Ring makes two-factor authentication mandatory, adds new privacy controls

Changes are rolling out today and Ring will email customers once they are active.

What you need to know

• Ring will soon require all customers to use two-factor authentication when logging in.
• It will also allow customers to opt-out of sharing information with third-party service providers for advertising.
• The Amazon-owned home security camera company experienced a data breach in 2019, which lead to many customer's cameras becoming compromised.

Amazon's Ring security cameras have been in the news a lot these past few months. Most recently, there was a report that showed how footage from Ring cameras has done little to help police identify suspects and make arrests.

Then, back in December of 2019, Ring was in the news for a string of camera hacks, where several customers had their cameras compromised. Later that month, it was revealed that Ring had a data breach, and up to 3,600 customers had their usernames and passwords leaked online.

Looking to learn from its mistakes, Ring announced today that it is making two-factor authentication mandatory going forward. Two-factor authentication is an important security feature that will help prevent unauthorized access to your account, even if someone knows your username and password. It works by sending a six-digit code to your Ring email address or by SMS that must be entered when you first log in.

By using 2FA, it requires that whoever is logging in have access to your phone or email address and adds an extra layer of security to the login process. This builds on the steps Ring took in December when it enabled email login notifications when someone signs in from a new device or browser. Hopefully, these steps will help keep your home security cameras safe from prying eyes in the future, even if another data breach occurs.

Besides increasing the security of your account, Ring is also implementing some new privacy controls. For starters, you will now be able to opt-out of sharing your information with third parties for advertising. Although, Ring does say that you will still see non-personalized ads from time to time. Ring will also pause the use of most third-party analytics services while it works on ways for users to opt-out in the Control Center.

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