# Ring Doorbell App
**URL:** https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542
**Category:** Security Now
**Created:** [January 28, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542 "2020-01-28T13:04:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@smatloff](https://www.twit.community/u/smatloff)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/1 "2020-01-28T13:04:04Z")
Any truth to this article:
> **[Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/ring-doorbell-app-packed-third-party-trackers)**
>
> Ring isn't just a product that allows users to surveil their neighbors. The company also uses it to surveil its customers.An investigation by EFF of the Ring doorbell app for Android found it to be packed with third-party trackers sending out a...
---
### Author:  [@SoulDessin](https://www.twit.community/u/SoulDessin)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/2 "2020-01-28T13:28:17Z")
This is pretty big. The EFE is quite reputable and what they showed as outgoing data is alarming. Another reason that I never wanted to touch a Ring device.
---
### Author:  [@Jamze](https://www.twit.community/u/Jamze)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/3 "2020-01-28T13:59:04Z")
Agreed. Unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg I think. And OK @SoulDessin you avoid Ring, but who can you use unless you go completely off grid?
It’s Facebook that does it for me. I avoid them, don’t want anything to do with them. And yet an app for my doorbell is pulling stuff (completely unrelated to the doorbell) off my Android and sending it to Facebook? 😡
I do wish these articles would take the next step and do the same investigation of Google/Eufy/Wyze/Arlo etc.
And how does Apple’s ‘what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone’ statement stack up? Why not test the app on iOS too?
Gut feel is this is industry-wide.
---
### Author:  [@rojo118](https://www.twit.community/u/rojo118)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/4 "2020-01-28T17:34:33Z")
I have Ring doorbells. Not happy to hear this. If I would cancel my subscription and just use the free version with no recordings, do you think they would still be using my data? Is it the App that is problem?
---
### Author:  [@Brickshy](https://www.twit.community/u/Brickshy)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/5 "2020-01-28T17:42:59Z")
I have had RING since may 2016. Lots of dealings with customer service. About 50% satisfactory. I would never have any of their interior cameras. Leo has dropped them and I think I should as well.
---
### Author:  [@Jamze](https://www.twit.community/u/Jamze)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/6 "2020-01-28T18:45:58Z")
I don’t think what Ring plan you are on will make a difference. The article describes how they managed to inspect all the https traffic being generated by the Android Ring app which was being sent to Branch, AppsFlyer, MixPanel, Crashalytics and Facebook.
Ring’s response is this is analytics and telemetry.
“Like many companies, Ring uses third-party service providers to evaluate the use of our mobile app, which helps us improve features, optimise the customer experience and evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing.”
---
### Author:  [@rojo118](https://www.twit.community/u/rojo118)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/7 "2020-01-28T18:52:12Z")
I guess I will just have to give up Ring and delete the app. Sad that the Apple App Store would allow the Ring App to do that.
---
### Author:  [@Jamze](https://www.twit.community/u/Jamze)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/8 "2020-01-28T19:08:57Z")
Note this article only discusses the Android app (although I see no reason why the iOS app would be any different). If concerned, maybe drop the iOS app and just use the web access for now. See how this plays out? I’d expect Ring to respond by allowing users to opt-out of their customer experience programme (if this is what it is).
---
### Author:  [@rojo118](https://www.twit.community/u/rojo118)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/9 "2020-01-28T19:40:22Z")
For now, I think I’ll see what the fallout is after this situation has been investigated.
---
### Author:  [@Dr.Flay](https://www.twit.community/u/Dr.Flay)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/10 "2020-01-29T03:01:51Z")
46 libraries used last time it was scanned. No wonder it is so bloated.
> **[Ring - Always Home - Free Android app | AppBrain](https://www.appbrain.com/app/ring-always-home/com.ringapp)**
>
> Ring - Always Home: Free Android app (3.6 ★, 5,000,000+ downloads) → See and speak with your visitors from anywhere in the world on your smartphone Neighborhood security...
I recommend using these to help judge the privacy implications of apps
>
>
> Free your phone from potential spyware and ads! This app detects all annoyances of apps installed on your phone, such as Push Notifications, Desktop icon spam ads and apps with privacy concerns or spyware. It identifies the adware and allows you to then remove the apps that violate your privacy.
>
> \- Helps you to get rid of annoying ad notifications and bookmarks on your desktop.
> \- Become aware of what apps have permissions to access your messages or accounts and could thus invade your privacy, or...
>
>
> Addons Detector detects addons used by your installed applications. It has all the tools to find push notification ads, popup ads and icon ads.
>
> If you are looking for the app that uses AirPush or other push notifications, you can easily find the app and uninstall.
>
> If you are getting popup ads on your device, make sure to read the help text inside the app. It explains how to get rid of them.
>
> Besides push notifications, using this app is a great way to see what advertising agencies apps use, a...
---
### Author:  [@Jamze](https://www.twit.community/u/Jamze)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2020, 8:50am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/11 "2020-01-29T08:50:58Z")
Interesting, thanks.
Permissions on Android puzzles me. If you look at the Ring app’s permissions you see this, and you think ‘OK, seems acceptable, just the mic to talk and storage to save stuff’. Note camera/contacts/location is denied.
But hidden behind the hamburger menu top right is ‘All permissions’ which I assume is everything the app has. Eh? So it does have cam/contacts/location priv? And a whole lot of other stuff that I can’t control? Which matches the info @Dr.Flay provided.
Or am I not understanding these screens? @JasonHowell any ideas?
---
### Author:  [@SoulDessin](https://www.twit.community/u/SoulDessin)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/12 "2020-01-29T17:39:08Z")
@rojo118 the general internet rule is, “if you aren’t paying for a service, you _are_the service.”
I hate to say it, but I just can not find any good self hosted doorbell systems. Plenty of security camera systems, but no doorbells.
---
### Author:  [@Dr.Flay](https://www.twit.community/u/Dr.Flay)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/13 "2020-01-29T18:18:26Z")
As the Ring doorbell is not free, I don’t get the reference.
The app may be free but can only be used with a paid product .That is no different to having a free key with a new lock. it is part of the whole package.
---
### Author:  [@SoulDessin](https://www.twit.community/u/SoulDessin)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/14 "2020-01-29T18:41:41Z")
They do offer continued support/access for free and even though you do pay for some things, some companies just want to maximize their profit. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ramped up the data gathering on the free accounts just to make as much as possible from the ones that aren’t continuing to pay them as much as the others.
A little tinfoil hat-ish, but these companies have proven to live up to it, at times.
---
### Author:  [@Clayton](https://www.twit.community/u/Clayton)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/15 "2020-01-30T22:34:04Z")
Security researcher Brian Krebs retweeted the EFF’s tweet about this article and 3hrs ago the retweet had 5,900 likes and 6,400 further retweets. Looks like this story is getting some traction.
---
### Author:  [@Mistershipwreck](https://www.twit.community/u/Mistershipwreck)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/16 "2020-02-01T15:05:56Z")
Here is another article about the matter:
> **[Third-Party Trackers Are Pulling Your Data Off Ring's Android App - CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/third-party-trackers-are-pulling-your-data-off-rings-android-app)**
>
> A new report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation details the personally identifiable information pulled from your Ring app.
This is a mixed bag, I think… If you use ANYTHING on the internet - you are being tracked some kind of way. And, many apps track you and apparently sell your information. If you like your camera, I wouldn’t necessarily stop using it. If you did not have one and was thinking of buying one… THEN, I’d probably look elsewhere. But, who knows if the other camera apps are doing the same thing…
---
### Author:  [@Jamze](https://www.twit.community/u/Jamze)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/17 "2020-02-01T16:55:12Z")
@gigastacey’s IoT podcast is worth a listen this week for a slightly more balanced view. Since the anti-Ring stuff started I’ve been wondering what’s behind the EFF/Vice/BuzzFeed etc. reporting. Still none the wiser really. Good that these companies are under scrutiny, but most stuff being reported is industry-wide I reckon.
The new Control Center is now released in the Ring app. Worth checking. I had authorised devices going back years that I no longer have. So I’ve reset everything.
---
### Author:  [@Clayton](https://www.twit.community/u/Clayton)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/ring-doorbell-app/5542/18 "2020-03-04T15:38:58Z")
Some new data here from a BBC article suggests amongst the data retained is not only the exact location of the device but also every time it was rung and what interaction the user had with it after each activation:
> **[Ring logs every doorbell press and app action](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51709247)**
>
> A BBC data request reveals what data is being stored by the Amazon-owned business about its users.