Protecting your privacy and keeping Ting secure are core principles that guide us when delivering our fire prevention service. Whether within the Ting Sensor, the mobile app, or our backend systems, security and privacy are built into every step.
Privacy
Your safety and privacy are our priority. We limit the collection and use of personal information to that which is necessary to reliably deliver the Ting service to you.
Security
Our disciplined approach to security is designed to keep your data protected. All aspects of Ting undergo security assessments – including rigorous vulnerability and penetration tests by trusted third parties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Overview
What’s your company’s stance on my privacy and security?
Protecting your privacy and keeping Ting secure are core principles for us in delivering this service to you.
By design, we limit the collection and use of personal information to that which is necessary to reliably deliver Ting service to you. As always, we encourage you to review our Privacy Policy where we provide details for you on the collection and use of personal information through the Service.
We build security into Ting by design. Please refer to the FAQs in this section where we explain in greater detail how we secure Ting. Security threats are always evolving and changing, but we’re poised to stay one step ahead. We’ll update this information as needed.
Don’t see what you are looking for in this FAQ section? Ask away – Click here to submit your question.
How do you certify that Ting is secure?
We’re proud of our security, but we also know our word is not enough.
The Ting sensor, the app, and our Ting servers undergo regular, rigorous vulnerability and penetration tests by an independent, accredited 3rd party security firm.
Additionally, we are SOC-2 Certified.
How do you ensure trust and prevent a hacker from pretending to be the Ting sensor, my Ting app, or your Ting servers?
Yes. In fact, it is required, not optional. We believe it is really important in helping protect your account.
We employ Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) while you set up your account and install your sensor (which as you know takes about 2 minutes total). In fact, 2FA is employed if you ever need to reset your password, or decide to change to a different Wi-Fi network (for instance, if you’ve changed internet providers, upgraded your Wi-Fi router, etc.). This thwarts attackers who might otherwise attempt to gain control of your account and reset your password.
Do you have default or hardcoded passwords like some other smart home technology?
Not at all. Ting does not use default or hardcoded passwords for hackers to exploit.
What does Ting detect?
Ting detects micro-arcing, the precursor to electrical fires, that develops in faulty wiring, loose connections, and malfunctioning devices (e.g. arcing in a wall outlet, your home’s electrical panel, a heated blanket). Ting also monitors the power entering your home and detects hazards linked to utility equipment that may need repair.
Ting Sensor
Does the Ting sensor sense anything else? (What other things are inside?)
The Ting sensor does not have microphones, cameras, motion detectors, speakers or other sensors that collect information about you or your home.
Ting quietly focuses on what matters most – analyzing your home’s electrical health through complex signal processing.
There is one more ‘sensor’ inside – an internal temperature sensor on your Ting sensor’s ‘circuit board’ – similar to how your smartphone or home computer have a temperature sensor to monitor their operating temperatures.
I’m concerned about news stories about hackers taking over smart home cameras and monitors – can Ting be ‘taken over’?
No, there is nothing to ‘take over’. This aspect of Ting is really simple, but really important, especially if you’ve read about hackers taking over home cameras and smart devices.
Ting is designed to be different. Unlike those other devices, there are no control features or options in your Ting app that can be used to configure, change, turn off/on, or otherwise govern your Ting sensor.
Additionally, there is no online web access to your account. Unlike those monitors and cameras in the news, once the Ting installation process is complete, there is zero communication between the Ting sensor and the user’s Ting app on their smartphone, and no web account to take over.
What if the firmware (software inside my Ting sensor) needs to be updated?
Here’s the great news – unlike other smart home devices, you never have to worry about updating your sensor’s firmware.
When you install Ting, the sensor will automatically update its firmware in case we published a more recent version after your sensor was packaged in its retail box.
When we deploy new Ting features, performance updates, or even required security patches to your sensor’s firmware, we utilize a fully secure method – remotely conducting these ‘software updates’ to minimize any security threats – and, so you never have to think about it.
Ting App & Wi-Fi Connection
Does Ting use location services to track the location of my smartphone?
No. The Ting Sensor App is never used to track the location of your smartphone. This is true even if you happen to leave location services on after you install Ting.
Importantly, the location where Ting is installed is relevant to the Ting Service; in contrast, the location your smartphone with the Ting Sensor app is not.
Location information is only checked once from your smartphone at the time of installation to register the home location where Ting Service is being provided.
(for more on how to turn location services off and on, click here.
Whisker Labs does not check, consume or otherwise utilize location data from your smartphone once installation is complete.
To be clear, this is a ‘one-time’ location verification required for Ting service activation.
Does Ting assume the Wi-Fi network is fully ‘hardened’ and expertly secured?
NO, we don’t assume that a Wi-Fi network is optimized for security; we’ve designed Ting to be secure independent of your network settings.
Yet, security is a shared responsibility. And we encourage all homeowners to secure their wireless networks.
We assume that most homeowners are NOT network experts. In turn, we assume your WiFi may not be as secure as you might like; there are differing levels of security and access control that can be set up on a Wi-Fi network.
When it comes to wireless communications to support your Ting service, we know that the specific security configuration you have employed for your home network may not be the strongest, and that’s OK. To be clear, we don’t require a secure Wi-Fi connection for your Ting Sensor on your network to support secure communications between the Ting sensor and our servers.
However, we strongly recommend against connecting Ting to an open network, or to a network that has outdated and insufficient security applied (WEP). A best practice that we highly recommend is to secure your wireless networks using current, industry-proven methods that are easily configurable on your network router.
How do you prevent someone from ‘snooping’ in on Ting’s wireless communications across my Wi-Fi network?
Continuing from the above question, all data communications use strong encryption. What does this mean?
It means even if your Wi-Fi network security is not the strongest available, and/or you are not using a virtual private network (VPN) solution for your connected smart home devices, the ‘data packets’ sent between your Ting sensor and our Ting servers, and between our Ting servers and your Ting app, are fully secure.
This means the data is not ‘out in the open’ for someone who might be ‘sniffing’ the local Wi-Fi network to see what they can glean.