Amazon’s Ring has just announced a massive security upgrade for its smart home lineup, introducing a new default encryption standard called TAKE, short for “Throw Away the Key Encryption.”
The feature aims to solve one of the biggest trade-offs in modern home security i.e. keeping cloud-processed smart features intact while ensuring third parties, including Ring itself, cannot hold onto the keys to your private footage.
Historically, smart home security cameras required users to make a choice. Standard cloud encryption kept videos protected during transit and storage, but cloud servers still needed ongoing access to process intelligent alerts. On the other hand, traditional End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) locked down footage completely, but it disabled popular features like Smart Alerts, rich push notifications, and easy sharing with family members.
With TAKE, Ring is attempting to offer the best of both worlds by redesigning how decryption keys are handled in the cloud. Under the new protocol, Ring cameras generate unique, rotating encryption keys for recorded footage. A copy of these keys is temporarily placed inside a highly secure cloud enclave, essentially acting as a digital vault.
While the video is inside this enclave, Ring uses the key strictly to process active user settings, such as detecting motion or identifying packages. Once those intelligent features finish running, the system immediately throws away and permanently deletes the cloud key copy.
To explain the technology, Ring compares the system to hiring a trusted contractor for home repairs. The lock company does not keep a spare copy of your front door key. If a repair person needs access to fix something inside, you hand them a key only for the duration of the job and take it back when they finish.
Ring has clarified that traditional E2EE will remain available as an optional setting inside the app. Users will retain full control to toggle between standard TAKE encryption and full E2EE on a device-by-device basis, depending on their personal preferences.
Amazon says the rollout for TAKE will begin in phases starting in September, with plans to make it the default global setting for all Ring customers over time.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
