Ring Doorbell android app Archives

Amazon’s smart doorbell company Ring may be using its app to surveil users, a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation revealed on Wednesday.

The “Ring for Android” app shares user data including names, private IP addresses, mobile network carriers and sensor data with a number of third-party trackers, the investigation found. At least four analytics and marketing companies receive such information from customer devices.

“Ring claims to prioritize the security and privacy of its customers, yet time and again we’ve seen these claims not only fall short, but harm the customers and community members who engage with Ring’s surveillance system,” Bill Budington, senior staff technologist at the EFF and author of the report, said.

Every time a customer opens the Ring app, it sends information to Facebook about the user, including the time zone, device model, language preferences, screen resolution, and a unique identifier, the report found.

It also sends information to the data company AppsFlyer, including user actions, mobile carrier, and when Ring was first installed and launched, the report found. In addition, it shares data from sensors installed on the phone, including a magnetometer, gyroscope, and accelerometer, and current calibration settings.

MixPanel, a business analytics firm, receives the most information, the report found, including users’ full names, email addresses, device information such as operating system (OS) version and model, whether Bluetooth is enabled, and the number of Ring devices installed.

A spokeswoman from Ring confirmed the company uses third-party services to “optimize the customer experience” and “evaluate the effectiveness” of its marketing.

“Ring ensures that service providers’ use of the data provided is contractually limited to appropriate purposes such as performing these services on our behalf and not for other purposes”, she said.

On its website, Ring discloses it utilizes third-party data analytics, but Budington said the extent of the data collection was not made clear in the post. The information on Ring’s website also only mentions four companies: Google Analytics, Mixpanel, HotJar, and Optimizely. The page has not been updated since May 2018 and does not include companies the EFF found to be receiving data, including AppsFlyer or Facebook.

The report is the latest controversy for Ring, which faced increased scrutiny in 2019 for its partnerships with police forces across the US, quietly expanding a privately owned surveillance system. It is also the target of a number of class action lawsuits after many of its cameras were hacked and used to harass users.

Ring’s appcan be downloaded even if a user does not own a device, but doorbells retail at around $100. Budington noted that it was not atypical for apps to share data but Ring was unique in the number of trackers it has embedded.

“There is an adage that if you aren’t paying for the product, then you are the product –but in this case you are both paying for the product and you are the product,” he said. “Companies can do better.”

Eufy Security has an entirely different pitch for its video doorbell: privacy. If you’re a bit less trusting and would rather not share an unending stream of video from your front porch with a faceless corporation, the Eufy Video Doorbell might be your best bet.

Find out why in Android Authority‘s Eufy Security Video Doorbell review.

Editor’s note: Today, July 6, Amazon is discounting the Eufy Security Wireless Video Doorbell down to $163.99. Check out the deal right here.

Eufy Security Video Doorbell review: A ‘Eu’-nique angle

Security for our homes is the primary reason we might buy a video doorbell. We use them to keep tabs on visitors, deliveries, and sometimes strangers lurking through the neighborhood late at night. But privacy is also part of the equation. We expect at least some degree of privacy with everything we do in the connected world. Some corporations are better at delivering on that promise than others. Ring, for example, got tripped up last year when ne’er-do-wells hijacked a little girl’s bedroom camera.

Eufy’s notion of privacy has to do with the ownership of video generated by the doorbell. Rather than upload and store everything in the cloud, Eufy’s video doorbell stores everything on a hard drive in your home. You quite literally maintain ownership of the video, as it never leaves your house. This may be appealing to those who would rather not send all that personal data to a random server where it might be analyzed.

Is that enough to sell a video doorbell? Here’s the scoop.

See also:What is a smart home?

How hard is the Eufy doorbell to set up?

One of the biggest advantages of battery-powered video doorbells is that you can stick them anywhere. You’re not beholden to using an existing perch next to the door where a wired doorbell might already be. The Eufy doorbell, thankfully, has both wired and battery options. Similar to the Arlo and the Ring, you need only a modicum of handyman skills to get the Eufy attached to the wall and streaming live video.

Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus review: Pushing all the right buttons

Arlo Video Doorbell review: Higher quality video on the cheap

There is a curveball. That hard drive mentioned above? It’s included in the doorbell kit. It’s a combined hard drive/chime and is where all the video archives are kept.

Why is this a curveball? You need to plug it into an ethernet port on your home network. Many people rely 100% on Wi-Fi to keep things in their home connected. Not everyone has access to a spare ethernet hookup. I literally had one left in my house. If you don’t have access to ethernet, that’s a dealbreaker right there. Why this thing can’t use Wi-Fi is beyond me.

Eufy suggests you plug the hard drive in first, then download/install the app, and only after you’ve created an account bother with mounting the doorbell. I suggest you charge the doorbell first, as it takes six hours to charge fully. Then tackle the other stuff.

The kit includes a mounting plate, wedge, and all the screws you might need to install the doorbell outside your door. You’ll need to supply basic tools, such as a drill and screwdriver. The actual act of screwing the doorbell next to my door took less than 10 minutes.

How is the Eufy doorbell app?

Eufy’s app is free to download from the Google Play Store (or iTunes App Store) and requires you to set up an account to get started.

Much like the mobile apps from Ring and Arlo, the Eufy app walks you through the setup process hand-in-hand. It’s dead simple to follow the steps needed to get up and running, such as configuring Wi-Fi and getting the base and the bell to talk to one another.

Once you’ve done that, the app allows you to manage the two devices, quickly assess the health of your bell, and dive into settings. Basics such as video quality, motion zones, and notifications are a cinch to control.

It’s a fine app that gets the job done.

See also:Best smart home gadgets

How does the Eufy doorbell work?

Eufy follows the core video doorbell concept. Whenever someone presses the doorbell, they’ll be connected directly to your phone. The phone rings, the doorbell rings, and the base rings, acting as a default chime for your house. (Be sure to put the base somewhere you’ll hear it.)

Video is recorded in a wide-angle 4:3 window. It doesn’t quite cover my entire front stoop. For example, I couldn’t see packages left next to the front door. It did, however, provide for a decent view up and down the block on which I live. Video is captured at 2K resolution, which is plenty rich to see details without worrying about grain and noise in the video. Last, the video supports wide dynamic range for improved clarity in the shadows. I did, however, notice a slight delay while interacting with callers. That might be troublesome if you need to have a lengthy conversation.

The live video tool is particularly helpful. It’s dead simple to take snapshots, which are saved to your camera roll, or capture video, send a pre-canned voice message, and more. Everything about the user interface makes sense.

Eufy allows you to tweak the zones where motion will activate the bell. For example, you can choose to have only human motion activate the camera, and then adjust the sensitivity to be sure you don’t miss anything. I also like that Eufy offers modes for when you’re home and when you’re away, allows you to set geofences, and even set automated behaviors, such as triggering lights or secondary cameras when motion is detected at one.

All your video is saved in the base for safekeeping. You can access your video at any time, delete it, share it, move it around, and so on. Video is kept safe via 256-bit encryption. I appreciate this unique flexibility.

Bottom line, the Eufy video doorbell gets the job done.

How much do the Eufy doorbell plans cost?

$0. Yep. There’s no cost because there are no plans. The doorbell subscription plans offered by the likes of Arlo and Ring are to manage video storage. The Eufy stores all your video locally on the included hard drive. The company pitches its solution as a “one-time purchase” that doesn’t require yearly or monthly fees. Nice.

The only downside is that the hard drive is another thing sitting on your home network.

See also:Best smart security cameras

Eufy Security Video Doorbell review: Should you buy it?

Ring doorbells are very useful to most people when it comes to checking out and surveilling their surroundings, neighbors, and homes. However, not many customers know the doorbells are also being used to check out their stuff and are being shared with third-parties. This means the company uses their doorbells to surveil the customers themselves. This is according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF) who does security-related investigations and studies. The app in question is the Android version of the Ring Doorbell app.

The mobile app has been discovered to be full of third-party trackers that send out personal information of customers—without the knowledge of the customers. The data being sent out are mainly personally identifiable information. The destinations include four analytics and marketing groups.

Information being received by the companies include names, mobile carriers, sensor data, and persistent identifiers on devices. All the information paints a picture of the user’s mobile device. They turn into something like a unique fingerprint that anyone can follow for tracking.

The customers have not been informed about being tracked. No consent was given and so it becomes problematic. There is no leak or misuse of data reported yet but there is clearly mismanagement of data here that may endanger the private lives of customers. What’s worse is that Ring is giving away data to trackers and probably data miners and hackers.

This discovery is ironic because Ring is supposed to keep things secure and private for customers. Ring’s surveillance system seems to be not that secure because personal and sensitive data are being shared with other parties. We have yet to hear from Ring but cross your fingers this issue will be fixed soon.

UPDATE: A spokesperson from Ring reached out to us to include the following statement regarding the issue. (Jan 28, 2020)

Like many companies, Ring uses third-party service providers to evaluate the use of our mobile app, which helps us improve features, optimize the customer experience, and evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing. Ring ensures that service providers’ use of the data provided is contractually limited to appropriate purposes such as performing these services on our behalf and not for other purposes.

On background:
• Our privacy notice states that “We do not authorize our service providers to use or disclose your personal information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements.”
• This information may include personal information pertaining to when users interact with the app or their Ring devices to help track the adoption, performance, and success of any feature.
• Ring uses also MixPanel to target messaging within the app when new features, such as security-related settings, become available.