15 thoughts on “The Ring Doorbell, Safe?”

1. Pingback: Ring Doorbell peut-il être piratée? PROTÉGEZ le vôtre!

2. I personally have a Ring doorbell on the front of my house and I never really had a second thought about it. Besides the fact it makes an annoying sound as the notification and the speech feature is a little delayed, it is a very good security feature to have at home. I had no idea that these could even be hacked because I never really knew how they worked but besides the talking feature, what’s the point of having a Ring compared to a stereotypical security camera in the corner of a wall? Both can be hacked and it’s important to take the following steps listed in this article to protect your Ring information: update passwords, enable two-step verification, add a shared user, delete old footage, don’t share old footage, and invest in an antivirus solution. I never really knew all of this went into a camera doorbell but after realizing there is the potential to be hacked and maybe have people know whether my family is home or not or anything else that is going on or even steal personal information is something I do not enjoy. It does make me feel a little better though that it’s connected to my home Wifi because a Wifi router really a common hack or something hacked into very often.

   https://www.makeuseof.com/ring-doorbell-hack/

3. This is a really interesting post, and I wasn’t fully aware of all the security risks that can come with having a Ring doorbell, especially since one of the intended benefits is greater home security. This post also got me thinking about other home security measures and what risks they could pose, especially modern in-home security cameras. One notable example of this is Google’s line of “Nest Cameras”. This type of home security seems to only be getting more popular, but personally I think that putting lots of cameras and microphones inside your home could reduce both your security and privacy. First, the owners of the systems, Amazon for Ring, or Google for Nest, are likely collecting your data from the cameras. In Google’s own privacy FAQ, they state that for Nest cameras, “we store your video footage if you choose to receive video storage services from Google for your Nest Cams”. While they do give you a choice, plenty of people will ignore this during setup, giving Google the rights to footage captured by the cams. Additionally, just like you mentioned the Ring doorbells being hacked, in-home Nest cams have also been subject to hacking before, and in the linked Article from TechCrunch, it mentions that hackers attempt to gain access from reused or unchanged passwords, and connection to the internet, which are things we discussed in class. Overall, I think that if you choose to use one of these cameras, you should be aware of the risks that can come with them and take the recommend steps (such as two-factor authentication) in order to best maintain your privacy and security.

   https://store.google.com/category/nest_cams?hl=en-US

   https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9415830?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid#zippy=%2Cwhat-types-of-data-are-collected-when-i-use-google-nests-connected-home-devices-and-services

   https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/01/google-nest-advanced-protection/

4. I personally do not have a Ring and do not know anyone who does, however, they are definitely gaining popularity as people believe it is keeping their homes safer. It is definitely nice to get notifications when someone is approaching your door. This helps because someone could either be delivering your package or stealing your package and in either case, you can see who the individual is and provide that information to police or investigators. Something I haven’t seen anyone talk about is the funny and wholesome moments these cameras catch which is a definite pro to these devices. However, the high potential of someone hacking something that is supposed to protect my home makes me feel uneasy and I would rather not have them have the ability to possibly do that.

   References:
   https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/01/31/doorbells-have-eyes-privacy-battle-brewing-over-home-security-cameras/

5. Before reading your post, I was blind to the cons of the Ring doorbell because I only ever thought of the pros these doorbells had. I was unaware of all the security problems they were facing and the possibility of hackers getting into your wifi and being able to see when you are leaving your home. I was interested in learning more pros and cons of the ring doorbell so I did some research and found more facts from this article which include
   pros
   -24-hour surveillance
   -easy installation
   – motion detection system
   – sends alerts when someone is at the door
   After seeing the pros I wanted to see the downsides of having a ring camera and I found a video of a hacker getting into a family’s ring video telling a family to give them money, using hateful language, and scaring them.
   Overall, I think there are pros and cons to having a ring doorbell so if the ring doorbell can fix their security issues and make it harder for hackers to gain access into people’s cameras, Ring will be very beneficial.
   https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/terrifying-video-familys-hacked-ring-camera-system-67704081
   https://thegarageshield.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-a-video-doorbell/

6. So my parents uses ring camera as a way of security in the front of our house. Now I know that ring is not like 100% trustworthy all the time but at the end of the day, it still helps out. When ever there is someone who is approaching our door, we immediately will get a notification of it. On the ring doorbell part of thing, I have no clue how it works. But I feel with this kind of technology, it is probably one of the safest technology out there.
   If we compare this to regular doorbells, there is already a lot of benefits when comparing the two. On the hacking side of things, I do feel ring should be taking a step forward to prevent that from happening. We all know that technologies nowadays are advancing and people can easily hack into your account privacy and change your password, username, etc. Now nothing is perfect but if ring does take the step of protecting everyone’s security, I feel that the ring doorbell is a necessary thing for everyone to have.

   Source: Johnson, Jeramy. “Can You Trust Ring Devices to Watch over Your Home?” Android Central, Android Central, 15 Sept. 2020, https://www.androidcentral.com/are-ring-products-safe#:~:text=Best%20answer%3A%20Yes%2C%20as%20far,their%20valuable%20data%20and%20privacy.

7. You make some very good points about the security risks that come with the Ring doorbell. I think that although it is susceptible to being hacked, this has the same security risk as a lot of other things that are connected to local WIFI networks. The Ring’s biggest security flaw is being connected to the WIFI network. This can become a very big security risk because if hackers can get into the Ring’s camera they can see when you are in and out of your house making it easier for them to potentially rob your house.

   Reference:
   https://www.makeuseof.com/ring-doorbell-hack/

8. I found this topic to be very interesting and something I have thought about myself in my day to day life. I was very excited about the idea of a video recording doorbell until I saw the news releasing footage and audio of hackers controlling the cameras from inside peoples homes. Just recently my roommate had installed an extra one he had from home onto our front porch. It is super cool and convenient if you want to look over footage to see if a package had been delivered or stolen but also if someone has messed with your property. I also agree with a pro you listed, the easy installment. When I left my house for an estimated 15 minutes, that was all it took for my roommate to finish installing the doorbell next to our front door. Setting up the doorbell on our phones took longer to figure out than it did to install it. I also agree with your con that it can be potentially breeched on the internet. Overall the product has made great sales and has a large supporting customer base. With the few times the company has found problems, they have continued to improve and continue to expand their research on hackers and how to stop them. So in my personal opinion I feel it is overall safe but needs to be continually improved as we advance further into the future of emerging technology trends.

   Source
   https://www.glozine.com/technology/ring-doorbell.html

9. I think you made some very good pro list for a ring camera. I think ring cameras help provide a sense of security for your house so you can always see who is outside of the house. But also since it is connected to the internet you run the chance of someone hacking you and find your exact location. If Ring can have a way to guarantee that if hacked, your location will never be found, I think they would have the perfect product.

   https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/20/1035945/amazon-ring-domestic-violence/

10. I think the questions you brought up about the ring doorbell’s security risks were very interesting. Another con I found while reading about the ring doorbell is that authorities can acquire access to all the footage taken by a ring doorbell without the need for a warrant. I think this makes the conversation about whether the ring doorbell is safe or not a lot more interesting. The reason that this was even possible was because when the Ring was still a relatively new technology law makers took the opportunity to pass a law that allowed the police access to all the footage and it was met with little to no backlash because the general public still had little to no knowledge about the technology. As people started to use it in their homes more and more of them became aware of this law and a lot of people were very upset by it.

    It makes the conversation around Ring’s security risks more interesting because on one hand you have people who feel like the government is taking advantage of technology to breach their privacy and on the other hand you have people who feel safer knowing the police have access to more technology to solve crime. I’m interested to hear what other people think about it and if they think that it’s a security breach at all.
    Source:
    Priest, David. “Ring’s Police Problem Never Went Away. Here’s What You Still Need to Know.” CNET, https://www.cnet.com/home/security/rings-police-problem-didnt-go-away-it-just-got-more-transparent/.

11. Although my family personally doesn’t own a ring, I’ve noticed many of my friends’ parents adopting this method of security. This post led me to consider some security questions and after reading a few articles I learned that in addition to security breaches, customers may be shocked to know that 231 law enforcement agencies have entered an agreement with Rng. While on the surface this may seem harmless or even beneficial, Ring gives out the location of all ring doorbells in the vicinity to these agencies, and “Police may then ask owners for access to their footage—and when owners give permission, police do not need to acquire a warrant.” Even worse is the financial agreement made by police, which states that “for every town resident that downloads Ring’s Neighbors app, the local police department gets credits toward buying cameras it can distribute to residents.” Essentially buying their affection. This is a perfect example of the social dangers of technology.

    Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/08/amazons-ring-perfect-storm-privacy-threats

12. This is a very interesting topic because I have never seen this product have a bad image. I think it’s safe to say that Ring has an uncomfortable amount of knowledge on consumers. I find “Alexa” from Apple have similar properties of uncertainty. Besides “Ring” having access to this data, there is also potential form outsiders to hack into the data base. An example from the article below mentions an incident related to this from 2019. In this case, an outside source hacked someones device and managed to spy on them for a week. Going back to the company itself, a few employees a year or two back got fired for misusing their level of power.

    Both examples above are possibilities with most technologies. This system dies have reports of flaws in the system. No technology is typically perfect to begin with. Ring may be considered safe for most of the general public but definitely does have downside potential for another incident to happen on global basis going forward.

    Source:

    https://www.androidcentral.com/are-ring-products-safe

13. The Ring doorbells have been increasingly popular in recent years as a security/monitoring doorbell system. Its main purpose is to monitor using cameras and microphones for residents so that neighborhoods are safer. It can also help residents see who is at the door when they are home and when they are not. These Ring cameras also record incase there is any incident of stolen property or anything of this magnitude. Yet today, people do not believe the pros out weigh the cons.
    In an article earlier this year, residents were suing Ring for invaded privacy of homes by hackers. Even though Ring is trying to make their doorbells more secure from hackers, I believe this consequence outweighs all the other pros.
    With the fact that over 3000 resident’s information were posted online, worries me. I really do think that Ring needs to figure out the hacking problem before they will actually grow in the long-run, especially with all of the negative information out right now about them.

    Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/23/amazon-ring-camera-hack-lawsuit-threats

14. Hi! This post really intrigued me because it it something I never really thought of. Sometimes we get swept up in the coolness factor of new innovations that we forget to look at some of the downsides like invasion of privacy. It absolutely shocked me to hear that over 3000 ring cameras were hacked. This seems extremely dangerous and harmful. Ring should definitely get on top of this problem. I looked up some information about peoples ring cameras being hacked and I learned that many families were being spied on through their ring cameras and some were even talked to saying things like “what are you watching on tv right now?” The worst part is was that ring didn’t seem to do anything about the breach. They blamed customers for not making a secure enough password.

    Source:
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/23/amazon-ring-camera-hack-lawsuit-threats

15. The Ring doorbell has some controversy over whether it is safe to have in your home. I think that this article is very interesting because it goes over the pros and cons to having a Ring doorbell. While reading this article, there are many pros and cons which is very interesting. It is a very easy product to use, but it also can be hacked like many online services. According to an article I found, the Ring doorbell might not be as safe as most people would want to believe it to be. Ring has been surveilling users throughout their use of the doorbell. The data that the “Ring for Android” shares includes:

    • Names
    • Private IP addresses
    • Mobile network carriers
    • Sensor data with third-party trackers

    When this application gets opened by a user of the Ring doorbell, it sends information to Facebook that can include:

    • Time zone
    • Device model
    • Language
    • Screen resolution
    • Unique identifiers
    • Report found

    Ring says that it makes the users aware of what they use and share through third-party data analytics, but in there post it was not made clear. Overall, it is up to the consumer to decide whether or not they want their data shared by being a user of Ring. Overall, there are a lot of cons when it comes to using this company.

    “Smart Doorbell Company Ring May Be Surveilling Users through Its App.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 29 Jan. 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/29/ring-smart-doorbell-company-surveillance-eff-report.

16. I thought you made some interesting points about the Ring doorbell, and I didn’t realize the security issues that they were having about being hacked. The Ring doorbell is a great way to monitor who is outside and convenient to use since it is connected to any mobile device with an app. If they are able to fix their security issues and limit their security breaches I think this will be a very helpful tool.

    I found an article about how Ring doorbells are being used and given to domestic violence victims by police. The police are trying to use Ring doorbells to help give the domestic violence victims more security and make them feel safe in their own home. There has been some mixed opinions on whether this is a good idea due to Ring’s security hacks, but there have been some positive results too. Police have been able to identify some domestic abusers from the Ring doorbell which is a positive to handing out the Ring doorbells. I think if Ring can update their security and prevent people from hacking the doorbells this could be a very successful product and help protect more people.

    Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/20/1035945/amazon-ring-domestic-violence/