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Closed-circuit television
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Not to be confused with Closed captioning.

"CCTV" redirects here. For the state television broadcaster of China, see China Central Television. For other uses, see
CCTV (disambiguation).

Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance,[1][2] is the use of video cameras to
transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that
the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point-to-point (P2P), point-to-multipoint (P2MP),
or mesh wired or wireless links. Even though almost all video cameras fit this definition, the term is most
often applied to those used for surveillance in areas that require additional security or ongoing monitoring
(Videotelephony is seldom called "CCTV"[3][4]).

Surveillance of the public using CCTV is common in many areas

around the world. Video surveillance has generated significant
debate about balancing its use with individuals' right to privacy even
when in public.[5][6][7]

In industrial plants, CCTV equipment may be used to observe parts

of a process from a central control room, especially if the
environments observed are dangerous or inaccessible to humans.
CCTV systems may operate continuously or only as required to
monitor a particular event. A more advanced form of CCTV, using
Surveillance cameras on the corner of a
digital video recorders (DVRs), provides recording for possibly many building
years, with a variety of quality and performance options and extra
features (such as motion detection and email alerts). More recently,
decentralized IP cameras, perhaps equipped with megapixel
sensors, support recording directly to network-attached storage
devices, or internal flash for completely stand-alone operation.

By one estimate, there will be approximately 1 billion surveillance

cameras in use worldwide by 2021.[8][needs update] About 65% of
these cameras are installed in Asia. The growth of CCTV has been
slowing in recent years.[9][unreliable source?] The deployment of this Surveillance camera in a residential
technology has facilitated significant growth in state surveillance, a community
substantial rise in the methods of advanced social monitoring and
control, and a host of crime prevention measures throughout the
world.[10]

Contents

History
Technology

Application

Uses
Crime prevention

Crime solving

Body worn

Traffic flow monitoring Dome camera in Rotterdam central

metro station
Vehicle traffic

Pedestrian traffic

Management of infection

Increasing safety and security in public transport

Sporting events

Employee monitoring

Use in schools

Use in private homes

Criminal use

Use in shopping malls and retail stores

Counter-terrorism

Prevalence
Asia

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

South Africa

Latin America

Russia

Privacy

Technological developments
Computer-controlled analytics and identification

Retention, storage and preservation

IP cameras

Networking CCTV cameras

Wireless security cameras

Talking CCTV

Countermeasures

See also

References

Further reading

External links

History

An early mechanical CCTV system was developed in June 1927 by

Russian physicist Léon Theremin[11] (cf. Television in the Soviet
Union). Originally requested by CTO (the Soviet Council of Labor and
Defense), the system consisted of a manually-operated scanning-
transmitting camera and wireless shortwave transmitter and receiver,
with a resolution of a hundred lines. Having been commandeered by
Kliment Voroshilov, Theremin's CCTV system was demonstrated to
Joseph Stalin, Semyon Budyonny, and Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and
Closed circuit TV monitoring at the
subsequently installed in the courtyard of the Moscow Kremlin to
Central Police Control Station, Munich,
monitor approaching visitors.[11] Germany in 1973

Another early CCTV system was installed by Siemens AG at Test

Stand VII in Peenemünde, Nazi Germany in 1942, for observing the
launch of V-2 rockets.[12]

In the United States, the first commercial closed-circuit television

system became available in 1949 from Remington Rand and
designed by CBS Laboratories, called "Vericon".[13]

Vericon was advertised as not requiring a government permit, due to

the system using cabled connections between camera and monitor Desk in one of the regional control-
rooms of the National Police in the
rather than over-the-air transmission.[14]
Netherlands in 2017

Technology

The earliest video surveillance systems involved constant monitoring

because there was no way to record and store information. The
development of reel-to-reel media enabled the recording of CCTV control-room monitor wall for 176
surveillance footage. These systems required magnetic tapes to be open-street cameras in 2017
changed manually, which was a time-consuming, expensive and
unreliable process, with the operator having to manually thread the tape from the tape reel through the
recorder onto a take-up reel. Due to these shortcomings, video surveillance was not widespread. VCR
technology became available in the 1970s, making it easier to record and erase information, and the use of
video surveillance became more common.[15]

During the 1990s, digital multiplexing was developed, allowing several cameras to record at once, as well as
time lapse and motion-only recording. This saved time and money which then led to an increase in the use
of CCTV.[16]

Recently CCTV technology has been enhanced with a shift toward Internet-based products and systems,
and other technological developments.[17]

Application

Early CCTV systems were installed in central London by the Metropolitan Police between 1960 and 1965.[18]
By 1963 CCTV was being used in Munich to monitor traffic.[19]

Closed-circuit television was used as a form of pay-per-view theatre television for sports such as
professional boxing and professional wrestling, and from 1964 through 1970, the Indianapolis 500
automobile race. Boxing telecasts were broadcast live to a select number of venues, mostly theaters, where
viewers paid for tickets to watch the fight live.[20][21] The first fight with a closed-circuit telecast was Joe
Louis vs. Joe Walcott in 1948.[22] Closed-circuit telecasts peaked in popularity with Muhammad Ali in the
1960s and 1970s,[20][21] with "The Rumble in the Jungle" fight drawing 50 million CCTV viewers worldwide
in 1974,[23] and the "Thrilla in Manila" drawing 100 million CCTV viewers worldwide in 1975.[24] In 1985, the
WrestleMania I professional wrestling show was seen by over one million viewers with this scheme.[25] As
late as 1996, the Julio César Chávez vs. Oscar De La Hoya boxing fight had 750,000 viewers.[26] Although
closed-circuit television was gradually replaced by pay-per-view home cable television in the 1980s and
1990s, it is still in use today for most awards shows and other events that are transmitted live to most
venues but do not air as such on network television, and later re-edited for broadcast.[21]

In September 1968, Olean, New York was the first city in the United States to install CCTV video cameras
along its main business street in an effort to fight crime.[27]

Marie Van Brittan Brown received a patent for the design of a CCTV-based home security system in 1969.
(U.S. Patent 3,482,037 ).

Another early appearance was in 1973 in Times Square in New York City.[28] The NYPD installed it to deter
crime in the area; however, crime rates did not appear to drop much due to the cameras.[28] Nevertheless,
during the 1980s video surveillance began to spread across the country specifically targeting public
areas.[16] It was seen as a cheaper way to deter crime compared to increasing the size of the police
departments.[28] Some businesses as well, especially those that were prone to theft, began to use video
surveillance.[28] From the mid-1990s on, police departments across the country installed an increasing
number of cameras in various public spaces including housing projects, schools and public parks
departments.[28] CCTV later became common in banks and stores to discourage theft, by recording
evidence of criminal activity. In 1997, 3,100 CCTV systems were installed in public housing and residential
areas in New York City.[29]

Experiments in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s, including outdoor CCTV in Bournemouth in 1985, led to
several larger trial programs later that decade. The first use by local government was in King's Lynn,
Norfolk, in 1987.[30]

Uses

Crime prevention
Further information: crime prevention and predictive policing

A 2009 systematic review by researchers from Northeastern University and

University of Cambridge used meta-analytic techniques to pool the average
effect of CCTV on crime across 41 different studies.[31]

The studies included in the meta-analysis used quasi-experimental evaluation

designs that involve before-and-after measures of crime in experimental and
control areas.[31] However, several researchers have pointed to methodological
problems associated with this research literature. First, researchers have argued
that the British car park studies included in the meta-analysis cannot accurately The two-year-old James
Bulger being led away by
control for the fact that CCTV was introduced simultaneously with a range of his killers, recorded on
other security-related measures.[32] Second, some have noted that, in many of shopping centre CCTV in
the studies, there may be issues with selection bias since the introduction of 1993. This narrow-
bandwidth television
CCTV was potentially endogenous to previous crime trends.[33] In particular, the
system had a low frame
estimated effects may be biased if CCTV is introduced in response to crime rate.
trends.[34]

It has been argued that problems of selection bias and endogeneity

can be addressed by stronger research designs such as randomized
controlled trials and natural experiments. A 2017 review published in
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention
compiles seven studies that use such research designs. The studies
included in the review found that CCTV reduced crime by 24-28% in
public streets and urban subway stations. It also found that CCTV
could decrease unruly behaviour in football stadiums and theft in
supermarkets/mass merchant stores. However, there was no
evidence of CCTV having desirable effects in parking facilities or
suburban subway stations. Furthermore, the review indicates that Sign warning that premises are watched
by CCTV cameras
CCTV is more effective in preventing property crimes than in violent
crimes.[35]

Another question in the effectiveness of CCTV for policing is around

uptime of the system; in 2013 City of Philadelphia Auditor found that
the $15M system was operational only 32% of the time.[36] There is
strong anecdotal evidence that CCTV aids in detection and
conviction of offenders; for example, UK police forces routinely seek
CCTV recordings after crimes.[37] Moreover, CCTV has played a
crucial role in tracing the movements of suspects or victims and is
widely regarded by anti-terrorist officers as a fundamental tool in
Closed circuit television cameras
tracking terrorist suspects. Large-scale CCTV installations have
captured the perpetrator of the
Washington Navy Yard shooting, Aaron played a key part of the defenses against terrorism since the 1970s.
Alexis, during his rampage. Cameras have also been installed on public transport in the hope of
deterring crime.[38][39]

A more open question is whether most CCTV is cost-effective. While low-quality domestic kits are cheap,
the professional installation and maintenance of high definition CCTV is expensive.[40] Gill and Spriggs did a
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of CCTV in crime prevention that showed little monetary saving with the
installation of CCTV as most of the crimes prevented resulted in little monetary loss.[41] Critics however
noted that benefits of non-monetary value cannot be captured in a traditional Cost Effectiveness Analysis
and were omitted from their study.[41] A 2008 Report by UK Police Chiefs concluded that only 3% of crimes
were solved by CCTV.[42] In London, a Metropolitan Police report showed that in 2008 only one crime was
solved per 1000 cameras.[43] In some cases CCTV cameras have become a target of attacks
themselves.[44]

Cities such as Manchester in the UK are using DVR-based technology to improve accessibility for crime
prevention.[45]

In October 2009, an "Internet Eyes" website was announced which would pay members of the public to
view CCTV camera images from their homes and report any crimes they witnessed. The site aimed to add
"more eyes" to cameras which might be insufficiently monitored. Civil liberties campaigners criticized the
idea as "a distasteful and a worrying development".[46]

In 2013 Oaxaca hired deaf police officers to lip read conversations to uncover criminal conspiracies.[47]

In Singapore, since 2012, thousands of CCTV cameras have helped deter loan sharks, nab litterbugs, and
stop illegal parking, according to government figures.[48]

Crime solving
Further information: Criminal investigation

CCTV can also be used to help solve crimes. In London alone, six crimes are solved each day on average
using CCTV footage.[49]

Body worn
Main article: Body worn video

In recent years, the use of body worn video cameras has been introduced for a number of uses. For
example, as a new form of surveillance in law enforcement, with cameras located on a police officer's chest
or head.[50][51]

Traffic flow monitoring

Vehicle traffic
Main article: Traffic camera

Many cities and motorway networks have extensive traffic-monitoring systems, using closed-circuit
television to detect congestion and notice accidents.[52][unreliable source?] Many of these cameras however,
are owned by private companies and transmit data to drivers' GPS systems.

Highways England has a publicly owned CCTV network of over 3000 Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras covering the
British motorway and trunk road network. These cameras are primarily used to monitor traffic conditions
and are not used as speed cameras. With the addition of fixed cameras for the active traffic management
system, the number of cameras on the Highways England's CCTV network is likely to increase significantly
over the next few years.[53]

The London congestion charge is enforced by cameras positioned at the boundaries of and inside the
congestion charge zone, which automatically read the number plates of vehicles that enter the zone. If the
driver does not pay the charge then a fine will be imposed.[54] Similar systems are being developed as a
means of locating cars reported stolen.[55]

Other surveillance cameras serve as traffic enforcement cameras.[56]

Pedestrian traffic

In Mecca, CCTV cameras are used for monitoring (and thus managing) the flow of crowds.[57]

In the Philippines, barangay San Antonio used CCTV cameras and artificial intelligence software to detect
the formation of crowds during an outbreak of a disease. Security personnel were sent whenever a crowd
formed at a particular location in the city.[58][59][60][61]

Management of infection
Further information: Government by algorithm § Management of infection

Increasing safety and security in public transport

On a driver-only operated train CCTV cameras may allow the driver

to confirm that people are clear of doors before closing them and
starting the train.[62]

A trial by RET in 2011 with facial recognition cameras mounted on

trams made sure that people who were banned from them did not Digital Video Recorder for Public
Transport
sneak on anyway.[63]

Sporting events

Many sporting events in the United States use CCTV inside the venue, either to display on the stadium or
arena's scoreboard, or in the concourse or restroom areas to allow fans to view action outside the seating
bowl. The cameras send the feed to a central control center where a producer selects feeds to send to the
television monitors that fans can view. CCTV monitors for viewing the event by attendees are often placed
in lounges, hallways, and restrooms. In a trial with CCTV cameras, football club fans no longer needed to
identify themselves manually, but could pass freely after being authorized by the facial recognition
system.[64]

Employee monitoring
See also: Employee monitoring

Organizations use CCTV to monitor the actions of workers. Every action is recorded as an information block
with subtitles that explain the performed operation. This helps to track the actions of workers, especially
when they are making critical financial transactions, such as correcting or cancelling of a sale, withdrawing
money, or altering personal information.

Actions which an employer may wish to monitor could include:

Scanning of goods, selection of goods, introduction of price and quantity;

Input and output of operators in the system when entering passwords;

Deleting operations and modifying existing documents;

Implementation of certain operations, such as financial statements or operations with cash;

Moving goods, revaluation scrapping and counting;

Control in the kitchen of fast food restaurants;

Change of settings, reports and other official functions.

Each of these operations is transmitted with a description, allowing detailed monitoring of all actions of the
operator. Some systems allow the user to search for a specific event by time of occurrence and text
description, and perform statistical evaluation of operator behaviour. This allows the software to predict
deviations from the standard workflow and record only anomalous behaviour.[65]

Use in schools
Further information: Video surveillance in schools

In the United States, Britain, Canada,[66] Australia[67] and New Zealand, CCTV is widely used in schools due
to its success in preventing bullying, vandalism, monitoring visitors and maintaining a record of evidence of
a crime. There are some restrictions, cameras not being installed in areas where there is a "reasonable
expectation of privacy", such as bathrooms, gym locker areas, and private offices (unless consent by the
office occupant is given). Cameras are generally acceptable in hallways, parking lots, front offices where
students, employees, and parents come and go, gymnasiums, cafeterias, supply rooms, and classrooms.
Some teachers object to the installation of cameras.[68]

A study of high school students in Israeli schools shows that students' views on CCTV used in school are
based on how they think of their teachers, school, and authorities.[69] It also stated that most students do
not want CCTV installed inside a classroom.[69]

Use in private homes

Many homeowners choose to install CCTV systems either inside or outside their own homes, sometimes
both. CCTV cameras are an effective deterrent to potential intruders as their use increases the risk of
identification through the camera footage.[70] If someone scouts through an affluent suburb seeking the
easiest house to break into, having an obvious CCTV system, alarm or another security measure, makes the
house appear to be a more difficult target so they will likely move on to the next house.

Modern CCTV systems can be monitored through mobile phone apps which allows people to view live
footage of their house from anywhere they have internet coverage. Some systems provide motion detection
so when movement is detected, an alert can be sent to a phone.[71]

Criminal use

Criminals may use surveillance cameras to monitor the public. For example, a hidden camera at an ATM can
capture people's PINs as they are entered, without their knowledge. The devices are small enough not to be
noticed, and are placed where they can monitor the keypad of the machine as people enter their PINs.
Images may be transmitted wirelessly to the criminal. Even lawful surveillance cameras sometimes have
their data go into the hands of people who have no legal right to receive it.[72]

Use in shopping malls and retail stores

Theft is a huge concern for many department stores and shopping malls. CCTV helps to protect stores'
assets, and ensures the safety of employees and customers.[73]

Counter-terrorism
Further information: War on terror

Material collected by surveillance cameras has been used as a tool in post-event forensics to identify
tactics, techniques, and perpetrators of terrorist attacks. Furthermore, there are various projects − such as
INDECT − that aim to detect suspicious behaviours of individuals and crowds.[74] It has been argued that
terrorists will not be deterred by cameras, that terror attacks are not really the subject of the current use of
video surveillance and that terrorists might even see it as an extra channel for propaganda and publication
of their acts.[75][76] In Germany calls for extended video surveillance by the country's main political parties,
SPD, CDU, and CSU have been dismissed as "little more than a placebo for a subjective feeling of security"
by a member of the Left party.[77]

Prevalence

Asia

About 65% of CCTV cameras

in the world are installed in
Asia.[9] In Asia, different
human activities attracted the
A crowdsourced map of CCTV cameras
use of surveillance camera
near Grande Arche using Surveillance camera mounted on the
OpenStreetMap data[78] systems and services, walls of Rosenbad, one of the Swedish's
including but not limited to government buildings in central
Stockholm, which houses the Prime
business and related industries,[citation needed][79] transportation,[80]
Minister's office. One of the
sports,[81] and care for the environment.[82] parliament's (Riksdagen) building can be
seen in the background.
In 2018, China was reported to have a huge surveillance network of
over 170 million CCTV cameras with 400 million new cameras expected be
installed in the next three years, many of which use facial recognition
technology.[83]

In Japan, CCTV cameras are often referred to as "surveillance cameras" or

"security cameras". Nikkei Business estimated that the total number of
security cameras in Japan is approximately 5 million in 2018.[84]

United States

There were an estimated 30 million surveillance cameras in the United States

in 2011.[85] Video surveillance has been common in the United States since
the 1990s; for example, one manufacturer reported net earnings of $120
million in 1995.[86] With lower cost and easier installation, sales of home
A surveillance camera, aimed
security cameras increased in the early 21st century. Following the
at a public street (Kungsgatan)
September 11 attacks, the use of video surveillance in public places became in Stockholm, Sweden,
more common to deter future terrorist attacks.[28] Under the Homeland mounted on top of the pole
Security Grant Program, government grants are available for cities to
install surveillance camera networks.[87][88][89] In 2009, there were
an estimated 15,000 CCTV systems in Chicago, many linked to an
integrated camera network.[90][91][92] New York City's Domain
Awareness System has 6,000 video surveillance cameras linked
together,[93] there are over 4,000 cameras on the subway system
(although nearly half of them do not work),[94] and two-thirds of
large apartment and commercial buildings use video surveillance
cameras.[95][96] In Washington, D.C. there are more than 30,000
The headquarters of the United Nations
surveillance cameras in schools,[97] and the Metro has nearly 6,000
in New York, with cameras visible on the
cameras in use across the system.[98] side of the UN General Assembly
Building

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the vast majority of CCTV cameras are

operated not by government bodies, but by private individuals or
companies, especially to monitor the interiors of shops and
businesses. According to the Freedom of Information Act 2000
requests, the total number of local government operated CCTV
cameras was around 52,000 over the entirety of the UK.[99]

Surveillance camera mounted on a

An article published in CCTV Image magazine estimated the number
tripod in Sunriver, Oregon
of private and local government operated cameras in the United
Kingdom was 1.85 million in 2011. The estimate was based on extrapolating from a comprehensive survey of
public and private cameras within the Cheshire Constabulary jurisdiction. This works out as an average of
one camera for every 32 people in the UK, although the density of cameras varies greatly from place to
place. The Cheshire report also claims that the average person on a typical day would be seen by 70 CCTV
cameras.[100]

The Cheshire figure is regarded as more dependable than a previous study by Michael McCahill and Clive
Norris of UrbanEye published in 2002.[100][101] Based on a small sample in Putney High Street, McCahill and
Norris extrapolated the number of surveillance cameras in Greater London to be around 500,000 and the
total number of cameras in the UK to be around 4,200,000. According to their estimate the UK has one
camera for every 14 people. Although it has been acknowledged for several years that the methodology
behind this figure is flawed,[102] it has been widely quoted. Furthermore, the figure of 500,000 for Greater
London is often confused with the figure for the police and local government operated cameras in the City
of London, which was about 650 in 2011.[99]

The CCTV User Group estimated that there were around 1.5 million private and local government CCTV
cameras in city centres, stations, airports, and major retail areas in the UK.[103]

Research conducted by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and based on a survey of all
Scottish local authorities, identified that there are over 2,200 public space CCTV cameras in Scotland.[104]

Canada

Project SCRAM is a policing effort by the Halton Regional Police Service to register and help consumers
understand the complex issues of privacy and safety that confront households when dealing with
installations of home security systems. "The SCRAM program enables community members to voluntarily
identify and register their residential video surveillance equipment through a simple, secure, confidential,
online form."[105] It has not been extended to commercial businesses. A wide-ranging effort to provide
registration and monitoring of home security and systems. "Security camera registration and monitoring is a
community-based crime prevention opportunity and investigative tool that enlists the help of residents and
can help prevent crime on three levels. Residential video surveillance cameras can deter criminals from
entering the area, can prevent crimes from occurring and help solve crimes by providing valuable evidence
to the police."[105]

South Africa

In South Africa due to the high crime rate CCTV surveillance is widely prevalent, but the country has been
slow to implement the latest technology. For example, the first IP camera was released in 1996 by Axis
Communications but IP cameras did not arrive in South Africa till 2008.[106] To regulate the number of
suppliers in 2001 the Private Security Industry Regulation Act was passed requiring all security companies
to be registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA).[107]

Latin America

In Latin America, the CCTV market is growing rapidly with the increase of property crime.[108] Installation of
CCTV camera is increasing day by day and the crime is somewhat controlled.[109]

Russia

The number of CCTV cameras equipped with facial biometrics in

Moscow's public surveillance network is set to grow by 70 times
from the current 1,500 to 105,000 by the end of the year. The CCTV
system in Moscow can now recognize faces using an algorithm
based on neural networks. City camera recordings are analyzed in
real-time. Faces on the screen are scanned and can be checked
against several databases, such as the police database, to identify a
suspect. This analytical system can also help police recreate a Soviet motorized CCTV camera
suspect's movements around the city. The system searches for
related recordings from various CCTV cameras and identifies the same face from several sightings. The
Moscow network includes 160,000 CCTV cameras and 95 percent of residential buildings. By the end of the
year, residents will be able to install CCTV cameras on private buildings themselves while connecting them
to the unified video observation system. This year, over 3,500 cameras have been connected to the General
Centre for Data Storage and Processing. This includes cameras in entrance halls, schools and
kindergartens, at MCC stations, stadiums, public transport stops and bus terminals, and in parks. Video
recordings are used to solve 70 percent of offenses and crimes. The cameras also help monitor utility
services. A department spokesperson added that Moscow has one of the largest security systems in the
world with such a comprehensive identification system.[110]

Privacy

See also: Visual privacy

Proponents of CCTV cameras argue that cameras are effective at

deterring and solving crime, and that appropriate regulation and
legal restrictions on surveillance of public spaces can provide
sufficient protections so that an individual's right to privacy can
reasonably be weighed against the benefits of surveillance.[111]
However, anti-surveillance activists have held that there is a right to
privacy in public areas. Furthermore, while it is true that there may
A mobile closed-circuit TV van
be scenarios wherein a person's right to public privacy can be both
monitoring a street market
reasonably and justifiably compromised, some scholars have argued
that such situations are so rare as to not sufficiently warrant the frequent compromising of public privacy
rights that occurs in regions with widespread CCTV surveillance. For example, in her book Setting the
Watch: Privacy and the Ethics of CCTV Surveillance, Beatrice von Silva-Tarouca Larsen argues that CCTV
surveillance is ethically permissible only in "certain restrictively defined situations", such as when a specific
location has a "comprehensively documented and significant criminal threat".[112]

In the United States, the Constitution does not explicitly include the right to privacy although the Supreme
Court has said several of the amendments to the Constitution implicitly grant this right.[113] Access to video
surveillance recordings may require a judge's writ, which is readily available.[114] However, there is little
legislation and regulation specific to video surveillance.[115][116]

All countries in the European Union are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights which
protects individual rights including the right to privacy. The EU's Data Protection Directive regulates access
to personal data including CCTV recordings.[117] This directive is translated into the national law of each
country within the European Union.

In the United Kingdom the Data Protection Act 1998 imposes legal restrictions on the uses of CCTV
recordings and mandates the registration of CCTV systems with the Data Protection Agency. In 2004, the
successor to the Data Protection Agency, the Information Commissioner's Office clarified that this required
registration of all CCTV systems with the Commissioner, and prompt deletion of archived recordings.
However, subsequent case law (Durant vs. FSA) limited the scope of the protection provided by this law,
and not all CCTV systems are currently regulated.[118]

A 2007 report by the UK Information Commissioner's Office, highlighted the need for the public to be made
more aware of the growing use of surveillance and the potential impact on civil liberties.[119][120] In the same
year, a campaign group claimed the majority of CCTV cameras in the UK are operated illegally or are in
breach of privacy guidelines.[121] In response, the Information Commissioner's Office rebutted the claim and
added that any reported abuses of the Data Protection Act are swiftly investigated.[121] Even if there are
some concerns arising from the use of CCTV such as involving privacy,[122] more commercial
establishments are still installing CCTV systems in the UK.

In 2012, the UK government enacted the Protection of Freedoms Act which includes several provisions
related to controlling and restricting the collection, storage, retention, and use of information about
individuals. Under this Act, the Home Office published a code of practice in 2013 for the use of surveillance
cameras by government and local authorities. The aim of the code is to help ensure their use is
"characterised as surveillance by consent, and such consent on the part of the community must be
informed consent and not assumed by a system operator. Surveillance by consent should be regarded as
analogous to policing by consent."[123]

In Canada, the use of video surveillance has grown very rapidly. In Ontario, both the municipal and
provincial versions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act outline very specific
guidelines that control how images and information can be gathered by this method and or released.[124]

In Sweden, the use of CCTV in public spaces is regulated both nationally and via GDPR (the European
privacy act). The national legislation requires permits for public operators (except for law-enforcement
agencies since 1 January 2020) to install CCTV in spaces that allow access to the general public. In an
opinion poll commissioned by Lund University in August 2017, the general public of Sweden were asked to
choose one measure that would ensure their need for privacy when subject to CCTV-operation in public
spaces: 43% favored regulation in the form of clear routines for managing, storing and distributing image
material generated from surveillance cameras, 39% favored regulation in the form of clear signage
informing that camera surveillance in public spaces is present, 2% favored regulation in the form of having
permits restricting the use of surveillance cameras during certain times of day/week, 10% favored regulation
in the form of having restrictive policies for issuing permits for surveillance cameras in public spaces, and
6% were unsure or did not know.[125]

In the Philippines, the main laws governing CCTV usage are Data Privacy Act of 2012 and the Cybercrime
Prevention Act of 2012. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) is the primary law that
governs data privacy in the Philippines. The Act mandates that the privacy of individuals must be respected
and protected. The law applies to CCTV cameras as they collect and process personal data. This means
that the use of CCTV cameras must respect the principles of transparency, legitimate purpose, and
proportionality. The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10175) includes provisions that
apply to CCTV usage. Under the Act, the unauthorized access to, interception of, or interference with data
is a criminal offense. This means that unauthorized access to CCTV footage could potentially be considered
a cybercrime.[126][127][128]

Technological developments

Computer-controlled analytics and identification

Computer-controlled cameras can identify, track, and categorize

objects in their field of view.[129]

Video content analysis, also referred to as video analytics, is the

capability of automatically analyzing video to detect and determine
temporal events not based on a single image, but rather object
classification.[130] In the last decade, improved VCA features have
Surveillance camera at London
been developed. Beyond recognizing specific shapes and colors, Heathrow Airport with a wiper for clear
VCA applications now can analyze more complex scenarios. images during rain

Advanced VCA applications can accurately classify object types based on their shape and motion behavior
and they can also measure object speed. Some video analytics applications can be used to virtually apply
rules to designated areas. These rules can relate to access control. For example, they can describe which
objects can enter into a specific area, when they are allowed to enter or within what circumstances. Virtually
applied rules can also relate to various motion situations. VCA based CCTV systems can be set to detect
anomalies in a crowd, for instance a person moving in the opposite direction in which they are normally
expected (e.g. debarking from a plane at an airport or exiting through an entrance in a subway).[131]

There are different approaches to implementing VCA technology. Data may be processed on the camera
itself (edge processing) or by a centralized server. Both approaches have their pros and cons.[132]

To many, the development of CCTV in public areas, linked to

computer databases of people's pictures and identity, presents a
serious breach of civil liberties. Critics fear such technology will lead
to the loss of anonymity in public places.[133]

Retention, storage and preservation

There is a cost in the retention of the images produced by CCTV

systems. The amount and quality of data stored on storage media is
subject to compression ratios, images stored per second, image
size, and is affected by the retention period of the videos or
images.[134] DVRs store images in a variety of proprietary file
formats. Recordings may be retained for a preset amount of time and
then automatically archived, overwritten, or deleted, the period being
determined by the organisation that generated them.

Eye-in-the-sky surveillance dome

IP cameras camera watching from a high steel pole

Main article: IP camera

A growing branch in CCTV is internet protocol cameras (IP cameras).

It is estimated that 2014 was the first year that IP cameras outsold
analog cameras.[135] IP cameras use the Internet Protocol (IP) used by
most local area networks (LANs) to transmit video across data
networks in digital form. IP can optionally be transmitted across the
public internet, allowing users to view their cameras remotely on a
computer or phone via an internet connection.[136] For professional or
public infrastructure security applications, IP video is restricted to
within a private network or VPN.[137] IP cameras are considered part of
the Internet of Things (IoT) and have many of the same benefits and
security risks as other IP-enabled devices.[138]

Main types of IP cameras include: fixed cameras, pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ)

cameras and multi-sensor cameras.[139] Fixed cameras' resolution can
vary based on the application area, but typically does not exceed 20
MP. The main feature of a PTZ is its remote directional and optical
zoom capability. With multi-sensor cameras, wider areas can be Easy Connect Wireless IP camera
monitored and hundreds of megapixel resolution can be achieved.

Industrial video surveillance systems use network video recorders to support IP cameras. These devices are
responsible for the recording, storage, video stream processing, and alarm management.

Since 2008, IP video surveillance manufacturers can use a standardized network interface (ONVIF) to
support compatibility between systems.[140]

Networking CCTV cameras

The city of Chicago operates a networked video surveillance system which combines CCTV video feeds of
government agencies with those of the private sector, installed in city buses, businesses, public schools,
subway stations, housing projects, etc.[141] Even homeowners are able to contribute footage. It is estimated
to incorporate the video feeds of a total of 15,000 cameras.[142]

The system is used by Chicago's Office of Emergency Management in case of an emergency call: it detects
the caller's location and instantly displays the real-time video feed of the nearest security camera to the
operator, not requiring any user intervention. While the system is far too vast to allow complete real-time
monitoring, it stores the video data for use as evidence in criminal cases.[143]

Wireless security cameras

Main article: Wireless security camera

Many consumers are turning to wireless security cameras for home

surveillance. Wireless cameras do not require a video cable for
video/audio transmission, simply a cable for power. Wireless
cameras are also easy and inexpensive to install but lack the
reliability of hard-wired cameras.[144] Previous generations of
wireless security cameras relied on analogue technology; modern An integrated systems unit
wireless cameras use digital technology which delivers crisper audio,
sharper video, and a secure and interference-free signal.[145]

Talking CCTV
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