Licensing & regulation
What is a CCTV (public space surveillance) licence?
A public space surveillance licence is the SIA licence required to operate CCTV equipment to monitor public space in a way that identifies or records the activities of individuals.
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<img src="https://secureoptix.co.uk/glossary/cctv-licence/diagram.svg" alt="public space surveillance licence — diagram from SecureOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://secureoptix.co.uk/glossary/cctv-licence">What is a CCTV (public space surveillance) licence?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://secureoptix.co.uk">SecureOptix</a>
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</figure>The trigger is proactive monitoring of people rather than the presence of cameras. Reviewing recorded footage after an incident, or having cameras nobody watches, does not generally engage the licence in the way live targeted monitoring does.
It is commonly missed because CCTV duties get added to an existing guarding role informally. An officer asked to watch the monitors during quiet periods may have moved into licensable activity nobody decided to authorise.
It sits alongside data protection obligations that apply regardless of licensing. The licence governs who may operate the system; separate rules govern what may be recorded, retained and disclosed.
What goes wrong in practice
- Monitoring duties added informally to a guarding role with no licence check.
- The licence obtained while the data protection obligations are overlooked entirely.
- Assuming no licence is needed because the site is private, when the space monitored is public.