CCTV Policy

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Approved by the board, 2016-February-08

This document explains the purpose for the existence of the closed circuit television system (CCTV) at the MakeICT Makerspace located at 1500 E. Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS. Further, this document contains proposed policies and procedures for the installation, maintenance, and use of the CCTV system by administrators and Makerspace member-users.

Purpose and Rationale

MakeICT needs a CCTV system to address several pressing needs. They are as follows:

  • Deter criminal activity. Visible cameras on and in the building will have a deterrent effect on criminal activity. This can be bolstered with appropriate outside lighting.
  • Record criminal activity including vandalism and theft. The makerspace contains hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment that is at best loosely guarded. In the event of a theft, a visual recording may prove valuable in recovering stolen goods.
  • Incident review. An after-incident review of a visual recording in a high-risk area such as woodshop or metalshop may prove invaluable in determining the cause of the incident and ways to avoid similar incidents in the future, leading to a safer makerspace environment.
  • Equipment availability. Several pieces of machinery have long run times and are not able to be remotely monitored to determine idle/in-use status. A world-viewable camera may be a possible solution to allow members to identify if a particular piece of machinery is available to use or not.

Security Camera Access Policies

Cameras are an element of control and authority and as such, strict controls on their use must be put in place before a CCTV system is commissioned and brought online.

  • Credentialed users. Access must be strictly limited to those with an absolute need for this capability. Access is defined as the ability to operate, view live video or play recorded video from inside or outside of the makerspace facility. Credentialed users have complete ability to see all stored recordings and live video streams. A maximum of 3 makerspace members who have been thoroughly vetted should be allowed access credentials. Access must be justified as defined below.
  • All other individuals requesting access to recordings must make a justified request with a credentialed user. If justified, a credentialed user will then facilitate access from a dedicated computer inside the makerspace. Access must be justified as defined below.
  • Access shall only be used in response to a bona-fide belief that an injury-incident or property-damage-incident is occurring or has recently occurred.
  • Access shall NOT be used for any other purpose including, but not limited to: observing individuals or monitoring behavior or activity.
  • Recording limits. The video recorder must be configured to record a maximum of 10 days. Recordings after 10 days will be automatically overwritten or deleted. An exception is made for manually archiving events to local or external storage in response to an incident.
  • Accounting controls. User accounts shall be created on the video recorder to enforce limits to access. Firewall logs or another similar solution must be kept to keep a record of remote access attempts. Access at the recorder console must be recorded using a logbook kept with the recorder.

World Viewable Camera Policy

In the interest of making the makerspace more accessible and convenient to members, a limited number of cameras may be made world-viewable by members or the public.

These cameras may be configured to observe specific areas where machine idle/in-use status is commonly in question and outdoor cameras, or “city cams” where a remote view would be of common interest to the community. The following stipulations are attached to the installation and use of a world-viewable video streaming system.

  • The hardware required to provide world-viewable cameras shall be separate from hardware used for CCTV security system. The sole exception is that the two systems may share analog cameras using a Y-splitter to split the analog camera signal.
  • The hardware used to provide world-viewable cameras shall not record any video whatsoever.
  • The resolution or framerate of these interior cameras must be intentionally degraded as required to preserve privacy of users.
  • The resolution or framerate of exterior “city cams” may be intentionally degraded as required to preserve a modicum of privacy.
  • The software or hardware used to provide world-viewable cameras must automatically disconnect clients after an amount of time not to exceed 30 minutes in order to prevent wastage of valuable bandwidth and prevent the possibility of remote users recording video streams.
  • The software or hardware used to provide world-viewable cameras shall use a CAPTCHA test to verify a remote user is a human being, if practicable.
  • The software or hardware used to provide world-viewable cameras must keep an electronic record of IP addresses used to access the video streams. Regular audits shall be performed to monitor for unusual access patterns or excessive bandwidth use.
  • A makerspace member shall be designated to be the administrator of world-viewable camera system. He or she must be informed of and abide by the above mentioned restrictions.

Approved by the board on February 8, 2016