Smart Cameras Blog

When a camera is used, there maybe certain parts within a camera’s field of view that need to be kept private. The most obvious is if a camera could see into a private area, such as a window or doorway to a house. If this occurs, the appropriate measure is to use masking, privacy zones, or blanking. This can be done physically, by limiting the camera’s field of view during the installation process. This can also be done by software, however, software creates a risk that “someone might, somehow, get access to the video prior to masking, or perhaps turn off the masking” according to Sightmind.

One example of software is Pelco’s window blanking system. It is capable of blocking of specific areas, such as open windows to satisfy privacy issues. “In Spectra III SE, you will be able to define up to eight, four-sided polygons, with sides of any length, and turn on the blanking at specific zoom ratios.”

I don’t know how effective these systems are in practice, but I think most police departments should be using some type of masking system when setting up cameras near residential areas. As a further measure, policy departments should also be keeping system logs concerning what cameras are looked at by what user and when.

Here are some images of masking at work:

rshah Policy