Recently, Ring ran a Super Bowl ad for its Search Party feature showing how it uses AI to scan footage from Ring cameras and video doorbells to help find lost dogs. It sounds neighborly — until you consider that the same system could theoretically search footage for anything or anyone.
Combined with longstanding concerns around Ring’s ties to law enforcement — including a recent proposed integration with law enforcement technology company Flock Safety — the ad has prompted some users to look for alternatives to Ring.
If you are uncomfortable continuing to use your Ring cameras and are wondering what to do, we’ve rounded up all your options: From how to lock down your Ring hardware if you don’t want to or can’t swap it out, to doorbell cameras that don’t rely on cloud-processing — including those that store footage locally.
Why are people looking to ditch Ring?
The core concern is that Ring footage is processed and stored in the cloud. While Ring encrypts videos in transit and at rest, the company can access footage while it’s processed for features such as AI-powered video descriptions, video search, and Search Party.
While Ring has said that it does not share data or video footage with ICE or any federal law enforcement agencies, and that only its users can share their footage with local law enforcement, many people are concerned about what might happen if Ring changes its policies.
Ring maintains that it is not conducting mass surveillance. However, Ring’s founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff continues to be vocal in his belief that more cameras and more AI can help solve crime. He was the one who brought back video sharing with law enforcement after his predecessor ended the company’s prior police-sharing feature.
Ring — like any cloud provider — can be compelled to provide footage in response to legal requests, but Ring’s cozy relationship with law enforcement is cause for concern for many users. Additionally, the recent case of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, in which Google retrieved supposedly lost Nest doorbell footage, illustrates how cloud video can persist longer than you might expect.
Distrust of Ring’s motives appears to be widespread, prompting an uptick of interest in its competition. Representatives for smart home security companies SimpliSafe and Reolink told me they saw a significant increase in web traffic and, in some cases, sales, in February following Ring’s Super Bowl ad.
I also spoke to some users who have decided to switch. Tim Anderson, a former IT director in the Chicago suburbs, told me that it was the Search Party ad pushed him to reconsider Ring. “I didn’t get the cameras to be a dragnet for law enforcement; I got them to protect my property.”
Another longtime customer said he removed his Ring doorbell after hearing about the Flock integration (which Ring has since cancelled) and is now considering a system that gives him full local control like Reolink. “I do not trust Ring not to have a deal with Flock later down the line,” he told me.
If you’re similarly concerned about the direction Ring is moving, this article lays out the options you have for using a video doorbell or security cameras in your home without worrying about potentially feeding a surveillance network.
Here, I go over how to opt out of Ring’s new features if you want to keep your hardware. Then I cover how to choose a new doorbell if you want to ditch Ring — including the difference between cloud versus local storage, what end-to-end encryption is, and the best options for each case.
Removing and replacing installed security cameras can be a hassle. If you want to keep your existing hardware but opt out of features that could potentially contribute to broader surveillance networks, here are some steps you can take to lock down your doorbell and other Ring cameras:
* Angle the camera to only catch your front door or property. If that’s not possible, enable privacy zones in the app to block out any “public” areas.
* Opt out of a cloud subscription. If you don’t pay for Ring’s subscription service, the Ring doorbell will not record video, but you’ll have to be quick to answer that alert on your phone if you want to see who is at the door.
* Turn off AI features. If you want the recorded video but don’t like the idea of the AI features, including the recently added facial recognition, turn them off in the Ring app settings under Ring AI Features.
* Turn off Search Party. This feature allows Ring’s AI to search the footage of your outdoor cameras for lost dogs and wildfires (currently). This is enabled by default. Go to the Control Center in the Ring app, select Search Party, and click through to disable.
* Opt out of Community Requests. This feature allows users to share footage with local law enforcement through Ring’s technology partner Axon. (Ring cancelled its planned Flock Safety integration.) Go to the Neighbors section of the Ring app, tap the settings icon, select Neighborhood Settings, then Feed Settings, toggle off Community Requests. You can also disable the Neighbors app integration entirely through the Control Center.
* Enable end-to-end encryption. Ring already encrypts footage in transit and at rest, but many of its features require access to your footage for processing. E2EE locks it down so that only you, not Ring, can access it. You can enable this on most Ring cameras, but you do lose access to several features, including rich notifications and person alerts.
Pick a doorbell that doesn’t process video in the cloud
Internet-connected home security cameras store and process recorded footage in three ways:
Cloud first — Video is processed and stored on a company’s servers. Examples include Ring, Nest, Wyze, Arlo, and Blink. These systems typically require a subscription, and while most also offer local storage, it’s often deprecated in favor of cloud video.
Local first — Video is stored and processed locally on the device, a hub, or a local server. Examples include Eufy, Tapo, Reolink, and Aqara. Cloud storage may be available as a backup.
Hybrid — Video is processed locally and stored in the cloud with end-to-end encryption. Examples include Ecobee, Philips Hue, and cameras that support Apple HomeKit Secure Video.
Cloud first is the least private option. Alongside concerns about companies intentionally sharing your video are the worries about unintentionally doing so.
Wyze, Ring, and Anker-owned Eufy have suffered major security flaws in the past that exposed their users’ videos. While all three companies say they have resolved the issues, the concerns about the vulnerability of the cloud are real.
If you do choose to use the cloud to store your footage, look for companies that require two-factor authentication and offer a high level of encryption, ideally end-to-end, which is what the hybrid method uses. This ensures the company cannot access your videos.
Local storage is the most private, as in theory it never leaves your home. A big advantage here is that you don’t have to pay any subscription fees to store your video, though the base stations that most companies offer for expanded storage cost around $200, adding to the initial cost.
One downside of both local and hybrid systems is that local processing of footage to generate smart alerts for packages, people, etc., isn’t as effective as cloud-based solutions, which can leverage their servers’ greater computational power to analyze footage. But that may change.
You also can’t get “rich” notifications without the cloud, which includes a snapshot of what the camera saw. However, if all you want to know is who is at your front door, you might not miss these features.
Put simply, if you don’t want any cloud exposure, choose local storage. If you want cloud convenience with stronger protections, choose an end-to-end encrypted system.
The cloud isn’t inherently bad. If a service uses end-to-end encryption, no one but you can access your footage, no matter where it’s stored, so companies can’t be compelled to hand over footage to authorities.
These are the current options that support E2EE (in addition to Ring, as previously mentioned). One notable benefit of these over the local storage options mentioned later is a more polished app experience and easier setup, but you will have to pay to store your video in the cloud.
Power: Battery or hardwired/ Video: 1080p / Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi / Smart alerts: Person, vehicle, packages, animals, facial recognition / Cloud storage: iCloud +, starting at $1 a month
HomeKit Secure Video is Apple’s smart home video solution that processes footage from compatible cameras locally on your Apple TV or HomePod. This enables smart alerts for people, animals, vehicles, and packages, as well as facial recognition through the Apple Home app, where you can view livestreams and recorded video. It stores video in the cloud using E2EE.
HKSV has some limitations: you need to be in Apple’s ecosystem and have an iCloud + subscription. Video resolution is limited to 1080p, and the smart alerts are unreliable. Another problem is that only three brands of doorbells support HomeKit Secure Video – Aqara, Logitech, and Belkin — and Belkin’s Wemo has been discontinued.
If you go this route, consider the Aqara G410, which I cover in the local storage section, or the older (and cheaper) Aqara G4.
Power: Hardwired / Video: 1080p / Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi / Smart alerts: People and packages / Cloud storage: $5 a month or $50 a year
This doorbell from the smart thermostat maker uses end-to-end encryption to store footage in the cloud and offers free smart alerts processed on-device. It integrates neatly with the Ecobee thermostat, letting you use it as an intercom. Read my full review.
