Privacy Notice: Office Cameras

What is happening in our office?

Augur develops computer-vision and AI models. We use the cameras in our office at 12 Little Portland Street to capture footage that helps us build, train, and test those models. The cameras record continuously while you are in the areas they cover, and there is signage displayed at the entrance that explains this in more detail.

We use the footage to develop and improve software that detects people and analyses movement and behaviour in a space — for example, counting people, measuring how long they spend in an area, and understanding crowd flow. This is the kind of technology used in retail analytics, building management, and security systems.

Will you be recorded?

If you come into the areas our cameras cover, yes — you will appear in the footage. We don't single anyone out; the cameras simply record whoever is present.

Our cameras do not:

• record any audio
• use facial recognition on you. We do train facial recognition models, but only using images of Augur staff who have actively volunteered and who wear a visible identifier to signal their participation. As a visitor, you are not part of that scheme, so your face is not used for facial recognition training.
• identify you, look you up, or link your image to your name or any other information about you
• track you across separate visits, or connect to the police, DVLA, or any other external system as part of this research

Why are we allowed to do this?

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using personal data. For the camera footage, we rely on legitimate interests — our genuine commercial interest in developing and improving our products.

We rely on this because real-world footage is the most effective way to develop and test this kind of technology, and we have put safeguards in place to keep the impact on you to a minimum: no audio, no facial recognition on visitors, no identifying or tracking you, short retention of original footage, and storage within the UK or EEA. We have weighed our interests against your privacy and designed the activity to protect it.

How long do we keep footage?

We apply strict limits to the original footage:

• Original camera footage is kept for up to 14 days by default and then automatically overwritten, unless specific footage is selected within that window for our research.
• Footage and data selected for research — along with the technical data we derive from it (such as person detections and movement analytics) — may be kept for longer under the scientific research exemption in UK data protection law. We review what we hold at least every two years and delete anything no longer needed.

Where is it stored and who can access it?

We do not share your personal data with third parties for their own purposes.

Footage and derived data are stored within the UK or EEA. Original footage stays on-site in our office; data selected for research is held on secure cloud infrastructure within the EEA. Access is limited to designated Augur personnel who need it for the research, and is logged. Our cloud storage is encrypted.

If we receive a request from the police or another authority — for example, after an incident in or near our office — we may share footage where we are legally required to, or where we consider it necessary to support an investigation.

Your rights

UK data protection law gives you rights over your personal data. How they apply in practice depends on the nature of this activity, as explained below. To exercise any of them, contact [email protected] — we will respond within one calendar month.

• Right of access — you can ask what data we hold about you and request a copy. Because original footage is kept only briefly, it may already have been deleted by the time you ask. If footage still exists, we may ask you for an approximate date and time of your visit to help us locate it.
• Right to erasure — you can ask us to delete data we hold about you. Where data is held for research, we will assess each request on its facts.
• Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Right to restriction — you can ask us to limit how we use your data while a concern is looked into.
• Right to object — because we rely on legitimate interests, you can object to our processing. We will consider your request and whether our reasons override your rights, taking the safeguards into account.
• Automated decisions — we do not use your data to make automated decisions about you.

How to make a complaint

If you have questions, or you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us at [email protected] and we will do our best to help. Our Data Protection Officer is Jordan de la Prida at Founders Law ([email protected]).

You also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113
• Address: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Changes to this notice

If we make significant changes to how we use camera data, we will update this notice. The date at the top shows when it was last reviewed.