Cameras

Camera Surveillance and the Workplace: Signage, Audio, and Privacy Basics

Cameras protect your business best when they're deployed thoughtfully — both for coverage and for the privacy expectations of employees and customers. Here are the practical norms we design around. (Rules vary by state and situation; treat this as orientation, and confirm specifics with your attorney.)

Where cameras belong — and where they never do

Entrances, registers, sales floors, stockrooms, docks, parking — standard and expected. Restrooms, changing areas, and similar private spaces are off-limits everywhere, full stop. Break rooms and private offices deserve a deliberate decision rather than a default; visible coverage of work areas is normal, but surveillance that feels aimed at individuals corrodes the trust it's meant to protect.

Audio is a different animal

Video and audio are treated very differently: recording conversations triggers wiretap-style consent laws, and several states require all parties' consent. Many businesses simply leave microphones disabled on general surveillance — the video does the protective work with a fraction of the legal complexity. If you want audio anywhere, that's precisely a talk-to-counsel item.

Signage and transparency

Visible "premises under video surveillance" notice is cheap, often expected, sometimes required — and it converts cameras from a gotcha into a deterrent, which is the better job anyway. Internally, put camera use in the employee handbook: where, why, who can view, and how long footage is kept.

Access and retention discipline

• Per-user logins — not one shared password — with viewing appropriate to role
• A defined retention window (commonly ~30 days) applied consistently
• Exported clips handled like the sensitive records they are

Designed right from the site survey

Coverage that identifies at entry points, respects private spaces, records to a secured and segmented system, and gives you clean remote viewing — that's the standard our camera installs are built to. The free site survey includes a placement map you can sanity-check with your own policies (and counsel) before anything mounts to a wall.