Shop CCTV

Razam622

Hi
I hope everyone is well.
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'm hoping someone could give some advice.

I complained about an issue to a shop, which could be confirmed through their CCTV. 
When I asked for CCTV to be checked, after a couple of days  I was told the following by the manager:
"The hard disk was reformated for the cameras I have access to. The new ones, [Staff Name] hasn't updated access to mobile yet, so not sure if there is a way to check back for 6th April"

I want to ask them if the recordings were saved somewhere before the HDs were reformatted, and if not why not. Also, can PC not be used to view & check back previous dates
But I don't know too much how CCTV works (she mentioned something about DVR), and I was hoping maybe someone could advise if what I told made sense, and if my questions are reasonable?

Thanks in advance.

cymruchris

If the DVR hard drive had failed - and a new one installed - they'd have lost their data.

It's not common for a hard drive to be formatted though. They do get overwritten once they get full - but they start with the oldest files first.

It would depend on how big a hard drive they had on their DVR against how the cameras had been set up to record and how many cameras they had.

In the old days of videos - they used to keep 31 days of recordings - on today's digital devices it could be any time from a day to a few months (although the old data protection laws still say it should be a maximum of 31 days - I do know of commercial retail systems that are recording for longer). 

For any CCTV that you want - you have to be in it. Is that the case? If so - you should be filling out a subject access request formally - not by having a chat with the staff - and to get it there's usually a fee involved. Bearing in mind that each day that passes means the chances of the hard drive being over-written will have increased.

How long between the incident happening and today?

Razam622

Thanks, cymruchris.
The incident happened on 6th April, so not too long ago & yep, the CCTV would show me.

If I complete a subject access request & they don't have the recording (as they've said), would I get a refund of my fee?
Also if they didn't have the recording, would that be a breach of Data Protection laws, as it's less than 31 days? (not to mention possibly breaking their insurance policy I'm guessing).

cymruchris

Razam622 said:

Thanks, cymruchris.
The incident happened on 6th April, so not too long ago & yep, the CCTV would show me.

If I complete a subject access request & they don't have the recording (as they've said), would I get a refund of my fee?
Also if they didn't have the recording, would that be a breach of Data Protection laws, as it's less than 31 days? (not to mention possibly breaking their insurance policy I'm guessing).

So that should still be on most people's systems.

It's not a breach of laws if it's less than 31 days no - it could be 24 hours is all they want to keep it for - the old recommendations were a maximum. Generally CCTV doesn't form part of an insurance policy - unless it's something like a licensed premises - there may be a clause hidden in the small print - but as a customer you wouldn't be privy to that kind of info.

If you complete the subject access request - and you're not on their cameras - then they wouldn't have to refund the fee. (In most cases the fee is something like £10) 

Have you checked to see if a camera was pointing at the area in which your incident happened? Not every square foot of every store is available on all store camera systems.

Is it a national company or a small independent local?