Surveillance Video Redaction and its Role in Retail Compliance

Retailers are facing increasing pressure to secure PII in surveillance footage for managing DSARs. Learn how to protect PII and effectively process DSARs to ensure retail compliance with GDPR. 

Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) are skyrocketing — rising 246% across Europe between 2021 and 2023 — putting unprecedented pressure on retailers to manage and redact surveillance footage containing sensitive personal data.

Surveillance videos in retail environments capture more than just incidents—they contain vast amounts of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as faces, license plates, employee badges, and even custom digital content.

When a DSAR involves footage featuring multiple individuals, retailers must ensure that only the requesting person’s data is disclosed, with all other PII carefully redacted to avoid costly compliance breaches.

Failing to meet these DSAR obligations can result in severe penalties: fines up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover for serious violations, and up to €10 million or 2% for less severe breaches. Beyond fines, the operational costs to manually fulfill DSARs average between £3,000 and £6,000 per request, with volumes and costs rising sharply year-over-year.

For Data Protection Officers, Compliance Officers, and Store Operations Managers, it’s obvious that video redaction solutions are needed for retail compliance across Europe, but what exactly does it constitute? And more importantly, what does it mean for you as a retailer? 

In this blog, we will discuss the importance of video redaction for surveillance in protecting PII from retail surveillance footage.  

We will also talk about the role of GDPR and DSARs, the growing need for compliance, and how implementing a reliable surveillance video redaction solution can help retailers avoid fines and protect customer privacy. 

Understanding Surveillance Video Redaction and Its Role in Retail Compliance 

Data redaction is the process of carefully removing or hiding sensitive information from documents, videos, or images so that unauthorized people can’t see it. This is important to protect people’s privacy and keep their personal information safe.

In retail stores, video redaction is especially important because surveillance cameras record a lot of sensitive data. These cameras don’t just capture events like theft or accidents—they also record things that can identify people, such as faces, license plates on cars, employee badges, and even details on digital screens.

All of these pieces of information are called Personally Identifiable Information, or PII for short. PII means any data that can be used to recognize or contact a person directly.

When a customer or employee asks a retailer for the personal data the company holds about them, this is called a Data Subject Access Request, or DSAR. Under privacy laws like the GDPR in Europe, retailers must respond to DSARs and provide the requested information without unnecessary delays.

Sometimes, the data requested includes surveillance videos that show the person making the request. However, these videos often show other people or sensitive information too. Because privacy laws require protecting everyone’s data, retailers cannot just hand over raw footage.

They must make sure that all other individuals’ faces, license plates, and any other identifying details are blurred or hidden before sharing the footage. This process is called video redaction.

Video redaction can be very challenging because it needs to be precise and fast. Manually reviewing hours of footage and blurring sensitive information is time-consuming and expensive. Plus, mistakes can lead to serious privacy violations.

If retailers fail to redact surveillance videos properly before sharing them in response to a DSAR, they risk breaking GDPR rules. This can result in severe consequences, including hefty fines—sometimes millions of euros—and damage to the store’s reputation.

For this reason, many retailers are turning to automated video redaction software that uses artificial intelligence to quickly detect and hide PII, making the entire process more efficient and compliant.

GDPR Violations and Challenges of Retail Compliance 

If you’re a major retailer and are of the opinion that your processes are too robust to be hit with a GDPR violation... think again. 

There have been several big names that have underestimated the need for compliance with GDPR in recent times, often failing to properly secure/redact surveillance footage. 

For example, the CNIL (France's data protection authority) fined two companies in the Carrefour Group a total of €3.05 million for breaking GDPR rules.  

Carrefour France was fined €2.25 million, and Carrefour Banque was fined €800,000. 

The fines were for failing to properly handle requests to access or delete personal data, sending marketing emails without permission, and using cookies that were unnecessary without getting user approval.  

Both companies were also found to have poor data management practices, like keeping data for too long and not informing customers properly. 

Across Europe in 2024, GDPR fines totaled about €1.2 billion, with some big fines for companies like LinkedIn, which was fined €310 million for misusing user data, and Uber, which was fined €290 million for sending driver data to the US without proper protection.

Since GDPR started in 2018, companies have been fined nearly €5.9 billion in total, with big tech and social media companies getting the largest penalties.

So, it's essential for retailers to properly protect non-subject PII before releasing data or surveillance footage for any reason.  

Surveillance footage redaction software is built to automatically blur or hide faces, license plates, and other personal details. 

Common Challenges of Managing DSARs for Retail Compliance  

That being said, if you’re a retailer, these are some common challenges you’re likely to face as you scale up your operations: 

Preventing Unauthorized Access or Misuse 

Not everyone should have access to surveillance footage. 

CCTV footage can record particularly sensitive information at times, such as PII, that has extreme potential for misuse in the wrong hands. Even worse, it can lead to great reputational, legal, and financial harm for your organization. 

So, as a retailer, you must make sure the systems you are using to store personal data are secure enough to prevent unauthorized access, hacking, or misuse, especially when handling DSARs that involve sensitive customer information. 

Responding to DSARs Within Legal Timeframes 

As a retailer, you are expected to respond to DSAR requests within a month (barring certain circumstances). Now, if you’re a small retailer, you may be able to get away with manually redacting footage. 

But if you’re a mid to large-sized enterprise, you are likely dealing with hundreds of hours worth of footage that must be analyzed and retrospectively redacted to comply with GDPR requirements. 

This is exactly where many retailers struggle since very few options in the video redaction market offer automated detection, redaction, and activity recognition simultaneously. 

Managing Increasing DSAR Demand 

With DSAR requests on the rise, retailers must find ways to manage a growing number of requests efficiently, especially in sectors like retail and eCommerce, where large volumes of data are processed.  

This is usually the case for retailers (the average company receives 578 access and delete requests every year), and based on trends so far, that number is expected to rise in the future. 

Taking these things into consideration mandates the need for a comprehensive and effective solution that helps retailers respond to DSAR requests in a timely manner and ensure retail compliance with GDPR. This is where surveillance video redaction software comes in. 

Balancing Loss Prevention and Data Privacy Compliance

Retailers rely heavily on surveillance footage for loss prevention to detect theft, fraud, and other security incidents. However, managing this footage within DSAR processes presents unique challenges.

Loss Prevention teams face a unique dilemma—they need clear, unredacted footage to investigate theft or fraud, but must also comply with privacy laws enforced by Compliance Officers. This often creates operational friction that can only be resolved by technology that selectively redacts PII while preserving evidentiary value.

You need to protect customer privacy and comply with GDPR while preserving the evidentiary value of footage for investigations.

Improper handling or delayed redaction of footage can hamper loss prevention efforts, increasing shrinkage risk. Conversely, over-redaction or slow response times can expose you to regulatory penalties and damage customer trust.

For Compliance Officers, automated redaction provides assurance through consistent PII removal and audit-ready reporting. For Operations Managers, it means faster turnaround on DSARs with less manual effort. And for Loss Prevention teams, it ensures footage remains usable for investigations while respecting privacy.

The ideal solution must automate PII redaction without compromising the ability to quickly review footage for suspicious activities. 

How Surveillance Video Redaction Software Helps

Surveillance footage can become a double-edged sword for organizations at times. Sure, it plays a crucial role in retail operations, but it also presents significant challenges when it comes to GDPR compliance, especially when responding to DSARs.  

Retailers must find ways to address these challenges efficiently, making sure that sensitive PII is protected while still providing essential footage.  

Now the question is, is there video redaction software out there that can fulfill these requirements while handling the volume of tasks thrown at it? 

Actually, yes! 

VIDIZMO Redactor provides a comprehensive solution that helps retailers quickly and securely handle large volumes of surveillance footage for DSAR compliance by automatically redacting sensitive data like faces and license plates using AI-powered detection and tracking.

It supports bulk redaction and multiple video formats, enabling faster responses to requests without compromising privacy.

With strong security features like access controls, encryption, and Single Sign-On, retailers can ensure sensitive footage is protected and only accessible to authorized users,  helping you stay compliant with GDPR while saving time and resources.

Common Retail Scenarios that Require Surveillance Video Redaction 

Now, there are a number of scenarios that you, as a retailer, will commonly deal with that involve the need for data redaction: 

Crime and Incident Resolution

As a retailer, you will often need to redact surveillance footage to resolve issues like theft or criminal activity in the store.  

However, sharing unredacted footage could expose sensitive personal information, like customers' or employees' faces or license plates. 

CCTV redaction software helps businesses hide this sensitive data and redact video footage while still providing the footage needed for law enforcement investigations. 

Staff Safety and Internal Investigations

Surveillance cameras also play a key role in keeping employees safe. 

For example, if there’s a workplace dispute or accident and footage is needed, video redaction helps protect employee privacy by blurring faces, employee badges, digital screens, or other personal details.  

This way, the important information can still be shared for safety or legal reasons while making sure no one’s privacy is violated. 

Insurance Claims and Legal Protection

Video redaction is especially important when retailers need to share footage for things like insurance claims or legal protection. 

For example, if a store needs to show footage of a car accident in the parking lot for an insurance claim, they must make sure that personal details, like people’s faces or license plates, are hidden. 

Why You Should Ensure Retail Compliance with GDPR Using VIDIZMO 

As GDPR regulations and DSAR requests grow, retailers must protect Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in surveillance footage. 

Not following these rules can lead to heavy fines and damage to your reputation. 

Using a reliable video redaction tool, like VIDIZMO Redactor, is key to keeping customer privacy safe and staying compliant with GDPR. 

VIDIZMO Redactor offers powerful features like automated video redaction, bulk processing, multi-format support, and secure storage. It helps retailers manage DSARs, protect sensitive data, and meet legal requirements. 

With these advanced tools, retailers can streamline compliance, avoid penalties, and keep customer trust. 

As DSAR requests increase, adopting a strong video redaction solution like VIDIZMO Redactor is essential for secure, compliant, and transparent operations in today’s retail world. Oh, and did we mention that we offer a free trial—no strings attached?

People Also Ask

What is video redaction? 

Video redaction is the process of obscuring sensitive information in video footage, such as faces or license plates, to ensure privacy protection. 

Why is video redaction important for retailers? 

Redacting surveillance footage helps retailers comply with privacy laws like GDPR, safeguarding both customer and employee data from unauthorized access. 

How does video redaction work? 

Video redaction software automatically blurs or removes personal details, like faces and license plates, from video footage to protect privacy. 

What features should I look for in video redaction software? 

Look for features like automated redaction, bulk processing, and robust security features such as encryption to protect sensitive information. 

Does video redaction work with all video formats? 

Yes, high-quality video redaction tools support various video formats, including older and less common formats, ensuring versatility. 

How does video redaction help with DSAR requests? 

It ensures that sensitive information is effectively hidden before sharing footage in response to a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR), maintaining privacy. 

Can video redaction software be integrated with existing systems? 

Yes, many video redaction tools integrate easily with existing surveillance and security systems, streamlining operations for retailers. 

How does video redaction protect customer privacy? 

By removing identifiable information from video footage, redaction software ensures that customer privacy is maintained while complying with legal requirements.