Video Surveillance Guide

The townsfolk in Sarnia, Canada aren’t too pleased with a new surveillance video balloon patrolling over the international border at Port Huron, Michigan. To show their discontent, locals will be aiming their bare backsides at the million-dollar-camera during their “Moon the Balloon” protest scheduled for August 15th.

The surveillance balloon is owned by U.S. based Sierra Nevada Corporation and operated by another U.S. company, True North Logistics. The two companies are reportedly trying to catch the eye of U.S. Homeland security with their aerial surveillance technology, but the program is receiving privacy complains from across the border in Canada.

“There was absolutely no consultation with the local community and I am not aware if there has been at the national level about this particular initiative,” said Mike Bradley, the Mayor of Sarnia.

The U.S. border patrol has been contacted, but since the program is being conducted legally by a private firm, there is little the agency can do. In fact, the U.S. border patrol has their own plans to monitor the area – soon, $30 million will be spent in the area to build 11 towers equipped with high-tech cameras.

Around 200 people are expected to show up to the mass mooning protest – a protest that is expected to be as ineffective as it is ridiculous.

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The California Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision that a Children’s Center’s use of video surveillance was not a breach in privacy for the workers, but did believe employees had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The Hillsides Children’s Center, which provides care for children who have been abused or who have special needs, discovered via its computer monitoring system that someone had been accessing pornographic websites from one of the terminals late in the evening.

The Center, concerned for the welfare of the children, set up cameras on the office area, which some workers believed was an invasion of privacy, even though the cameras were only turned on in the evening. To be successful, the plaintiffs needed to prove:

1. The plaintiff must possess a legally protected privacy interest,
2. The plaintiff’s expectations of privacy must be reasonable, and
3. The plaintiff must show that the intrusion is so serious in nature, scope, and actual or potential impact as to constitute an egregious breach of social norms.

The court believed the plaintiffs did have a legally protected privacy interest, and also had a reasonable expectation of privacy. However, given the nature of the business and reasons for surveillance, could not conclude that a reasonable person would find the privacy intrusion to be offensive and an egregious breach of social norms.

The company believed it was OK to videotape employees, and thought their computer monitoring policy would have diminished the employee’s expectation of privacy, but the court believed that since the policy never mentioned video surveillance, they had a reasonable expectation not to be videotaped at work.

Case report .PDF

The courts decision in this case strengthened both employee privacy rights and employer rights, establishing that employees do have a reasonable expectation of privacy at work, but employers videotaping workers under certain situations without their explicit consent is acceptable.

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GVI Security Solutions is based in the DFW metroplex and recently announced they have been selected to provide video surveillance technology to a pharmacy chain in the North East.

The video surveillance system is based on GVI Samsung high performance/low light color video cameras and DVRs with remote viewing capabilities.

“This end-user had been experiencing problems with night time break-ins that were going un-noticed by their previous video surveillance systems,” said Michael Capulli, GVI Senior Vice President Sales/North America. “They replaced their prior systems with our low light cameras and DVRs for reliable low light surveillance and easy remote monitoring. Problem solved.”

GVI Security Solutions, Inc. is a leading provider of video surveillance and security solutions, with sales and service in North, Central and South America. The company provides Samsung Electronics and GVI branded products, software and services to the homeland security and commercial markets. Their customers include governments, major retail chains, leading financial institutions and public and private school systems.

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Axis Communications is an Indian company that produces surveillance and monitoring products and services – below is an article from infoworld.com that showcases where they shine.

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Kilgore College police chief Martin Pessink has announced that the college has upgraded its already state-of-the art video surveillance camera system in an effort to better protect students and employees.

The cameras record 24 hours a day and the police staff can monitor the live video feeds at any time. “The camera system we have in place now covers most areas of campus, whether it’s parking lots, common areas or inside buildings,” Pessink said. “The upgraded system will better protect our students and hopefully keep crime to a minimum.”

The CCTV cameras are also present in dormitory common areas, and resident assistants can also monitor those video feeds.

The former police chief started adding surveillance cameras in 2007, and states that in some areas crime has been reduced to zero since, “people knew they were being watched.”

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A new wireless video surveillance system is a key element in protecting military helicopters undergoing repair at the Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport in Temple, Texas.   Installer RedMoon Inc. used equipment from Firetide Inc., a developer of wireless mesh and access networks, to provide the wireless infrastructure required for this video surveillance system.  A key reason for going wireless was lower infrastructure cost:

The alternative to the Firetide network was to trench and install fiber, which easily would cost $200,000 to $300,000 more, said Bill Young, government sales representative for RedMoon Inc. Security, flexibility and cost-effectiveness are the criteria for security officials, and the Firetide mesh network delivers all of these while quick and simple to install.

In addition to protecting the helicopters, the overall security situation is improved by having real-time video surveillance of the property. From Texas Airport Helps Protect Black Hawk Helicopters with Wireless Surveillance from Firetide.

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This article has been out for a while, but it remains a compelling story: Big Brother’s Big Business at Newsweek.  The article details how, in a post-9/11 world, video monitoring is becoming ubiquitous:

Video surveillance has become the fastest-growing industry within the major categories of electronic security—with nearly one in four major cities in America investing in new technology, analysts say. It has more than doubled in the last five years, becoming an estimated $9.2 billion business in 2005 and expected to grow to $21 billion by 2010, says Joe Freeman, a columnist for Security Technology & Design Magazine and founder and president of J.P. Freeman, a market research and consulting firm.

 A combination of factors are driving the explosive growth in video surveillance.  The ability of cameras to operate on IP networks and for the data to be recorded on digital video recorders (DVRs) is of major importance.  In the past, dedicated wiring was needed for each camera and recording could only be accomplished on a VCR.  In addition to the digital revolution, cameras are getting smarter: now, systems can recognize exception conditions and send that video to monitoring personnel.  This allows a smaller monitoring staff to handle a larger number of cameras – a far cry from the old days of CCTV.

 Today’s smart video camera systems may even reduce the load on conventional police:

Chicago has made recent headlines with its ongoing installation of 2,000 such cameras in its downtown areas, and the city is negotiating with local businesses to link their private cameras to the city system in an effort to form a single, unified network. And many small towns—in states from California to Vermont—have begun using cameras as a way to reduce the need for on-duty officers in local police precincts.

According to the article, the number of video cameras in New York City may exceed 15,000, making it hard for any resident to escape their view.  Public opinion seems to be split – they approve of video surveillance as an anti-terrorism or anti-crime tool, but don’t like to be monitored themselves.

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In Linksys Gets Physical With Launch of New IP Video Security Camera, CRN writer Jennifer Hagendorf Follet reports that the Linksys division of Cisco, best known for its inexpensive routers and other network gear, is introducing an IP-based video camera.  Targeted to sell at a street price of $299, the camera offers pan, tilt, and zoom functions, and is targeted at the small to medium business (SMB) market.

With its pan, tilt and zoom capabilities, users can control the camera’s movement and focus remotely via the Internet. Up to 10 users can simultaneously access the camera remotely. An integrated microphone also picks up and records audio.

In addition, the camera can be set in a security mode that can automatically record video and audio feeds when it senses motion and can send a short video clip via an e-mail alert. The camera also includes an Infrared cut filter that enables viewing in low-light or no-light environments when an external IR light is used.

The camera offers 640×480 resolution, and supports MPEG-4 video compression.  Linksys intends to introduce a full range of SMB security components, including remote recording and motion detection software, other suveillance cameras, and special training for its partners.

While the major intended use for the camera may be physical security, employers also use video surveillance systems to track productivity, prevent safety violations, and document workplace accidents.  Inexpensive but powerful cameras that can run over a firm’s network will make these activities easier and cheaper to accomplish.

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