What an exciting time we live in, technology is progressing so fast that it’s simply fascinating, and the latest technology release by Axis certainly interests us!
Axis Live Privacy Shield may be the answer to privacy concerns that often come with surveillance cameras in public places, the software runs directly on the camera and allows monitoring without collection of personal data such as people’s images (we spoke about images being classified as PII (personal identifiable information) and the lawful basis under GDPR requirements for CCTV user, in this blog post).
Let’s have a more detailed look…
AXIS Live Privacy Shield is analytics software launched by AXIS Communications in June 2019 and compatible with a range of selected Axis Cameras (the software runs directly on the cameras, cutting down the costs of servers and making the software very easy to scale and set up).
The software has been created to tackle the increasing issue of PII processing and collection in surveillance, an issue that many businesses are encountering, especially when we think about public-facing businesses in the leisure, entertainment and retail industries.
AXIS Live Privacy Shield masks individuals’ images both on live and recorded video, but still allows the monitoring of their movements. The personal images of the individuals won’t therefore be recognisable, while their shape, movements and behaviour will be visible and allow the necessary security monitoring.
The background scene is still fully visible through the masked shape,
making the monitoring of the scene easier and more accurate; this is possible through the analytics software, which “remembers” the background image and updates it over a period of time, which can be determined by the user in the settings area.
How does it work?
The masking of the images happens through an analysis of pixel changes, applying the masking only to those areas where the pixels change. This results in a see-through mask covering the individual images, but still showing movements in real time (a useful feature to make sure that no one identity is being revealed by accident); the details of contours of the mask, as well as the frame rate (up to full frame rate, depending on camera resolution) can be customised based on user needs.
The masking will be automatically applied to the entire field of view of the camera however this can be altered if the operator needs full view of certain areas in the scene, such as conveyor belts or tills areas for shops. This is possible by simply going into the settings and “excluding” the specific area from the masking.
Wait a moment… what if something happens and I need to identify someone?
AXIS Live Privacy Shield can be set to deliver a separate “unshielded” video stream only accessible by authorised security personnel, in this way you can make sure that, by necessity, your dedicated security team can access the footage to identify involved parties.
As always, at NW Security Group we test all new technologies and products to make sure we can offer the best advice and feedback to our customers.
We are in the process of testing this new technology and will soon let you know our thoughts…
Compatible products can be seen here 
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Have questions? Just get in touch!
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