Handling exported data in notifications and email

In addition to exports, data can also be extracted from the VMS by means of attachments to notifications. Notifications are emails that are sent to a specified email address. When creating a notification, the administrator can choose to include a set of snapshots or an AVI of a sequence. Because the attached snapshots and AVI sequences in notifications leave the VMS, they are outside the control of the VMS for user access and retention. It is recommended not to attach images or AVI sequences to email notifications. If the attachments are necessary, then you must at least ensure that there are organizational procedures and controls for who receives the emails and how they are handled.

You should have a clear process, which covers:

• Where is the data stored?

  Ensure that the sending and receiving email servers are under control of the organization that is the Data Controller / Data Processor of the video surveillance. In particular, recipients should not be email accounts on free mail accounts such as Gmail or Hotmail, and so forth.

• Who has access to it?
• What format(s) should be used?
• Whether SMTP encryption should be applied?

  Please be aware: Use an SMTP/SMTPS mail server. You must encrypt the connection between the VMS and the outgoing mail servers, as well as between the sending and receiving SMTP servers to be covered by the European Privacy Seal. An unencrypted and unsecured connection would violate the EuroPriSe seal and lead to the loss of the EuroPriSe privacy seal compliance.

• When is the data destroyed?

  Milestone recommends that the retention time of video data in the outgoing and incoming mail boxes should be aligned with the retention time of the media database or with the retention time of alarms that may be triggered by the same events that caused the notification.

  Retention time in the mail boxes needs to be limited to a boundary that is reasonable for the purpose behind the notification process.

  Milestone recommends to only use mail boxes of the Data Controller / Data Processor and to configure automatic deletion of the mails after the defined retention time has been reached.

  Data Controllers / Data Processors should make sure that these mail boxes are not automatically archived by the mail system.