Modern technology comes with a lot of interesting possibilities and one of them is the Ring Video Doorbell which is one of the most popular on the market. It’s powerful home security that can help monitor whatever is going on at your doorstep.

Recently, it’s said that privacy groups have raised concerns about Ring, the manufacturer of the video doorbell’s privacy policies when it comes to sharing video with law enforcement agencies.

That said, Ring Video Doorbell owners can optionally decide whether or not they want to agree to requests by police through the Ring app even though there was a report that showed that Ring gave a video to law enforcement without a court order and the company notifying the owners.

That said, many have started wondering how to get comfortable with their Ring video doorbell again considering the privacy allegations the company had. There’s a way to easily turn on end-to-end encryption in the Ring app which will prevent anyone but you from being able to access your video footage.

One thing though is the fact that turning on end-to-end encryption also disables a whole lot of features including the ability to view live video on a Fire TV or Alexa-enabled smart display. Other features that will be disabled are as follow:

• Shared users 
• Shared video 
• Event Timeline 
• Live View 
• Motion verification 
• Pre-Roll 
• Rich notifications 
• People-only mode 
• Snapshot capture 
• Quick replies 
• Alexa greetings 
• Auto-replies 
• Virtual security guard

Another thing to take note of is the fact that not every Ring device supports end-to-end encryption capability. All battery-powered Ring devices do not have this capability. Below is a list of all the devices that have support for end-to-end encryption.

• Ring Video Doorbell Pro
• Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2
• Ring Video Doorbell Elite
• Ring Spotlight Cam Wired
• Ring Spotlight Cam Mount
• Ring Stick Up Cam Elite (2nd Generation)
• Ring Stick Up Cam Wired (2nd Generation)
• Stick Up Cam Plug-in (3rd Gen)
• Stick Up Cam Wired (3rd Gen)
• Stick Up Cam Solar (3rd Gen)
• Indoor Cam
• Ring Floodlight Cam (2021 model)
• Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro

That said, if you’re okay with all the features you’ll be missing or you are sure your Ring Video Doorbell is on the list, then below is a short guide on how to turn on end-to-end encryption and keep your privacy safe from the prying eyes of Ring itself.

Here’s how to enable end-to-end encryption on a Ring Video Doorbell

Launch the Ring app

The first thing to do is to launch the Ring app on your smartphone and open the Menu button which is represented by a hamburger icon at the top-left corner of the user interface.

Open Control Center

Upon clicking the menu hamburger, a new panel will slide in from the left corner. Next thing is to select Control Center where you will several options such as Account Management, Account Verification, Authorized Client Devices, Video Management, Public Safety, and other things that can be managed.

Select Video Encryption

Among the options is Video Encryption which is located right below Video Management.

Select Advanced Video Encryption

The next thing you want to select is the “Advanced Video Encryption” option which when clicked upon will present you with another interface with two options namely: End-to-end encryption and SD Card Encryption. For this guide, select End-to-End Encryption.

Enable End-to-End Encryption

Simply enable the “End-to-End Encryption” feature by tapping on the button with the same label.
Just as mentioned above, turning this feature on will disable Live View on Alexa devices, and Shared users will lose access.

Setup Encryption

Next thing is to select Encryption Setup and then click on Generate New Passphrase. You’ll be required to write down the passphrase since it can’t be manually created. Also do note that if by any means you lose the passphrase, you won’t be able to view any video at all.
Click on Confirm and Continue.

Enroll Your Smartphone

To enroll your mobile device, you’ll be required to enter your passphrase and if it’s successful, there will be a “Success” screen. Click on “Continue” to proceed.

Connect Your Device To The Ring Network

While there’s not so much to be done on your end, all you have to do is connect your device to the Ring Wi-Fi network.

Ensure Setup Mode is Active

To be sure, just go to your Ring Video Doorbell and see if the LEDs around the button are spinning white. If so, then the setup mode is turned on.

When Prompted, Connect To The Ring Wi-Fi Network

The app will commence a registration process and upon completion, you will get a confirmation from the video doorbell and the app will also show an indication that the doorbell has been registered.

And that’s it. But if for whatever reason you decided not to encrypt your videos any longer, all you have to do is to remove your device from the enrollment via the Ring application.

However, access to any video that has been recorded during the period of encryption will be lost.