Requesting a copy of CCTV footage
Discussion
Context:
I was knocked off my motorbike on a roundabout next to a BP gargage. The garge appeared to have cameras facing the roundabout. Luckily, I was fine, so I eventually went into the garage to ask if they potentially captured the incident on CCTV. Despite being busy, the manager on duty seemed quite helpful and tried to locate the incident on their CCTV. Since I wasn't allowed in the back office, I had to hope she was looking at the right camera that was facing the right direction (there were mutliple cameras in various directions/locations), and that the cameras covered as far as the roundabout. Unfortunately, she said she did not appear to capture the incident on their cameras.
Query:
How easy or possible is it to request a copy of the footage over a specific, fairly short time period from BP, for my review? I'd like to check the footage myself just in case anything was missed. How likely is it that the footage will be available for more than few days, for example?
I was knocked off my motorbike on a roundabout next to a BP gargage. The garge appeared to have cameras facing the roundabout. Luckily, I was fine, so I eventually went into the garage to ask if they potentially captured the incident on CCTV. Despite being busy, the manager on duty seemed quite helpful and tried to locate the incident on their CCTV. Since I wasn't allowed in the back office, I had to hope she was looking at the right camera that was facing the right direction (there were mutliple cameras in various directions/locations), and that the cameras covered as far as the roundabout. Unfortunately, she said she did not appear to capture the incident on their cameras.
Query:
How easy or possible is it to request a copy of the footage over a specific, fairly short time period from BP, for my review? I'd like to check the footage myself just in case anything was missed. How likely is it that the footage will be available for more than few days, for example?
Footage is generally kept for 28 days but there are no hard rules, just as reasonable as possible. Ask the manager for the CCTV data controllers name and an address and send a Subject Access Request letter asking for the info you require. They can charge but no more than ten pounds. You may have to wait a while as they will need to blank out all other peoples faces.
Ignore anyone who bleats you're not allowed it due to GDPR. It's either an excuse for laziness or ignorance of the law.
Ignore anyone who bleats you're not allowed it due to GDPR. It's either an excuse for laziness or ignorance of the law.
pocketspring said:
Footage is generally kept for 28 days but there are no hard rules, just as reasonable as possible. Ask the manager for the CCTV data controllers name and an address and send a Subject Access Request letter asking for the info you require. They can charge but no more than ten pounds. You may have to wait a while as they will need to blank out all other peoples faces.
Ignore anyone who bleats you're not allowed it due to GDPR. It's either an excuse for laziness or ignorance of the law.
What personal information would they hold belonging to the OP?Ignore anyone who bleats you're not allowed it due to GDPR. It's either an excuse for laziness or ignorance of the law.
I can understand why CCTV operators refuse to share footage
I look after a few CCTV systems, it's a PITA when police or others want CCTV footage, often I'm called in to help as the staff can't/won't operate the system. It's not often a quick procedure. Finding then downloading the correct footage can take some time. Then you have to share it, not easy to email large video files, often emails given do not work or don't allow big files. So you ask them to provide a memory stick which is not forthcoming or they don't have the 'budget' to pay for one.
So my clients often refuse and use excuses like GDPR. The police are the most difficult, because some of the cameras cover public streets we get all sorts of requests, rarely related to the premises. I would say at least 3 times a month we get requests to view or copy footage. This means a special visit to site, police are often not on time, they then trawl through hours of footage, last time it took over two hours to look at the incident, and they didn't bring a stick or drive that I asked for, and I had to be paid by my client for my time.
I look after a few CCTV systems, it's a PITA when police or others want CCTV footage, often I'm called in to help as the staff can't/won't operate the system. It's not often a quick procedure. Finding then downloading the correct footage can take some time. Then you have to share it, not easy to email large video files, often emails given do not work or don't allow big files. So you ask them to provide a memory stick which is not forthcoming or they don't have the 'budget' to pay for one.
So my clients often refuse and use excuses like GDPR. The police are the most difficult, because some of the cameras cover public streets we get all sorts of requests, rarely related to the premises. I would say at least 3 times a month we get requests to view or copy footage. This means a special visit to site, police are often not on time, they then trawl through hours of footage, last time it took over two hours to look at the incident, and they didn't bring a stick or drive that I asked for, and I had to be paid by my client for my time.
OP said:
Despite being busy, the manager on duty seemed quite helpful and tried to locate the incident on their CCTV. Since I wasn't allowed in the back office, I had to hope she was looking at the right camera that was facing the right direction (there were mutliple cameras in various directions/locations), and that the cameras covered as far as the roundabout. Unfortunately, she said she did not appear to capture the incident on their cameras.
Given the first part why do you not believe the second part? What would they have to gain from lying to you after being so helpful during a busy period? As for "not looking at the right camera" - I think the manager of a garage would know which of their cameras point where. If she said the roundabout wasn't covered, then it wasn't covered - which is pretty obvious when the cameras are there to focus solely on the forecourt area and registration plates, not traffic going around a roundabout some distance away.OP]P said:
Despite being busy, the manager on duty seemed quite helpful and tried to locate the incident on their CCTV. Since I wasn't allowed in the back office, I had to hope she was looking at the right camera that was facing the right direction (there were mutliple cameras in various directions/locations), and that the cameras covered as far as the roundabout. Unfortunately, she said she did not appear to capture the incident on their cameras.
r3g]P said:
Given the first part why do you not believe the second part? What would they have to gain from lying to you after being so helpful during a busy period? As for "not looking at the right camera" - I think the manager of a garage would know which of their cameras point where. If she said the roundabout wasn't covered, then it wasn't covered - which is pretty obvious when the cameras are there to focus solely on the forecourt area and registration plates, not traffic going around a roundabout some distance away.
I'm not suggesting she was lying at all. However, given that she was busy, I know for a fact that she's wasn't able to allocate the same time as what I'll be allocating to looking at the footage, to find out if I can see anything. Of course the cameras are there to focus on the forecourt area and registration plates. However, often cameras have sufficiently wide angles that they capture some context outside of the primary forecourt area. The roundabout was immediately next to the forecourt.
Either way, if I can get the footage, I'm more than happy to spend time checking it myself. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Chicken_Satay said:
OP]P said:
Despite being busy, the manager on duty seemed quite helpful and tried to locate the incident on their CCTV. Since I wasn't allowed in the back office, I had to hope she was looking at the right camera that was facing the right direction (there were mutliple cameras in various directions/locations), and that the cameras covered as far as the roundabout. Unfortunately, she said she did not appear to capture the incident on their cameras.
r3g]P said:
Given the first part why do you not believe the second part? What would they have to gain from lying to you after being so helpful during a busy period? As for "not looking at the right camera" - I think the manager of a garage would know which of their cameras point where. If she said the roundabout wasn't covered, then it wasn't covered - which is pretty obvious when the cameras are there to focus solely on the forecourt area and registration plates, not traffic going around a roundabout some distance away.
I'm not suggesting she was lying at all. However, given that she was busy, I know for a fact that she's wasn't able to allocate the same time as what I'll be allocating to looking at the footage, to find out if I can see anything. Of course the cameras are there to focus on the forecourt area and registration plates. However, often cameras have sufficiently wide angles that they capture some context outside of the primary forecourt area. The roundabout was immediately next to the forecourt.
Either way, if I can get the footage, I'm more than happy to spend time checking it myself. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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