Is Ring encrypted?
Only if you turn on video end-to-end encryption. By default, Ring can unlock your videos to run its features. Its new TAKE mode, rolling out since September 2026, limits that to the first 24 hours and to times your app hands Ring a key, such as when you play a clip.
Checked on 25 October 2026 against 8 sources.
Made by Secria. We grade every app by the same rules. How we check
- RecordingsOnly you, once you turn it onBy default, Ring can unlock your videos at any time; under TAKE, rolling out since September 2026, it can for 24 hours and after that only with a key your app hands it.1, 2, 4Turn it on
- Live viewOnly you, once you turn it onRing says Live View keeps working with end-to-end encryption, and that only your enrolled phones and tablets hold the keys.1, 3Turn it on
- Voice commandsNot offeredRing has no voice assistant of its own; Alexa, which works with Ring cameras, has its own page.3
- Who holds the keys
- With end-to-end encryption, only your enrolled phones and tablets; otherwise Ring holds the keys too, and on TAKE it deletes its copy after 24 hours.
- What Amazon can still see
- Without end-to-end encryption, your videos; with it, Ring still stores the encrypted videos with details such as timestamps, and keeps account information it can hand over with a valid search warrant.
Turn on video end-to-end encryption, once
- Open the Ring app and tap the menu.
- Tap Control Center, then Video Encryption.
- Tap Let's turn on End-to-End Encryption, then Continue.
- Set up your recovery options and keep your 12-word passphrase safe.
Shared Users, Smart Alerts, Video Search, Video Descriptions, Familiar Faces, Alexa viewing and ring.com viewing stop working, and some older cameras can't use it. If you lose every recovery method, nobody can open your videos, including Ring.
Email is worth checking next: Gmail, Outlook and iCloud Mail can all read your mailbox. See which email services can.
Is Ring end-to-end encrypted?
Only if you turn it on. Ring's video end-to-end encryption keeps the keys on your enrolled phones and tablets, and Ring says no one else, including Ring, can access the videos3. Live View, playback and 24/7 recording keep working1.
It turns off features that need Ring to look at your video, including Shared Users, Smart Alerts, Video Search, Familiar Faces and viewing on Alexa or ring.com3. Some older models, such as the first two Video Doorbells and Peephole Cam, don't support it3. Ring has switched off its older version of end-to-end encryption and points people to this one8.
What is Ring's TAKE encryption?
TAKE, short for Throw Away the Key Encryption, has been rolling out in phases since September 2026, and Ring says it will become the default for everyone once fully rolled out2. When your account is eligible, the Ring app tells you, and you turn it on in Control Center › Video Encryption4.
With TAKE, your video is encrypted, and Ring's cloud gets a copy of the keys inside a locked-down system so it can run features such as Smart Alerts. Ring deletes its copy after 24 hours. After that, Ring can only unlock a video if your app hands over the key, for example to prepare it when you play it back1. For now, some features, such as Video Search and Familiar Faces, need you to pause TAKE, and videos recorded while it's paused get Ring's standard encryption4.
So TAKE limits when Ring can see your videos, but it doesn't keep Ring out the way end-to-end encryption does1.
Can police get my Ring videos?
With a valid search warrant, Ring may hand over videos, and it may respond right away to emergency requests5. Ring says it can only access videos for this when they aren't protected by TAKE or end-to-end encryption5.
In the US, Ring's Community Requests, launched in September 2025, let local police ask nearby users to share footage7. Sharing is voluntary, but if you share, your home address and email go to the investigator with the video6.
How Ring compares
Sorted by how many parts are sealed by default, then by how many can be. Ties go A to Z.
Sources
- Throw Away the Key Encryption | End-to-End Encryption (white paper, 26 August 2026), Ring. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
- Ring TAKE: How Throw Away the Key Encryption protects your videos, Amazon. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
- Using video end-to-end encryption, Ring. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
- Using TAKE (Throw Away the Key Encryption), Ring. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
- Learn About Ring Law Enforcement Guidelines, Ring. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
- Community requests, Ring. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
- Ring Launches Community Requests: A New Way to Help Your Community, Ring. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
- Using legacy video end-to-end encryption (E2EE), Ring. Read on 25 Oct 2026.
Changes to this answer
- First published.