The critical importance of the need to store and backup closed circuit television (CCTV) footage for long periods was illustrated recently in a court case which took place in Karachi, Pakistan.

Local newspapers Pakistan Today and The News reported that the Sindh High Court directed the Pakistani Airports Security Force (ASF) to submit a detailed statement to endorse its claim that CCTV cameras installed at the airport automatically erase data after a period of 25 days.

This case is relevant for many other organizations operating surveillance cameras, which face similar problems once they are required to retrieve their old CCTV data.

In the case, the court dealt with the mysterious disappearance of Mirza Saud Ali Baig, a local architect who returned from Dubai and disappeared in the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi soon after his arrival.

The ASF told the court that CCTV camera footage from the period when he was kidnapped had been deleted and could not be recovered.

The petitioner, Wajeeda Yaqub Siddiqui, claimed that soon after her husband’s arrival at the airport, people in civilian clothing detained him without disclosing any reason for his arrest.

The ASF said that its IT Department had alleged that CCTV cameras installed at the airport did not have the capacity to store surveillance data for more than 25 days, and automatically erased them.

Such an unfortunate situation could have been easily prevented by installing simple and cost-effective cloud-based storage solutions for  Long-Term Video Hosting of CCTV video data. An LTVH solution, such as the one offered by IL Solutions, enables organizations to back up all their CCTV data for an unlimited time on a daily basis, while allowing them to retrieve their video data whenever required.

Tags: airports security , camera footage , video data storage