neighbors network, which is built into the Ring app and available as a standalone app, or share with law enforcement via Request for Assistance posts. You can find out more about how Ring works with law enforcement on Ring’s FAQ page.

With Amazon Sidewalk, the company is aiming to use select Ring cameras (and Amazon smart speakers) to form a kind of continuous wireless network so that Sidewalk-compatible devices are never out of reach of an internet connection.

That may sound pretty cool—Amazon points to the example of how Sidewalk could help find a lost pet wearing a tracker across town through the network. But do you want Amazon and other people’s devices to be able to tap into the internet connection you pay for, even if the usage is negligible? You might even be automatically signed up for Amazon Sidewalk with your Ring camera. But it’s easy to opt out.

Just select Amazon Sidewalk from the Control Center, followed by the Sidewalk toggle button and the Disable button. For more information on Amazon Sidewalk, see our article about the pros and cons of the Sidewalk network.

In early 2020 it was discovered that Ring was sharing user data with a number of third-party tracking services. In response, the company added the ability to opt out of third-party tracking (this is different from the third-party devices mentioned above) to Ring Control Center. You can do so by tapping on Third Party Service Providers toward the bottom of the Control Center menu. From there, toggle off Web and App Analytics, as well as Personalized Advertising. Each toggle button will prompt you to confirm your choice, which you can do by tapping the blue Opt out button.