After the recent controversy surrounding Ring and its smart devices, the company rolled out a new Control Center to help customers manage their privacy and security settings from a single dashboard. In the blog post announcing this Control Center, Ring says “We believe that privacy, safety, and user control are more than just ideas.” The Control Center will become available to all users over the next several days after it updates its iOS and Android apps.
The Control Center will be available by clicking the icon in the top-left corner of the app and will let users know if they have enabled two-factor authentication, allowing them to view all devices and third-party services authorized to access their Ring account, add and remove Shared Users, and opt out of receiving notifications related to police investigations.
Two-factor authentication requires users to provide a secondary authentication method when logging into their account. It is also the most commonly recommended way for users to protect their accounts from unauthorized intrusions. The new Control Center makes it easier to enable two-factor authentication, rather than hide it within numerous menus.
The Control Center also addresses another point of concern for Ring users: The integration of the Neighbors app into police investigations. The app gives users updates on local crime and potential safety concerns within their neighborhood, but it also allows users to share information and video clips with the local police force. The Control Center makes it possible to opt out of receiving notifications that the police are seeking video. Before the introduction of the Control Center, people could opt out after their first request — now they can from the start.
Outside of privacy protections, the Control Center app makes it easy to disconnect smart home integrations. For example, people can decide to separate Alexa from their Ring devices with just a few clicks. The dashboard shows all connected devices and their status.
The introduction of the Control Center helps address many of the privacy and security issues that have arisen with Ring devices lately, but it also simplifies the user experience. Easier-to-use devices and applications give users more power by allowing them to access their settings directly and easily.
