Video Surveillance: Navigating Compliance and Storage Challenges

Video surveillance is an essential tool for a wide range of industries from healthcare and retail to manufacturing and law enforcement. While its use is growing exponentially, organizations are grappling with several challenges:

• Lack of federal compliance minimums for retention periods

• Diverse state and industry-specific compliance guidelines

• Capacity, quality, and accessibility issues

This article explains some of the common pitfalls that organizations encounter with video surveillance, and the proactive measures they can take, such as implementing a strong cloud storage solution with immutable, offsite backup—to meet ever-changing compliance standards and regulations.

Video compliance is more than just a formality

Compliance in video surveillance is more than a box to check—it's a critical component of a company’s operational, legal, and financial strategy. From proper camera placement to robust account security and physical storage redundancy, there is a lot to get right and doing so means addressing potential problems proactively.

Start with strategic camera placement

Proper camera placement is the first step in ensuring surveillance systems capture the right footage to meet compliance, safety, and operational requirements. Whether it’s providing evidence for crimes, monitoring critical activities, or minimizing liability risks, where cameras are placed can make or break the effectiveness of a surveillance system.

Concentrate camera placement on areas of high traffic like portals to and from the premises. In a hospital setting, emergency entrances should be given special attention since they are frequently accessed and critical areas of activity. Storerooms in pharmacies and on shop floors should be given a high degree of coverage as a theft prevention measure.

Compliance also includes what cameras should not capture—respecting privacy laws and operational guidelines. In healthcare settings, cameras should avoid capturing personal health information (PHI) found on medical charts or computer screens. Similarly, in retail, cameras must not monitor sensitive areas like changing rooms.

Securing mission-critical systems

Compliance requirements often mandate that surveillance footage is always accessible, regardless of disruptions such as cyberattacks or natural disasters. To meet these demands, organizations must prioritize both account security and location redundancy.

Account security

Strong account security practices are the backbone of any compliant surveillance system. Here’s what organizations should focus on:

• Login protection — Implement multi-factor authentication and strict access controls to prevent unauthorized access, even if credentials become compromised.

• Audit trails — Maintain clear records of who accesses sensitive footage and when, ensuring accountability.

• Encryption and immutability — Store footage in encrypted, immutable cloud storage to prevent tampering and unauthorized modifications. This additional layer of security safeguards against both internal and external threats.

Location redundancy

Redundancy ensures footage remains accessible even in the face of disasters. Storing data in more than one physical location protects against local disruptions like power outages, hardware failures, or severe weather events. Offsite cloud storage solutions provide an ideal backup, ensuring compliance and accessibility at all times. Because primary backups have now become a favorite target of hackers, backing up a second copy in the cloud is now considered a best practice for mitigating the impact of a ransomware attack.

Risk management and liability protection

While compliance is the foundation of a robust video surveillance strategy, businesses must also consider the broader implications of insurance and liability. Surveillance footage often plays a critical role in these contexts, especially if footage is missing or tampered with.

Insurance requirements

Many insurance providers require businesses to maintain a comprehensive surveillance system as a condition for coverage. Cameras not only deter criminal activity but also provide valuable evidence in the event of a claim. Non-compliance with insurance requirements could result in denied claims or increased premiums.

Liability concerns

Surveillance footage is a key piece of evidence in civil disputes, where millions of dollars can be at stake. From slip-and-fall claims to employee misconduct cases, video evidence can protect businesses from frivolous lawsuits.

Failure to maintain compliant surveillance systems can lead to severe consequences, including:

• Legal, regulatory, and financial — Non-compliance can result in millions of dollars in lawsuits, fines for breaches of compliance, and costly efforts to rectify non-compliant systems.

• Reputational and operational risks — Privacy violations or security breaches can damage trust, harm public perception, and lead to operational disruptions, including breaches of Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

• Liability and insurance challenges — Non-compliant systems may hinder investigations, increase liability exposure, and lead to higher insurance premiums or denial of claims.

Discover Wasabi surveillance video expertise

When it comes to storing surveillance data, it’s a good idea to leverage a strong offsite and immutable cloud storage solution. Wasabi Surveillance Cloud is a comprehensive solution that seamlessly integrates cloud bridge software with hot cloud storage. You can quickly transfer video surveillance data from on-prem storage to the Wasabi cloud without altering current workflows.

With transparent pricing and no hidden fees, Wasabi makes it easy to access your data anytime and add bottomless scalability to your existing infrastructure.