A single video clip can contain dozens of bystanders, cars with visible license plates, a laptop screen in the corner, and an audio track that contains personally identifiable information.
If that footage needs to be shared as a part of a subject access request (SAR), a court disclosure, or an insurance claim, it needs to be redacted.
With a steady increase in data access requests, redacting video stops being an occasional task and becomes a weekly workload.
Are you redacting footage regularly
Identity Cloak is Facit’s video redaction software for CCTV, bodycam, dashcam and mobile recordings. You can see how it works.
#Video redaction in plain terms
Video redaction means hiding or removing information so it can’t be used to identify someone who isn’t a part of an inquiry or the subject access request, but has been captured on video or audio.
If you want the wider context, we go deeper on the history and definitions in What is redaction and when is it needed?
#What video redaction is trying to achieve
The goal of video redaction is releasing footage without disclosing any third-party personal data.
In practice, most teams use video redaction to:
Respond to requests, for example, a subject access request where you have to provide the requestor’s personal data but protect everyone else.
Share compliant footage outside of the organisation, releasing an incident clip to an insurer, solicitor, law enforcement.
Release footage internally, for training or as a part of an internal investigation.
#What counts as personal data in video footage
Teams usually remember that they need to redact faces and license plates, but there are other types of personal data that need to be blurred, including:
Distinctive clothing, tattoos, name badges
Signage that reveals location details
Computer screens, paperwork, whiteboards, posters
Audio (names, phone numbers, addresses)
#Common video redaction mistakes (and what to do instead)
#Using creative editing tools for compliance work
Tools like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro are built for editing creative videos. They can blur something, but they aren’t built around privacy workflows, audit trails, or high-volume request handling.
Why it matters: there are set deadlines for providing access to videos to stay compliant with specific requirements, such as GDPR, and in some cases, organisations need to be able to quickly share video footage as a response to incidents.
What goes wrong: teams blur out personal data frame by frame, increasing the risk of releasing videos with partially visible personal data or missing the deadline.
What to do instead: use dedicated redaction software to automate the bulk of work, then do a manual review pass for items that can’t be identified automatically (screens, ID cards, signage) before export.
#Blurring only the obvious things
Faces and plates are the start, not the finish.
Why it matters: footage often identifies people indirectly. A name badge, a distinctive tattoo, or a school logo on a uniform also count as personally identifiable information.
What goes wrong: a video looks properly blurred at first glance, but a few frames reveal information that links the video to a school, a location, or a person.
What to do instead: use a second review pass to find those elements. If your tool supports layered redaction, use it so that a blurred sign stays anonymised even when someone walks in front of it.
#Forgetting audio redaction
Why it matters: if the clip leaves your organisation with intelligible audio, you can disclose names, addresses, phone numbers, or health details.
What goes wrong: teams redact the video track, then share the file and later realise the audio includes details that the requestor wasn’t entitled to hear.
What to do instead: decide upfront whether the audio is required for the purpose of the disclosure. If it isn’t, remove it. If it is, redact sensitive content.
#Skipping the final check
Why it matters: most compliance failures happen because reviewing footage can be tricky if you don’t know what to watch for.
What goes wrong: teams don’t have a process for reviewing footage and making sure that all necessary changes have been made.
What to do instead: build a short sign-off routine. Before exporting, watch the video looking for unredacted personal data in the background or in instances when people or vehicles overlap with masked elements and/or each other. Manually redact personal data and then run the final watch-through.
#Legal requirements (GDPR, FOI, sector-specific rules)
This section is general information, not legal advice.
GDPR / UK GDPR
As a general rule, if the footage contains identifiable people, it is considered personal data. Facit’s Guide to CCTV video redaction and GDPR compliance goes in-depth on the requirements and potential penalties and risks of delays or incomplete redaction.
FOIA / public records disclosure
Freedom of Information workflows vary by country and state. The common thread is that if you release a video, you have to remove third-party personal data before disclosure.
US sector-specific rules
Depending on your organisation, you may also have obligations under laws such as HIPAA, FERPA, and other federal/state rules that govern disclosure of personally identifiable information.
#What to look for when choosing software for video redaction
If you only get occasional requests, manual tools can be enough. Once requests become more frequent, you’re going to start running into redaction bottlenecks.
When you compare automated video redaction tools, check for the following features:
Detection and tracking for faces, bodies and license plates
Manual blurring for signage, screens and IDs
Audio redaction if you need to handle bodycam videos, customer incidents, or reception desk footage
On-premise options if your data protection policy won’t allow you to upload footage to the cloud
Ability to import all file formats even for different combinations of footage and/or legacy VMS files
A workflow that’s easy to follow when your team’s under time pressure
Another point that can be important is accurately estimating the cost of an automated video redaction solution.
For an accurate evaluation, make sure you also consider:
Pricing predictability – for example, per-minute pricing may be harder to estimate confidently (this is video Identity Cloak pricing plans are based on the number of exported videos with unlimited video duration and no limits of file size for both import and export)
Hidden costs like cloud storage costs
Discounts or flat-rate pricing options (Facit offers discounts for educational and healthcare organisations)
Download video redaction tool comparison template for a comprehensive comparison
Identity Cloak in real redaction workflows
Identity Cloak is Facit’s desktop video redaction software for organisations handling CCTV, bodycam, dashcam and mobile phone footage.
It’s used by teams that need to redact a growing number of footage requests in-house without creating a backlog.
Organisations start using Identity Cloak when they:
realise that they need to reduce the amount of time spent on video redaction in general-purpose tools (for example, a healthcare HR professional spending 38 weeks a year redacting video in Adobe products to fulfil SARs)
decide they need to bring video blurring in-house for faster processing times (a MerseyRail Data and Access Support Officer reported redacting an 8-minute clip “in about 10 minutes,” end-to-end)
want to avoid outsourcing costs (Córas Iompair Eireann, Ireland’s state-owned public transport group, paid around €700 per video, even for clips under 20 minutes long).
Some data points for our Identity Cloak desktop product:
Average processing time: 12 minutes or less to redact one video file on recommended hardware (we’ve processed over 15,000 videos for customers).
Common workflow: import and trim footage, run auto-tracking, adjust and finalise redaction, review and export.
Files: supports MP4 and AVI. You can use screen recording to import other file formats.
Data handling: Identity Cloak is installed on your device within your secure network and doesn’t transfer video files to its servers (full breakdown here).
If your team works inside Milestone XProtect, Identity Cloak is also available as a plug-in so you can redact videos before exporting them out of Milestone.
#Video redaction FAQs
We received a SAR for CCTV footage in a busy public area. Do we have to blur everyone else?
In most cases, yes. You’re providing the requestor’s personal data, but you generally still need to protect third parties.
Is blurring faces enough?
Often it isn’t. Name badges, tattoos, signage, and screens are frequent causes of accidental disclosure.
What about license plates and vehicle identifiers?
Treat them as personal data unless your legal basis and context clearly says otherwise.
Do we need to redact audio?
If the audio contains personal data and you’re sharing the file outside your organisation, you should assume it may need redaction. The simplest option is often to remove audio unless it’s required for the purpose of the disclosure.
We’re using Premiere/Final Cut. Why does it feel so slow?
Because you’re doing compliance work in creative software. It’s fine for editing, but not for frame-by-frame blurring. Dedicated redaction tools are built around automated detection and tracking.
Can redaction be done fully automatically?
Automation gets you most of the way (faces, bodies, plates). The “last mile” is still a human check, plus manual redaction for items like phone screens, signage, IDs and visible paperwork.
#A sample video redaction workflow
Define the purpose of disclosure
Write down what the requestor needs. This single step helps reduce how much you need to redact.List what must be protected
Use a short policy list: faces, plates, badges, tattoos, screens, signage, audio.Trim the footage first
If only 2 minutes are relevant, don’t redact 45 minutes. Trimming reduces both risk and review time.Run auto-detection and tracking
Use automation for the repeating work (faces/bodies/plates). Then handle exceptions manually (screens/posters/paperwork).Do a two-pass review
First pass: watch for anything that’s still identifiable. Second pass: ignore the main subject and scan the background.Export a separate redacted file
Only share the redacted export and keep the original internally.Record what you did
A short log is usually enough: footage source, date/time, what was redacted, who reviewed, and where the export was sent.
#Next step: test Identity Cloak on your footage
If you want to see how Identity Cloak fits your workflow for CCTV, bodycam, and other footage requests, try it out on typical types of videos you need to process. No credit card is required for a 7-day free trial.
