Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education

Overview

Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education (CCRCE) manages 65 schools across Nova Scotia, Canada. It comprises of approximately 4,000 staff, all striving to provide a well-rounded education for almost 20,000 students in Pre-Primary to grade 12.

The challenge

The increasing number of FOIP (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Regulation) requests for video footage was placing a significant burden on CCRCE’s IT staff. 

Previously, redacting footage was a manual process using video editing software – which is not built for purpose. This would take hours per video, impacting FOIP response times and diverting IT staff like Dave Meade, the Regional Information Technology Specialist, from core tasks; responding to FOIP requests represent just 5% of his role.

Not only does CCRCE have over 500 digital cameras, it also has analogue cameras which can prove difficult when footage needs redacting.

Requests predominantly originate from police agencies. Other sources include parents and insurance companies. Requests were made for providing evidence of vandalism, alleged altercations between students, or alleged altercations between students and teachers, and motor vehicles accidents in parking lots.

Canadian privacy laws like PIPEDA require redacting identifiable information from individuals not directly involved in incidents captured on camera (e.g., bystanders in fights). For CCRCE, altercations are the primary requests, and the footage often includes students and teachers who are not involved – these bystanders must be redacted to protect their identity. Failing to comply could lead to legal repercussions and reputational damage.

With all this in mind, CCRCE needed a new process and video redaction solution to respond to FOIPs. It needed to be able to:

• Redact busy groups of people

• Work for both digital and analogue footage

• Reduce the time it took to redact a video

• Enable Dave Meade to focus his priorities

The solution

To address this challenge, CCRCE evaluated various redaction software, and selected Identity Cloak. Even though Identity Cloak was not the cheapest, the price combined with its range of capabilities, met CCRCE’s budget and functionality requirements. Here is how it transformed their FOIP response process:

Reduced redaction time by 80%: This was due to its ease of use and the ability to track an individual through a lengthy video clip – both of which reduced redaction time. Previously, blurring a 2-minute video would take a day. With Identity Cloak’s auto-tracking feature, Dave can complete this in an hour, enabling him to focus on core IT tasks like managing VOIP systems and video broadcasting.

Redacting busy scenes: The auto-tracking feature helps CCRCE redact large groups of people while maintaining control with manual adjustments.

Processes both digital and analogue footage: Identity Cloak’s screen recorder functionality allows CCRCE to process footage from older analogue cameras alongside digital recordings.

Cost-certainty with unlimited redactions: The software’s unlimited video redactions model eliminates budget concerns, even with fluctuating FOIP request volumes (ranging from 5 in two days to 1 per month).

Beyond efficiency - compliance and positive impact: Identity Cloak empowers CCRCE to not only meet data protection laws but also fulfil their ethical responsibility to respond to FOIP requests promptly. CCRCE actively participates in Facit’s quarterly webinars, demonstrating its commitment to continuous improvement in compliance and redaction accuracy.

CCRCE’s experience with Identity Cloak has been so positive that it awarded a multi-year contract and have recommended the software to other institutions. This has led to partnerships with two additional schools in Nova Scotia.

Overall, Identity Cloak has helped CCRCE achieve:

• Faster FOIP response times

• Simplified compliance with data protection laws

• Reduced costs and increased budget certainty

• Improved staff efficiency