PIXELATE Video Redaction Software for GDPR and CCPA Compliance

Pixelate is video redaction software that uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect and blur faces and other identifying details in CCTV and video-surveillance footage. It is built for GDPR and CCPA compliance, helping organisations respond to Subject Access Requests (SARs) without manually blurring every frame by hand. Everything runs in the cloud through your browser — you upload footage, Pixelate’s AI detects and masks people automatically, and you review the result before exporting, up to 5× faster than redacting a video by hand.

A Subject Access Request (SAR) is a request made under GDPR or CCPA by an individual asking an organisation for a copy of the personal data it holds about them. If that data includes CCTV footage, the organisation must redact any other identifiable people before releasing it — which is exactly what Pixelate automates. Under GDPR, organisations normally have one calendar month to respond to a SAR, and releasing footage that still shows other people’s faces is itself a data protection breach, so the redaction step can’t be skipped or rushed.

Pixelate accepts the following file formats: MP4, AVI, MKV, SSF, MOV, VOB, OGV, 3G2, making it an extremely flexible face blurring software platform. This covers the exports produced by most CCTV, DVR and bodycam systems, so in most cases you can upload the file exactly as your camera system exported it, without needing to convert it first.

Enter your details on the “create account” screen: you will need your name, business email address, and a secure password. Next, enter your company details and on the following page select “skip for now” when prompted to select a subscription. You will then be brought to your dashboard, from where you can manage your account and launch the Pixelate application. No card details are required to create a free account.

You will be able to access your dashboard, which also includes the ability to upload videos and use both the auto-detect and manual masking functions within the Pixelate application. However, you will be unable to process redacted footage, or blur part of a video, until you have an active subscription in place. This lets you try the upload and masking workflow for yourself before committing to a paid plan.

Follow exactly the same steps as setting up a free account, then simply select the appropriate subscription level. The system will issue an invoice, and once paid you will be able to process redacted footage and export/download your files. You can pay by card or purchase order, and add extra redaction credits at any time as your volume of Subject Access Requests changes.

Borrowed from Latin, the verb ‘to redact’ refers to censoring a text (typically for legal reasons) by removing various words or phrases prior to distribution. Pixelate applies this idea to video footage by redacting, or blurring / pixelating the faces and other sensitive information of third parties on CCTV recordings. In practice, this means every frame of a clip is processed individually, so a person stays blurred consistently as they move through the shot, rather than only in a single still image.

Under GDPR (effective from May 2018, enforced across the UK and Europe) and CCPA (a state-wide California data privacy law), individuals have a right to request access to their personal data. Denying this request, or failing to provide this information within one month at no cost to the individual, is a breach of GDPR and CCPA which could have serious legal consequences.

Personal data covers a wide range of information, from licence plate, name, date of birth, IP address, and cookie usage. Images or clips of CCTV footage can contain large amounts of this data, so it is essential that all information relating to third parties — anyone other than the person who made the request — is redacted before being released as part of a Subject Access Request.

See the ICO’s guidance on video surveillance and CCTV and on subject access requests for further detail.

Pixelate is an ideal solution for all organisations that use closed-circuit television (CCTV) on their premises or share data. Pixelate allows users to quickly and efficiently blur a moving face in video footage through a low cost subscription that provides GDPR compliant redaction. It’s already used across sectors including retail, grocery, quick-service restaurants, healthcare, and beauty & cosmetics retail — anywhere CCTV is recorded and a member of the public could reasonably ask for a copy of footage that includes them.

After you have uploaded your video to our online platform, Pixelate processes the footage using an artificial intelligence engine and returns a number of segments where bodies have been detected in the frames.

Then all you have to do is delete the redaction mask from the individual(s) you do not wish to redact — typically the person who made the Subject Access Request — and your video will be processed, pixelated, and returned to your user dashboard for you to download and save.

Pixelate accepts most formats of video, including MP4, AVI, MKV, SSF, MOV, VOB, OGV and 3G2. If you are having issues uploading footage please get in touch with our team and we’ll help you find a way to bring it into Pixelate.

Although Pixelate is a cross-browser web-based solution it is optimised for use with Google Chrome, so we would advise you use this browser for the best results, particularly for larger uploads and longer processing jobs. No plugins or downloads are required — everything runs through the browser.

No, we’ve designed it to be extremely user-friendly to make the process as clear as possible. All customers receive a “how-to” video when they sign up, and you can always contact us directly if your query isn’t answered by this. Most of the work — detecting and masking faces — is handled automatically by Pixelate’s AI; your role is simply to review the results and remove the mask from anyone who shouldn’t be redacted.

Turnaround time is highly dependent on the length of the video and how many people are present in the footage. On average, a 3 minute video will take about 10 minutes of active time to complete — most of that is reviewing and adjusting the automatically generated masks, rather than waiting for processing, since Pixelate’s AI detection runs in the background while you work.

Pixelate complies with all current and future data protection regulations, and has advanced end-to-end encryption for all footage. Data is processed in the UK for UK users and in the US for users based in the US. User-access control is secure, with each user signing in to their own account under your organisation’s subscription, so you can control who is able to upload, review and export footage.

There’s a free plan to get started, plus three paid subscription packages to suit your business, with the option to buy additional redaction credits and user licences, giving Pixelate the flexibility to meet the needs of any business. You have the option to pay by purchase order or by card. Redaction credits are calculated on video length, and if you need more than your plan includes in a given month you can simply top up with additional minutes rather than being forced onto a higher tier.

Yes, we’d love to give you a web demo of our technology, so we can show you how easy it is to apply redaction or a blur effect to video through our low cost software solution. Please use our online enquiry form or email us directly and we will reply as soon as possible to arrange a time. Demos are typically done over a short video call, and can use a sample clip of your own footage if you’d like to see Pixelate applied to a realistic example.

Simply follow the steps above under ‘How do I create an account and sign-up for a subscription?’ and select an appropriate subscription, or email us to submit a direct enquiry. You may also purchase Pixelate with a Purchase Order or by card. If you’re not sure which plan is right for your organisation, get in touch and we can help you estimate how many redaction credits you’re likely to need based on your typical SAR volume.

If you have developed a proprietary software solution that involves the recording of video, we can tailor Pixelate to provide a bespoke version that embeds directly into any third party application, making it GDPR or CCPA compliant. Email us to submit a direct enquiry. This embedded/OEM option is separate from the standard subscription plans and is scoped individually around your platform and expected volumes.