Video doorbells and cameras: privacy settings

Last checked: 19 Oct 2026

Video doorbells and cameras record video, often sound, and sometimes recognise faces. These are the settings each maker documents for recording less, keeping recordings for less time, and deleting them. If your camera can see beyond your own property, UK law also expects a few things from you (see the UK rules).

Ring

Turn off sound

Ring says this stops sound being streamed or recorded. You can still turn sound on once to talk during Live View.

Ring's page says you need a compatible Ring subscription to change it.

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Blank out areas (Privacy Zones)

Areas the camera won't show or record, such as a neighbour's window. Up to two per device.

Ring says motion behind a zone can still start a recording, and zones don't move if the camera does. Not available on the Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam, Stick Up Cam with Pan-Tilt Mount, Stick Up Cam (1st Gen) or Video Doorbell (1st Gen).

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How long videos are kept

Choose from 1 to 180 days for each device. Ring says the UK default is 30 days. New settings only apply to videos recorded afterwards.

Needs a subscription. In the US, Ring says the default is 30 days for 4K devices and 60 days for others.

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Delete videos

Ring says deleting is permanent. A video you've already shared by link may still be viewable through that link.

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End-to-end encryption

Ring says only your enrolled phones can then play your videos, and Ring itself can't. If you lose your 12-word passphrase, Ring can't get the videos back.

Some features stop working, including viewing on ring.com, Alexa and Fire TV, Shared Users and Ring's AI features. A few older devices don't support it.

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Familiar Faces (face recognition)

Ring says it's off by default and can be turned on or off for each device. Deleting a profile deletes its face data and images.

Needs a paid Ring plan. In the UK, Ring recommends telling visitors their face data is processed, and says you must delete a visitor's profile if they withdraw consent.

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AI features

Turns off Video Search, Video Descriptions, Single Event Alert, Unusual Event Alert and Familiar Faces together, or one at a time.

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Neighbourhood features: in the US, Ring's Neighbors feed can be turned off under Control Center → Neighbors, and Search Party (finding lost dogs with nearby cameras) under Control Center → Search Party (Ring). Ring UK says you can turn off Search Party for Dogs in Control Centre, but its UK help pages don't give the steps yet. Ring says sharing video with police through its Community Requests is voluntary, and that once shared it can't be taken back (Ring US).

Police requests: Ring says it only hands over videos in response to valid legal demands or genuine emergencies, can only reach videos that aren't end-to-end encrypted, and normally tells the account owner first.

Google Nest

Microphone

Google says that with the microphone off, the camera doesn't stream or record sound, and that it's off by default when you first set up a camera or doorbell.

Audio recording, on the same screen, keeps live sound but doesn't save it with recordings.

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Familiar face detection

Turn it off, or delete one face or the whole face library. Google says the camera still alerts you to a person, but won't recognise faces.

Google says you may need visitors' consent depending on where you live. Needs Google Home Premium.

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Delete or turn off video history

Google says deleted history can't be recovered and it doesn't keep backups. On newer models, Video history → No video history deletes what's saved and stops saving more.

Google deletes history automatically after the period your plan includes (for example up to 30 or 60 days).

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Turn the camera off when you're home

Uses your household's phone locations. Google says that while someone is home, the video stream, alerts and saved history are off.

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Google advises avoiding recording public paths or neighbours' property, and getting visitors' consent if you use face alerts.

Arlo and Eufy

Arlo: microphone

Turns the camera's microphone on or off. Arlo says settings vary by device.

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Arlo: delete recordings

Delete one recording or several. In the UK, Arlo says how long clips are kept depends on your plan: 7, 14 or 30 days.

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Eufy: sound on a doorbell

Turns sound recording on or off for the doorbell.

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Eufy: delete videos

Eufy says this also deletes the video from the device's own storage and can't be undone. It says videos stay on the device unless you pay for its optional cloud storage.

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UK rules if your camera sees beyond your property

The ICO, the UK's data protection regulator, says that if your camera captures someone else's property, a public area or a shared space, data protection law applies to you. It says you must:

have a clear reason for using the camera
not capture more than you need (Privacy Zones and careful angling help)
let people know, for example with a sign
in most cases, give people a copy of recordings they're in if they ask
delete footage regularly or automatically (a shorter storage time helps)
stop recording a person if they object and you have no good reason to continue

The ICO says consent is rarely needed for home CCTV, and that it's unlikely to make an owner move a camera. If someone else's camera records you, you can ask the owner for a copy of the footage, ask them to delete it, or object; the ICO says owners should usually reply within a month. The ICO notes its guidance is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act. See also getting a copy of your data.

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This page describes your options and how organisations say they handle requests. It isn't legal advice. See About & sourcing to report a correction.