Ring makes two-factor authentication mandatory

[Shawn Knight]

What just happened? Ring Inc. is doing even more to make sure its customers feel safe and secure when using its products. The home security and smart home company recently announced that two-factor authentication is now mandatory for all users when logging into their Ring accounts.

Ring President Leila Rouhi said the added layer of verification will help prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to your account, even if they have somehow managed to get ahold of your username and password.

When logging into your Ring account, you’ll receive a six-digit code via e-mail or SMS that must be submitted back before access to the account is granted. This mandatory layer of verification will start rolling out ASAP, we’re told.

Ring was founded by Jamie Siminoff in 2013 as Doorbot. That same year, Siminoff appeared on an episode of Shark Tank in search of an investment but walked away empty-handed. Just a few years later, Amazon acquired the startup for a sizable sum (rumored to be between $1.2 billion and $1.8 billion).

Rouhi also said that beginning immediately, the company is temporarily pausing the use of most third-party analytics service in the Ring apps and website while they work to provide users with more opt-out options in the Control Center. Additionally, users can now opt out of sharing information with third-party service providers for the purpose of receiving personalized ads.

Ring and parent company Amazon have come under fire recently over privacy concerns related to the home security system. In addition to the possibility of hackers infiltrating camera networks, owners additionally have to worry about the wandering eyes of employees and even law enforcement. These new changes are a step in the right direction to help quell some of those concerns.

Masthead credit: 2FA by Golubovy. Ring doorbell by BrandonKleinVideo.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/84082-ring-makes-two-factor-authentication-mandatory.html

 

[jgraham11]

Amazon can still access these devices online. It give that access to police authorities without your permission as per the end user license agreement which you have to agree to if you want to use this product. This change does nothing to solve that problem...

Make end user license agreements transparent as in the potential customer must be able to view it prior to purchasing the product, not after they are stuck with it.

Stop Amazon from making money on your content. Do you think Amazon is giving access for free???

 

[Eldritch]

'We will give greater control over sharing data.'

Translation : We will give you illusion of choice by giving option to opt out of personal ads. We will still sell your data and also continue to use it for analytics. Our employees will also be abusing your privacy as has happened many times previously for Alexa as the Amazon has backdoor access baked in for compliance purposes meaning all this two factor authentication is mostly for you only. Anyway, enjoy your 'secure' and 'private' Ring as, if the collection of data from your door camera is not a deal breaker for you then nothing is.

Anyway from Amazon engineers,

"The deployment of connected home security cameras that allow footage to be queried centrally are simply not compatible with a free society. The privacy issues are not fixable with regulation and there is no balance that can be struck. Ring should be shut down immediately and not brought back."

 

[Yynxs]

I haven't chased this down so it is a genuine question. Is there any reason an encryption device could not be inserted into the data stream from these echoes? Two factor access is only there to keep the riff raff hackers.
With personal encryption on the feed, it doesn't matter who wishes they were viewing, only court orders would be involved in privacy violations.