Physical security, and the rules around it
Cameras and access control have become IT equipment: they hang off the network, they store data and they need updates. That puts them under the same requirements as the rest, plus a few that only apply here, because footage of people is personal data.
What falls under it
Three kinds, one network
They are bought separately and arrive on the same cable.
- Video surveillanceCameras, storage and the software to review footage. Retention is a choice with legal consequences and not a question of how much disk fits.
- Access controlCard readers, locks and the system tracking who enters where. This touches HR administration: a badge should expire on the day somebody leaves, and that is a process rather than a setting.
- Detection and alarmsIntruder, fire and smoke detection. Usually a specialist installer, and the same network infrastructure underneath.
What often goes wrong
Four things to settle beforehand
They cost more afterwards than the equipment did.
- Cameras that never get an updateA camera is a computer with a web server. Left on the internet for four years without patching, it is not your security but somebody else’s way in. Put them on their own VLAN and keep them current.
- Footage kept too longImages of people are personal data. There should be a retention period that is written down and enforced by the equipment, rather than a disk that overwrites itself when it fills up.
- Badges that keep workingAccess control without a link to the leaver process means badges circulating for people who no longer work there. That is the most common finding in an audit.
- Notification and consultationCamera surveillance in the workplace requires works council agreement and visibility for those being filmed. That is not technology, but it belongs settled before installation.
What belongs with this
Physical and digital security run over the same cable.
Security that survives the test
Tell us what is installed now and how long footage is kept. You get back what still has to happen technically and on paper.
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