Ring’s smart doorbell doesn’t immediately revoke access when an account password changes

Up until January, Ring, a smart doorbell creator now owned by Amazon, didn’t revoke users’ access to its app when their account’s password changed. This allowed exes and other people to continue monitoring recorded video even after their permissions should have been removed, The Information reports today. Ring says it adjusted the app in January so that it now eventually revokes app access when a password changes, but that removal can take hours to set in. It isn’t immediate.

Although Ring doorbells are outside the house and not recording what goes on indoors, it still isn’t great for users to retain access to who’s entering and exiting a home at all times. Standard practice should be that once a password is changed, users should lose access to the app until they reenter the updated password, but Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff told The Information that immediately kicking users off would slow the app down. This password news isn’t good, and there’s nothing users can do to speed up the process, so if you change your Ring password, just be aware that other users might still briefly have access.