Hidden cameras.Legal or illegal? Where to use? Best way to be installed.

 Recordings as evidence are often decisive in trials. This is because the recordings are clear evidence.

 However, the legal validity of a hidden camera recording is something most people don't know.

 Private surveillance cameras in Chicago can be placed on lookouts, inside or outside cars, hallways, garages, common areas of neighborhood communities or row houses, windows, public sidewalks, setbacks, portals, with an interior or exterior orientation, etc.

In this article we will delve into this subject and clarify a number of issues.

 Legal validity of recordings in a trial, what does the new regulation say?

 Doubts about the hidden camera are common. The legal validity of hidden camera recordings will depend on whether the person providing the evidence appears in the recording or not.

 In other words, it is not legal to record someone else's conversation, as it would violate the right to privacy of people who are protagonists of the conversation.

 Therefore, a recording of this nature in which participants would not be aware that it is being recorded would constitute a violation of data protection law.

 However, when whoever performs the recording is also one of the subjects who are in/participate in the conversation, he would not be committing any type of crime.

 When the guy who provides the tape as evidence and participates in the conversation, no article of the Constitution is being infringed.

 Is the right to privacy violated by a recording with a hidden camera?

 There are many people who try to challenge this type of evidence taking into account their right to privacy. It is true that, in the first instance, one might think that non-consensual filming may be transgressing the limits of privacy.

 The moment someone decides to talk to you, they are giving their consent to contact and communicate with you. And at the same time, he becomes responsible for the expressions and messages he shares with you.

 This is because the moment someone conveys a message or opinion, he distances himself from his privacy and shares it with whoever is listening.

 Therefore, these messages would not be part of the privacy of the person who was recorded, as they would not be saving them as such.

 According to data protection, when is it legal and when is it not?

 Thus, a record of these characteristics would be valid evidence at a trial when the party who provided such evidence is reflected in the recording.

 Thus, in cases of bullying in the workplace, workers can register their bosses in meetings where bullying occurs. And, of course, these recordings will be fully valid as legal evidence.

 On the contrary, a boss cannot install hidden cameras to record his employees without first informing them. That's because, in this case, in most recordings this superior did not appear. Therefore, the right to privacy is being violated.

 If, on the contrary, one of the parties records the other person without their consent while engaging in inappropriate conduct with children or in any other area, but the person making the recording does not appear, this will not be legal or accepted as evidence . That's because the right to privacy would be violated and no matter what happened, it wouldn't be a legal recording.

 Requirements for security camera installation in Chicago

 According to the legislation, everyone must be alerted to the presence of cameras and clarified in which cases the recordings of these cameras will be examined.

 In addition, posters must be placed in the corresponding areas following the approved template, indicating that that area is being registered. Furthermore:

 ·         There must be a proportional relationship between the intended purpose and the way the data is processed.

·         You should inform yourself about capturing and/or recording the images.

·         The use of cameras or video camera installations is only allowed when there are no less invasive means.

·         Cameras and camcorders installed in private spaces cannot take images from public spaces.

·         Partial and limited images of public roads can be obtained when it is essential for the intended surveillance purpose, or when it is impossible to avoid it due to its location.

·         Images of the rest of the sidewalk or street cannot be captured.

·         In any case, the use of video surveillance systems must respect people's rights and the rest of the legal system.

·         The images will be kept for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which they were collected. Regarding material requirements, registration can only be done in areas of public transport, and always in proportion to the purpose for which it is intended.

·         So, what did you think of this subject? In summary then: it is possible to use hidden cameras, but this must be informed with a sign.

 If you have more questions, write us and continue following our blog which is full of information about safety for your home and family.

 Did you like the subject? Do you have any doubt? So leave your question in the comments!

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How to get a low false alarm rate in your video surveillance system

 Sometimes video surveillance systems produce false alarms, which is a nuisance for those in charge of security. It is necessary to control this type of fraudulent warnings or try to reduce them to a minimum, and in that the new video surveillance systems and thermal analytics are very effective.

 What are false alarms in video surveillance and why do they occur

 False alarms are warnings issued by video surveillance systems when there really is no real threat. Therefore, false alarms (as the name suggests) are surveillance system errors that should be minimized. The problem can be found in the misuse of the security system or, simply, in a malfunction of the alarm itself.

 Some of the reasons behind many of the false alarms that occur are:

 ·         Forgetting the security code or incorrectly entering it.

·         Disadvantages with the alarm equipment.

·         Power outages or power surges.

·         Presence of animals or other objects that activate the alarm when it is close to the sensors.

 These erroneous notices can be quite annoying, especially when we talk about important facilities such as government centers, air or port facilities, military areas, etc. Therefore, in the video surveillance sector they have set their sights on this aspect, trying to improve it and reduce it to a minimum.

 How to Avoid False Alarms

 As we have advanced, false alarms are a fairly common problem when you have a security system. Still, there are a number of guidelines and recommendations that can help reduce these false ads.

 ·         Learn the alarm codes correctly so as not to fail when entering the pin.

·         Make sure that the doors, windows and other access to the premises are properly closed.

·         If there are animals, it is necessary to install security alarms that are compatible with them to avoid false alarms.

·         Submit security systems to periodic maintenance to avoid problems in their operation.

·         Avoid power outages, as they can cause the alarm to go off for no reason.

·         Detect possible failures in the security equipment and notify the responsible company to rectify them.

 Getstealth, your partner to avoid false alarms on video

 As we have already seen, false alarms are practically inevitable when you have a video surveillance cameras in Chicago. However, methods have now been developed that help to significantly reduce these failures. One of these technologies is analytics for thermal cameras, these are systems that are installed in these cameras and generate analytics that help detect different problems, such as:

 ·         Intrusion

·         Marauding

·         Abandoned / Stolen Item

·         Invasion

·         Vehicle stopped or driving in the opposite direction

 In this sense, Getstealth  thermal analytics are one of the most effective on the market, as we have the lowest rate of false alarms (between 2 and 5% of the total alarms registered). In addition, our technology allows us to discriminate objects by size and behavior, which helps to minimize false advertisements.

 

If you are interested in learning more about our analytics for thermal cameras and their applications, please contact us.

How Smart Video Surveillance Can Help You

 The video surveillance market has undergone constant evolution and sustained growth in recent years, to the point that today it is estimated that it presents a compound annual growth rate of more than 15% and that this trend will remain in force as less until 2022.

 This development, driven by technological advances, has resulted in the emergence of intelligent video surveillance systems, also known by the acronym IVS, relative to 'Intelligent Video Surveillance'. Its high diffusion has transformed the sector to the point that traditional surveillance cameras have given way to much more advance video surveillance systems.

 In this article we explain what intelligent video surveillance is, what makes it different from traditional video surveillance and how it can help companies? You will also know what are the competitive advantages that this type of systems brings to companies and the reasons to bet on this new technology.

 “Traditional surveillance cameras have given way to much more advanced video surveillance systems"

 What is smart video surveillance and how does it differ from traditional video surveillance?

 We know by intelligent video surveillance those systems that take advantage of the functionalities allowed by advanced hardware and software for the detection and analysis of images, with functionalities based on new technologies and connectivity as one of its main characteristics. In traditional video surveillance, the human component was essential for a correct analysis of the images and videos provided by the system, to the point that several people were necessary, in several shifts, to perform this function.

 The progressive increase in the number of cameras used in security systems and video analysis has made human analysis incompatible with this work , since it has been proven that, after 20 minutes of maximum attention, fatigue and other conditions harm to this function, which represents a risk in certain circumstances, such as, for example, when an enclosure is being monitored in which a security breach, such as an intruder, could pose a serious danger.

 Intelligent video surveillance is effective in managing what in a traditional system becomes data overload, as it can effectively monitor and process huge volumes of images at high speed . These are converted into metadata, which are selected sequences with only relevant information from CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) systems.

 Competitive Advantages of Smart Video Surveillance

 Intelligent video analysis facilitates the processing of video both in real time and recorded and detects any kind of activity that can be classified as suspicious, as well as distinguishing between people and objects and even distinguishing patterns of behavior . These are the main advantages of its use:

 Improved efficiency: IVS record and store a larger volume of video than traditional systems. But not only that, but the quality of the images it provides is much higher (high definition). On the other hand, unlike what happens with human supervision, the system does not suffer errors that can be attributed to fatigue or other inconveniences.

 Increased profitability: although the investment cost may be higher than in the case of a traditional video surveillance system, IVS are more profitable even in the short term, since they require less physical infrastructure , both cabling and cameras. The personal cost savings are also considerable, as the system generates metadata and does not require constant monitoring.

Remote monitoring: an Internet connection is sufficient to access the images and data provided by the system, something especially useful for business owners and companies. Access to both live and archived images can be from multiple devices. When video surveillance cameras are used for other uses than surveillance, for example to know the behavior patterns of visitors to a store or shopping center, this utility is multiplied.

 High scalability: smart video surveillance systems can easily incorporate cameras while maintaining the same level of efficiency. Its integration into the network is simple and has a low cost , since the cabling is less than that required in the case of conventional systems.

 Smart alarms: viewing all the hours of recording captured by the cameras of a video surveillance system is not only an exhausting activity, it is also ineffective. The IVS not only take care of this, but also detect irregular activities and specific behaviors by themselves , generating alarms and sending them to the owners, human surveillance teams or the State security forces and bodies.

 Intelligent video analysis facilitates the treatment of video both in real time and recorded and detects any kind of activity that can be classified as suspicious"

  Video analytics to complete your intelligent video systems

 The video analytics provided by intelligent video surveillance systems are already operational in various fields, such as logistics centers, industrial infrastructures, borders and customs or places of passenger transport, among many others. The retail sector is one of the latest that has joined this consolidated trend, which has evolved from a use of mere surveillance to an application that goes through the analysis of behavior patterns of employees and buyers. With them you can perform people counts, queue management or hot zone maps.

 Thanks to intelligent video analytics, which base its operation on intelligent algorithms, response protocols can be optimized when an alert occurs. In this way, it is not necessary to view all the cameras at all times, since the systems are configured in such a way that, by themselves, they are capable of recognizing any anomaly and of warning of it with sound alarms, pop-up windows, warnings sent to connected devices, etc. Video analytics are also helpful in eliminating false alarms.

At Getstealth Technologies we have a wide range of video analytics for intelligent video surveillance cameras in Chicago. All of them are compatible with most of the devices on the market and have applications in practically any sector (mining, nuclear, maritime ...). Contact us if you want more information about it or request a demo to test one of our analytical videos.

Weaknesses in business security: alarm systems

 The alarm systems are not only designed to deter thieves, but also allow us to strengthen those weaknesses in a business or trade physical. Here are how you can help us and some other resources to help you stay safe.

 What to reinforce in a store to protect ourselves from thieves?

 There are a series of recommendations that can be carried out without a large investment, with which we can significantly improve the security of our small business. Which are?

 Order does matter

 If we have the store perfectly organized, it will be easier to find if something is missing on a shelf. In a chaotic or cluttered store, it's not easy to tell whether or not a product has been taken from us.

 One of the best methods to stay organized and have everything in view is to create a kind of barrier with products. In that case, if someone were to remove one, we could appreciate it very remarkably.

 Signaling

 Good signage can deter thieves and protect us from potential theft. Today's alarm systems offer a myriad of different packages, so properly placed surveillance cameras or warning signs will do their job to scare off thieves.

 Pay attention to changes

 Thieves don't usually go alone . Usually, one distracts the salesperson while another discusses the difficulty of accessing the cash register or the most valuable items. Some even steal them outright.

 One of the usual modus operandi is to hide the stolen in a common place where it is barely noticeable, such as a handbag, a baby carriage, one's clothes, something that has been bought or an umbrella. Another tactic is usually the change of labels or false returns.

 Experience is always a degree, and in this sense, evens more. Normally those who work in a business develop a sixth sense that allows them to stay calm and act accordingly.

 Train staff to have an advantage against thieves

 There are some techniques that can help staff make their presence known in stores. Depending on the size of the store, you will need to make sure you have the right number of employees. In addition, a policy can also be implemented in relation to the type or number of bags or garments with which the changing rooms can be accessed.

 Optimize store layout

 To do this, you can choose actions as simple as the following:

 -          Place the box at the exit of the premises so that customers must pass by before leaving the establishment and never leave it unattended.

 -          Avoid blind spots with mirrors or adequate lighting to be able to locate and follow any type of suspicious movement.

 -          The lamps or their screens must not obstruct the vision of the personnel at any time.

 -          Place the highest priced products in properly closed showcases.

 -          Pay close attention to changing rooms or changing rooms and limit the number of garments that customers enter. Also, pay attention to whether they enter with backpacks and check the changing rooms when customers leave, in case they have removed the alarms from the garments.

 Ultimately, the larger a business, the more protection it will need . That is why we must bear in mind the aforementioned tips and take the necessary actions to protect our establishment, such as hiring alarm systems with surveillance cameras in Chicago and a closed circuit television. And if these systems are also connected to an alarm receiving center and the police 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, security will increase significantly.

 Alarm systems

 The most effective resource to anticipate a possible theft is to hire the most up-to-date alarm systems on the market. Each particular need is a world, so the ideal thing is to have a home alarm comparator to help us select the most suitable for our case.

 

  Getstealth you can make a comparison to find the best offer to keep your home or business protected, taking into account all the characteristics of the home. The comparison is free, don't wait any longer!