Why CCTV Redaction Software is Important for Maintaining Privacy

As CCTV usage increases in today’s tech-driven world, so does the amount of sensitive information captured in footage. Explore how to protect this data and ensure compliance with CCTV redaction.

You cannot ignore the legitimate uses of CCTV for security, prevention, and investigation of crimes. 

Facts show that the usage of CCTV has led to gradual but prominent changes in crime rates in several locations. According to a case study conducted in Baltimore, Maryland:

"The installation of security cameras in high-crime areas resulted in a substantial reduction in criminal activities. Over 6 months:"

• Robberies decreased by 35%
• Assaults decreased by 20%
• Burglaries decreased by 40%

However, criminal activity is not the only thing CCTVs are recording – they record EVERYTHING in the vicinity!

In this blog, we will learn why protecting the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of individuals visible in CCTV footage is essential before sharing it with the public or other agencies and how advanced CCTV redaction software can help in this matter. 

Importance of CCTV Redaction

With a growing number of CCTV cameras worldwide, there is a lot of video footage of innocent citizens going about their days.

To provide necessary identity protection for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and comply with regulations such as GDPR, California State Bill 748 (SB-748), FOIA Redaction Rules, and others, it's important for organizations to implement CCTV redaction software. 

By safeguarding people's privacy when captured in video footage, CCTV video redaction provides a common ground for effective policing and the privacy interests of the people and the community. It further allows organizations to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations. 

An efficient video redacting software for CCTV makes law enforcement work a bit easier and resolves public concerns regarding their privacy.

Learn more about video redaction software in our comprehensive guide.

CCTVs For Criminal Investigation Assistance

As discussed earlier, CCTV monitoring is significantly useful in solving crimes.

An empirical analysis of the value of CCTV surveillance cameras as an investigative tool concluded that:

"Crimes found a direct correlation between useful CCTV footage and the chances of crimes being solved."

But that’s not all—CCTVs help solve crimes and detect crimes that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Too Much Data – Too Much PII

Although CCTVs' role is crucial for better policing, we cannot ignore the prerequisites for data handling they bring.

For instance, if a video shows many people and you want to redact one specific person among many, how will you do that? Deleting the video in its entirety is definitely not possible!

Privacy laws cannot be ignored, and PII redaction is important.

To better understand the process of redaction on a video, have a look at our blog on the redaction of a single person in a video.

Compliances Demand Redaction!

Governments have passed data privacy acts to go to bat for them to ensure that innocent bystanders are comfortably accommodated with modern security measures.

The most famous of these is the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The CCPA, for example, doesn’t just apply to businesses based or originating from California.

Every company conducting business with or collecting information on California residents must comply with CCPA.

Non-compliance results in rather hefty fines, and companies risk losing customer loyalty and trust.

Therefore, when the footage changes hands or makes it to trial, the faces and other personally identifiable information of the bystanders is visible to the public.

It has been established that the easiest way to comply with data privacy regulations and legislation is to redact PII before the footage reaches the hands of the authorities.

Redaction Is A Solution – But Not An Easy One

However, this is only half the solution, considering the amount of time it takes to redact content and information from evidence such as individual faces or license plates appearing in every frame of the video.

Multiply that with over 3.3 trillion hours of video footage captured daily, and the solution starts to look worse than the problem, with legislations like AB-748 meticulously outlining the public’s right to timely access to public records.

The Better Option – Automatic CCTV Redaction Software

To overcome this problem, the answer is CCTV redaction software that automates the redaction process. An automated CCTV redaction software will effectively cut down redaction time in half if not more.

Benefits Of CCTV Redaction Software

• Less Processing Time: A person takes 5 – 10 hours to manually redact 1 hour of surveillance footage, while redacting software would take much less than an hour.
• Less Overhead: Using AI to take over the redaction process, agencies don’t have to invest in human resources to do the same task in twice as much time.
• Improved Privacy: Hide sensitive personal and commercial data to maintain personal information security and confidentiality.
• Improved Accuracy: Redacting with artificial intelligence is more consistent and accurate and avoids mistakes like missing frames.
• Improved Transparency: The public will find solace in the fact that their data and privacy are protected by intelligent software and not fallible humans.
• Improved Compliance: Agencies can ensure better compliance with CCTV redaction software by avoiding human error.

Redact CCTV Footage with VIDIZMO's CCTV Redaction Software

VIDIZMO provides AI-powered redaction software to meet your organization’s needs. It empowers you to redact personal information in videos, audio recordings, and images. 

Unlike several existing tools in the market, VIDIZMO’s Redaction tool is not limited to face redaction. This is very handy when it comes to CCTV footage.

Software designed to perform CCTV redaction should redact entire bodies along with the face for complete privacy – which is exactly what VIDIZMO does.

You can also redact other personally identifiable information (PII), like license plates and other identifiable objects.

The redaction software can either be opted as a standalone redaction software for your CCTV videos or as an add-on to the complete Digital Evidence Management System.

The redaction tool is the ideal solution for CCTV footage redaction as it allows the user to perform both automatic and manual redaction with ease.

Automatic redaction is done through AI-powered, on-demand detection, which can be redacted at one click, and manual redaction assists in redacting custom-defined elements.

Are you interested in knowing what VIDIZMO offers you?

The list of features is given below:

• Automatic redaction of faces, people, license plates, screens, and other custom objects in videos using artificial intelligence.
• Automatic redaction of PII in audio recordings.
• Automatic redaction along with manual redaction capabilities for more accurate results.
• Redaction of multiple digital files simultaneously in a time-efficient manner.
• A built-in editing tool to trim, cut, or delete unwanted parts of videos and audio.
• Various options to blur, pixelate, and add a redaction box over elements identifying PII.
• Automatic detection and tracking of faces, people, or other objects frame by frame in videos.
• In terms of compliance requirements and privacy concerns, it helps you fulfill compliances such as CJIS, GDPR, California State Bill 748, FOIA, etc.

Not only redaction, but it also provides a range of additional features such as:

• Automatic transcription (speech to text) of digital files in up to languages and its translation into more than 50+ languages of your choice.
• Flexible deployment options for digital evidence files, such as on-premises, in your private cloud, commercial/government, or in the hybrid infrastructure.
• Secure ingestion, storage, management, analysis, and sharing of digital evidence within a centralized repository and much more.

To learn more about our product, feel free to explore our product website or contact us.

Or you can opt for a 7-day free trial!

Key Takeaways

• CCTV redaction software is essential for protecting Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in surveillance footage and maintaining compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and CJIS.

• The rise in CCTV surveillance has led to a significant increase in captured sensitive data, making privacy-preserving technologies more important than ever.

• Redacting faces, bodies, license plates, and other identifiable information from video footage helps balance public security with individual privacy rights.

• Manual redaction is time-consuming and prone to human error, while AI-powered redaction tools automate the process with greater speed, accuracy, and efficiency.

• Automatic CCTV redaction software reduces overhead costs by minimizing labor-intensive workflows and processing multiple videos simultaneously.

• Software like VIDIZMO’s redaction solution enables both automatic and manual redaction, covering video, audio, and image files while supporting advanced editing features.

• Efficient redaction improves public trust by ensuring that surveillance data shared with external parties does not expose private information unnecessarily.

• Compliance with legal frameworks is more manageable using intelligent redaction tools that detect and redact PII consistently across large volumes of content.

• Industries such as law enforcement, education, and government rely on video redaction software to ensure timely, secure, and compliant access to surveillance footage.

• Choosing a robust redaction solution allows organizations to maintain transparency, uphold data privacy, and meet legal standards while benefiting from the full potential of CCTV footage.

People Also Ask

What is CCTV redaction software?

CCTV redaction software is a digital tool that uses artificial intelligence to detect and blur or obscure sensitive information in surveillance footage. It helps organizations protect personally identifiable information (PII), such as faces, license plates, and full bodies, to maintain privacy and comply with legal regulations.

How does CCTV redaction software protect personal data?

This software detects sensitive data like faces, people, or license plates in video footage and applies a redaction layer such as blur, pixelation, or masking. Some advanced tools also allow redaction in audio and images, ensuring complete privacy protection across various file types.

Who should use CCTV redaction software?

Organizations such as law enforcement, schools, government departments, and businesses that collect or share surveillance footage should use CCTV redaction software. It helps maintain the privacy of individuals while allowing the secure and compliant distribution of video content.

What information can be redacted using CCTV redaction software?

CCTV redaction software can redact faces, full bodies, license plates, weapons, and other custom objects. Many tools also allow users to redact audio PII, such as names or personal details spoken in recordings.

Can CCTV redaction software help meet GDPR and CCPA compliance requirements?

Yes, this type of software is specifically designed to support data privacy laws such as GDPR, CCPA, FOIA, and CJIS. It ensures that any PII captured in footage is properly redacted before being shared, reducing the risk of legal violations or fines.

How accurate is automated CCTV redaction software?

Modern CCTV redaction software uses AI to ensure high accuracy in detecting and redacting sensitive elements. It minimizes the chance of human error and ensures consistent privacy protection, even across long or complex video files.

Is there an option to manually redact content in CCTV footage?

Yes, most comprehensive solutions include manual redaction tools alongside automated features. This allows users to manually define areas to redact, make adjustments, or handle custom objects that may not be automatically detected.

Can multiple videos be redacted at once?

Some advanced solutions support bulk redaction, allowing users to redact multiple video files simultaneously. This feature is ideal for agencies or organizations managing high volumes of surveillance footage regularly.

Is there a free trial available for CCTV redaction software?

Many providers offer a free trial period, typically around 7 days, giving users the opportunity to explore features such as automatic redaction, manual editing, and secure storage before making a purchase decision.