The idea that gas stations should have monitoring equipment was practically unheard of more than twenty years ago. This was mostly due to the fact that gas was relatively inexpensive and that there was no need to steal it.
However, in this day and age of high-priced petrol and constrained paychecks—gas stations are vulnerable places, with robberies becoming considerably more prevalent than in the past.
This risk increases during the hours of darkness, resulting in the loss of valuable assets and an employee safety concern, too. Gas station owners, however, are becoming more technologically savvy to avoid gas station robberies and keep their staff secure with video surveillance.
Surveillance footage needs to be handled with care. When sharing footage with third parties like law enforcement, videos need to be redacted to protect the consumer privacy. Sighthound Redactor offers redaction software that may be used to redact recorded surveillance footage in various industries and cases. Redaction software ensures security footage remains compliant in terms of PII legislation.
Read on to discover how security cameras and redaction software are essential for gas stations and other small businesses that use modern technology to protect their business, their customers and their employees. Running a business requires juggling multiple risks including losing income, employee turnover, fines from not adhering to data privacy compliance legislation.
Gas station surveillance cameras are often found outside the gas station, providing a panoramic view of the gas fill-up area. In previous years, they were of low quality and had limited recording time, making them ineffective in capturing crime real-time or later in the identification of criminals after the fact
However, technology has evolved significantly in recent years, and cameras that watch an entire gas station are far more sophisticated.
Major changes in surveillance practices have resulted in gas stations watching more than simply the pump area. They also keep an eye on things inside the gas station's convenience store. Storefront robberies account for the vast majority of losses at gas stations, a fact that is slowly dawning on business owners.
Gas station owners can see exactly who is in and around the store at any given time using a basic surveillance system consisting of cameras and digital video recorders.
Surveillance is essential for assisting a gas station in maintaining its stock, keeping its staff secure, and ensuring that customers do not pump gas and then flee before paying.
These days gas station owners don't necessarily need to be physically present at the gas station to know what's going on. Now, thanks to cameras and rapid data transfer rates via the internet, a gas station's owner can keep tabs on their business from afar.
This implies that they can not only ensure that workers are doing their jobs but also that no one is robbing the business. This leads to reduced losses for the owner, enhanced employee safety and lets not forget about it creating peace of mind.
The pumps can also be a hotspot for criminal activity. Even though the store may get robbed for money or retail items, the pumps can cost the gas station a lot more. Owners can now use exterior security cameras to monitor the gas station pumps on gas pump islands. This means they can see the license plate of the robber, and they don't have to put their employees in danger to stop them.
All it takes now is for someone to park, fill up, and drive away without paying. Monitoring the gas station pumps with islands equipped with external security cameras is a significant step toward safety and preventing criminals from stealing the gas.
Businesses can’t turn a profit if they don’t have the staff to run the day to day. Employee turnover is costly and employee safety is a big factor when running a gas station or retail store. They don't want its staff chasing after a robber just to save the gas station a few dollars. What is $100 in comparison to a person's life? The ability to keep employees safe is priceless to a business owner. When surveillance systems are installed, those individuals can be kept safe.
Remote viewing can assist in determining whether or not your employees are in danger. It is often difficult for an employee to contact the police or even sound the alarm while being robbed.
However, with security surveillance and consistent monitoring, external personnel or managers can contact the police and have them at the gas station before the thief even realizes what is happening. This protects staff while also removing a dangerous individual from the street.
Nothing deters criminals from robbing a business like a surveillance system. It is an excellent theft deterrent for the shop since everyone knows someone is watching them when they spot the cameras. As a result, they may decide not to rob the store since it is simply too dangerous and there is too much risk of being identified and caught.
Placing visible security cameras outside and within the gas station, including behind the store's counter, and around the pumps is a great theft deterrent. Any business owner who wants to keep employees secure and robberies to a minimum, if not non-existent, should consider installing cameras that can be seen but not accessed.
Surveillance equipment is crucial for gas stations to keep their premises and assets safe. However, there are protections to ensure that gas station patrons' rights to privacy are upheld regarding camera footage from the premises. In fact, the way that companies actually go about doing this can play a significant role in their overall security strategy.
There is a considerable amount of data, including PII, that cameras may collect. Faces, license plates, and even text written on the front of a T-shirt can all be captured in video. All of this information can assist in helping to learn more about the customer.
Some businesses use face-recognition technologies, or in the event of a theft, they hand over the applicable video footage to law enforcement agencies so that they may utilize facial recognition to identify the perpetrator. However, another concern is what happens to the information after it is gathered. Who has access to this content? Where exactly does it get kept? And for how long? In what ways does the company ensure the safety of its customers and confidential information?
Sometimes, a data breach may not be detected until long after the original video was recorded, adding further complexity to storing and protecting sensitive information. Gas station owners must establish policies and guidelines and employ specific redaction tools and techniques to safeguard customers' privacy while making the data available for investigation.
Metadata in the digital recording provides additional details about the subject of the recording. Information such as GPS coordinates, time of day, and video-setting preferences may be recorded. The gas station might face fines if this information were made public under privacy legislation.
The failure of a gas station to comply with any of the numerous privacy laws that protect consumers' personal information can result in significant fines. Several state privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), can affect how databases are structured, what data can be collected, and how it is utilized. Surveillance information is covered by the federal Privacy Act of 1974.
Strong privacy policies and a high-quality automatic redaction software system are two of the most obvious ways for any gas station to preserve its sensitive video data and guarantee its customers' privacy. When corporate policy calls for redaction, having reliable redaction software on hand may make the process go efficiently.
Redaction software can combine intelligent automation, AI, and machine learning to make the often laborious process of removing unwanted content from video quick and easy. Smart automation may eliminate, redact, or obscure identifiable information from a video while keeping the rest intact. With only a few clicks and a few minutes of your time, this form of automation may remove thousands of data points.
Redactor Makes Blurring Faces, Vehicles and License Plates with Ease
Organizations that capture videos of consumers need to be aware of the federal and state legislation that requires Personal Identifiable Information (PIII) to be redacted.
As a result, video redaction with Sighthound Redactor offers business owners the following benefits
If you're a gas station owner or business owner, Sighthound can assist you with your video redaction needs, whether they are live streams or recorded streams, image files or video files. We have created an easy-to-use tool that anyone can use to protect people's privacy, reduce their company's or organization's risk, and ensure essential privacy protections and data compliance requirements are met.
For less than $100 a month, you can be ready for data compliance requirements for stored video. Talk to a redaction expert today via chat or through our contact sales form.