Ring is a home security company owned by Amazon that manufactures video doorbells and security cameras. Ring devices allow users to see, hear, and speak to anyone at their door by accessing live video feeds from anywhere using the Ring app. One of the key features of Ring products is the ability to record, store, and review video footage captured by Ring doorbells and cameras.
When users delete videos from their Ring account, a natural question arises: where do those deleted videos go? This article will examine what happens behind the scenes when Ring users delete videos, whether deleted videos are recoverable, who can access videos after deletion, options to permanently delete Ring videos, and alternatives for video storage beyond Ring’s cloud servers.
How Ring Stores Videos
Ring stores video recordings from devices like their video doorbells and security cameras in the cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers. According to Ring’s privacy policy, videos are secured in transit and at rest using AES 256-bit encryption. Video recordings are temporarily stored in the Ring cloud for up to 180 days depending on your subscription plan.
Without a subscription, Ring will store videos for up to 60 days. With a Ring Protect subscription, you can store videos for up to 180 days. The video recordings are stored at 1080p resolution in H.264 format. Each video clip can be up to 3 minutes long with a file size up to 200MB. Older videos are automatically deleted first as the storage limit is reached.
Deleting Videos from Ring
Deleting videos from the Ring app is straightforward but varies slightly between the Android and iOS versions. To delete a video on the Ring app for Android, open the app and tap on “Events” to see your video history. Tap and hold the video you want to delete. A pop-up will appear giving you the option to delete the video. Tap “Delete” to confirm.
On the iOS app, the process is similar. Open the app and go to “Events” then tap “Edit” in the top right corner. Tap the circles next to any videos you want to delete so they have checkmarks. Then tap “Delete” and confirm you want to delete the selected videos. Note that on iOS you can select and delete multiple videos at once, while on Android you have to delete one video at a time.
When deleting, keep in mind that the video will be removed from your Ring account and mobile app across all your devices. However, the original video file may still exist on Ring’s servers unless you fully erase it. More details on that next.
What Happens on Ring’s Servers
When you delete a video from your Ring app or dashboard, it does not immediately erase the video from Ring’s servers. Instead, it flags the video as “deleted” in Ring’s system. This allows the video to be purged from their servers during routine clean-ups.
For videos uploaded without a subscription plan, Ring retains them for up to 60 days before deletion [1]. With an active Ring Protect subscription, videos are stored for up to 180 days before being purged [2]. However, once you manually delete a video, Ring immediately flags it for removal from their systems.
According to users on Reddit, deleted videos remain accessible for about 30 days before being permanently erased from Ring’s servers [3]. So while the video is marked for deletion right away, it takes Ring some time to fully clear it from their storage.
In summary, when you delete a video from Ring, it is flagged for removal but may still be recoverable for up to 30 days before being permanently purged from their servers.
[1] https://ring.com/support/articles/1nce1/Understanding-and-Adjusting-Your-Video-Storage-Time
[2] https://ring.com/support/articles/1nce1/Understanding-and-Adjusting-Your-Video-Storage-Time
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/Ring/comments/sa4jkl/when_a_ring_video_is_deleted_is_it_really_gone/
Recovering Deleted Ring Videos
If you recently deleted a video from your Ring device or cloud storage, there are ways to try and recover it. Ring normally stores videos for 60 days before permanently deleting them, so recovering a recently deleted video is often possible during this window.
One of the easiest ways is to use third-party data recovery software like Disk Drill or EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. These tools scan your Ring device’s storage or cloud backup locations. They can find and restore deleted Ring videos as long as they haven’t been permanently overwritten.
To recover deleted Ring videos using data recovery software like Disk Drill (source):
- Download and install the data recovery software on your computer.
- Connect your Ring device or access your cloud storage location.
- Launch the recovery software and scan the storage location.
- Preview and select the deleted Ring videos you want to restore.
- Recover the videos to another safe location on your computer.
As long as the deleted videos haven’t been permanently overwritten by new data, this process can restore them from the Ring device or cloud. But it’s important to act quickly before the videos are permanently deleted after 60 days.
Permanently Deleting Ring Videos
When you delete a Ring video from your account, it is removed from your video library and event timeline. However, the video file may still exist on Ring’s servers for some time. This is typical for cloud-based services – deletion just removes your access to the file. If you want to fully scrub a video from existence, there are a few options:
You can use a third party video scrubbing service like VideoScrubber.com. They use military-grade processes to overwrite video files multiple times, rendering them unrecoverable. This prevents even forensic data recovery. However, this only works if you first download the Ring video file to your own device.
Another option is to delete your entire Ring account. According to Ring’s privacy policy, they claim to delete all your personal data, including videos, within 30 days after account cancellation. However, some deleted data may remain in backups for up to a year. So account deletion is not a surefire way to immediately scrub all video history.
In comparison, typical video deletion that you do from the app only removes your access and listing. The video file itself likely remains intact on Ring’s cloud storage. So if you want to prevent any possibility of your deleted videos being accessed in the future, use a video scrubbing service after downloading your files.
Who Can Access Deleted Ring Videos
Only the primary Ring account owner has the ability to permanently delete videos from Ring’s servers. Other users who are granted shared access to the account, such as family members or roommates, can view and download videos, but not delete them.
According to Ring’s privacy policy, Ring and its parent company Amazon can access stored and deleted videos for purposes such as maintaining the service, troubleshooting issues, complying with legal obligations, and improving products and services. However, they claim to not view personal videos without consent.
Law enforcement may request access to users’ Ring videos by obtaining a warrant or subpoena. According to reports, police have partnered with Ring to quickly request and access users’ footage for investigations through the Neighbors Public Safety Service. This has raised concerns about privacy and surveillance.
While Ring states that users must consent before police can access videos, some critics argue that users may feel pressured to comply with requests and that the process lacks transparency. There are also worries that the widespread adoption of connected home cameras is normalizing increased surveillance.
Deleting Your Ring Account
Ring allows users to delete their entire account. To do this, you need to sign in to your Ring dashboard and go to “Account” > “Manage Your Data.” Here you will see an option to “Delete Data.” Selecting this will start the account deletion process.
When you delete your Ring account, all of your personal data will be permanently removed from Ring’s systems, including your profile information, device history, event history, and cloud videos. According to Ring’s support article, cloud videos are deleted within 30 days after starting the account deletion process. So your videos will not be immediately deleted, but Ring states they cannot be recovered after 30 days.
Before deleting your account, Ring recommends you download any important videos you want to keep. You can do this through the Ring app. Once your account is deleted, there is no way to recover the cloud videos.
Alternatives for Video Storage
If you want an alternative to Ring’s cloud storage that gives you more control over your videos, there are some other options to consider. Here are a few of the top alternatives for securely storing videos from your video doorbell or home security camera:
Local Network Storage – Rather than relying on the cloud, you can store video recordings locally on a networked hard drive or NAS (network attached storage) device in your home. This gives you full ownership and control of the video files. Products like the WD My Cloud allow you to access your local storage remotely. The downside is you have to purchase the hardware and manage the storage yourself.
Self-hosted Cloud – For more tech-savvy users, services like FreedomBox or Nextcloud allow you to host your own private cloud storage server. This involves setting up a server, managing your own security, etc. But it gives you the most control over your data. You can selectively share videos with law enforcement if needed.
Encrypted Cloud Storage – There are encrypted cloud storage services like pCloud and Mega that let you securely upload videos for storage in the cloud. They provide client-side encryption so only you control the decryption keys. Prices are comparable or cheaper than Ring’s cloud fees.
The best option depends on your budget, technical skills, and desired level of control. But solutions like local network storage or encrypted cloud let you store videos securely without relying on Ring’s services. Just be sure to consider ongoing costs and complexity.
Conclusion
In summary, when you delete a video from your Ring account, Ring initially just marks it as deleted but keeps it on their servers for up to 60 days. During this time, the video remains potentially accessible to Ring, law enforcement, and hackers before being permanently deleted.
To ensure your videos are completely removed, it’s best to manually delete videos from your Ring account and then follow up by deleting your entire Ring account after 30 days. This will trigger the permanent deletion of all your Ring videos from their servers.
Be mindful of who may request or access your Ring videos, and consider using an alternate method like local storage if you want to keep videos more private. Evaluate whether keeping Ring videos indefinitely is necessary, or if you can routinely delete older footage you no longer need.
Managing your Ring videos and account is key to maintaining control over your data. Be proactive about deleting videos you don’t need to minimize risks.