Ring has announced it is now offering end-to-end encryption to protect videos through the entire process.

Ring made headlines in late 2019 when a number of users reported their video streams being hacked, and outsiders watching what was happening in people’s homes and even speaking to them. In some cases, the incidents took very disturbing turns, with strangers talking with children or going on racist rants.

It’s little wonder that Ring is rolling out end-to-end encryption, which the company is calling a technical preview at this point.

By default, Ring already encrypts videos when they are uploaded to the cloud (in transit) and stored on Ring’s servers (at rest). With End-to-End Encryption, customer videos are further secured with an additional lock, which can only be unlocked by a key that is stored on the customer’s enrolled mobile device, designed so that only the customer can decrypt and view recordings on their enrolled device.

Privacy, security and user control are foundational to Ring, and video End-to-End Encryption demonstrates Ring’s ongoing commitment to continually delivering enhanced privacy, security, and control to customers.

Ring’s announcement is a welcome upgrade…even if it is long-overdue.