Ring launches Familiar Faces and new encryption in the UAE

Ring has begun rolling out its ‘Familiar Faces’ feature to eligible customers in the United Arab Emirates. This opt-in facial recognition tool allows users to label recognized individuals, such as family members or regular visitors, enabling specific notifications like ‘Mom at Front Door’ instead of generic motion alerts.

Users can maintain a directory of up to 50 profiles. Unnamed profiles are automatically deleted after 30 days. To address privacy, Ring states that facial data is encrypted, remains associated with the customer’s account, and is not shared with third parties. The company also provides prompts regarding visitor consent in accordance with local laws.

Alongside this rollout, Ring is introducing ‘TAKE’ (Throw Away the Key Encryption), a phased encryption update. This system uses rotating keys and allows Ring to access temporary cloud-held copies to facilitate features like Smart Alerts before deleting them. Once the rollout is complete, TAKE is intended to become the default encryption setting for Ring customers globally.