A minute or two after a visitor presses your doorbell, what they said appears on your dashboard (and in your email), translated into your language, with the original words underneath. If they spoke your language already, you see their words exactly as heard. If they rang and said nothing, the visit says "no speech heard" and no email is sent.
It is not a live interpreter: Ring finishes the recording first, so you read what was said shortly after it was said, and Doorstep Translator cannot help you reply.
Yes. On your dashboard, under Try it, press Start a test. For the next 15 minutes, motion alerts from your shared devices are processed too, so stand in front of any shared camera (or press your doorbell) and speak a sentence or two in any language. Results appear on your dashboard a minute or two later, marked "test", and are never emailed. Ring only alerts when the device records, so motion recording must be on.
Ring sent the recording without audio. In the Ring app open the doorbell's Device Settings, then Privacy Settings, and turn on Audio Streaming and Recording (the exact wording varies by device and app version).
No. Doorstep Translator only uses the recording Ring makes when someone presses your doorbell (or during a test you start). It never listens live, ignores motion alerts, and keeps no audio: the sound is turned into text on our own server and deleted within seconds.
No, by design. It never identifies or describes people, uses no face or voice recognition, and the language a visitor spoke is only used to translate that one visit, never counted or compiled.
Use Delete these words on any visit, or Delete all my data on your dashboard, or remove Doorstep Translator in the Ring app. Visits are deleted automatically after 7 days anyway. Encrypted host backups age out within 5 days (see the privacy policy).
Anyone can report a suspected misuse of Doorstep Translator, whether or not they use it: for example a device used to record or follow a person. Email michaelbflynn@gmail.com with the subject "Doorstep Translator misuse report" and whatever you know (an address or street is enough; you do not need an account). We acknowledge reports within two business days. Where misuse is confirmed we suspend the account, stop all processing for it and delete its data, and we pass the report to Ring where Ring's terms call for it. Doorstep Translator never identifies people, so it cannot be used to find out who someone is.
Email michaelbflynn@gmail.com. We reply within two business days.