SAFR Guard™ Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy governs the collection and processing of data through SAFR Guard™ retail camera solution provided by SAFR LLC, a subsidiary of RealNetworks LLC ("SAFR"). SAFR Guard is designed for security purposes to assist retailers in preventing unlawful conduct and maintaining a safe environment by identifying individuals reasonably suspected of engaging in activities such as, but not limited to, theft, fraud, violence, harassment, or other malicious, deceptive or unlawful conduct. For information about how we handle your data when you visit our websites, please refer to our Website Privacy Policy.
Privacy Commitment Statement
We understand that privacy policies can be lengthy, and we know not everyone will read every word. That's why we want to make it clear from the outset: protecting your privacy is not just a legal obligation for us, it's a core value. We are deeply committed to upholding the highest standards of care in how we handle, protect, and respect your personal data. This Privacy Policy provides clear answers to the key questions about our data practices how, when, and why we collect, use, and process your information.
Our technology is designed to enhance safety, security, and convenience in communities, always with a strong emphasis on protecting individual privacy. By maintaining transparency and ensuring ethical use of personal data, we aim to build trust and contribute to a safer world for everyone.
How Does SAFR Guard Work?
Cameras installed at the participating stores capture facial images of individuals entering the store. Captured images are processed locally using in-camera software to create encrypted facial recognition templates. These templates are designed to represent unique facial features and are compared to a secure, in-camera watchlist containing information about individuals reasonably suspected of theft or engaging in other unlawful conduct. If a threshold match is identified, only then are the corresponding templates transmitted for cloud processing and verification.
How Do We Keep Your Information Secure?
At SAFR, we are committed to protecting the personal information collected and processed through our SAFR Guard solution. To achieve this, we implement robust technical and organizational measures tailored to the level of sensitivity and risk associated with the data. These measures include, but are not limited to:
- Use of industry-standard encryption to safeguard data both at rest and in transit, ensuring it is protected against unauthorized access.
- Access to personal data is strictly controlled, with permission granted only to authorized personnel and retailers who require it for legitimate purposes.
- Routine audits and monitoring to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the solution, ensuring compliance with applicable privacy and security standards.
By adopting these measures, we strive to ensure that the personal information entrusted to us remains secure and protected while enabling the effective operation of SAFR Guard.
What Personal Data Do We Collect?
We process the following types of personal data to support the security purposes of its collection:
- Facial images (photos) of individuals entering stores, and the unique facial recognition templates relating to those images.
- CCTV footage from the camera.
- Information provided by the retailer about individuals suspected of theft, violence, fraud or other similar suspected unlawful conduct within the store. The information includes, but is not limited to, facial images, facial recognition templates, and a description of the suspected unlawful conduct.
- Information on individuals that are suspected of or known to have committed unlawful conduct in the retail environment, and which has been provided by other retailers who use SAFR Guard.
- Alerts generated through matches between camera captures and the watchlist.
SAFR Guard is not targeted to children, and we do not intentionally or knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies on our services. Cookies are small text files placed on the device to help us operate and improve our service. We do not use cookies for advertising or to sell personal information.
Types of Cookies We Use
- Strictly Necessary Cookies – These cookies are essential for the proper operation of our services. They enable basic functions such as security, page navigation, and access to restricted areas. Our services cannot function properly without these cookies.
- Analytics Cookies – We use analytics cookies to understand how our services are used and to help us improve performance. These cookies collect information such as pages visited, time spent on pages, and technical errors. We use this information only in aggregate form and do not use it to target individuals with advertising.
Your Choices
Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify browser settings to decline cookies or alert you when cookies are being used. Please note that disabling cookies may limit certain functionality of our services.
How Do We Use Your Information?
We use personal data for the following purposes:
- Facial Matching: To identify individuals who match records in a carefully maintained watchlist of individuals reasonably suspected of engaging in unlawful conduct.
- Retailer Support: To help retailers prevent unlawful conduct by providing actionable alerts. We also provide tools that enable retailers to conduct retrospective searches within a limited timeframe.
- Neighborhood Safety: To enhance security by sharing select verified data with other participating retailers within a reasonable geographic area.
- Customer Inquiries: To respond to requests such as data access, correction, or deletion, where applicable.
- Audit and Compliance: To maintain accuracy, fairness, and adherence to privacy laws.
- Improving our Services: To fix problems and continually improve the performance of features.
Who Controls the Data?
SAFR acts as the data controller of SAFR Guard. This means SAFR is in control of how the data is handled and secured, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and industry standards. Retailers contribute information about individuals suspected of unlawful conduct, including their images and reasons for suspicion. Retailers are responsible for submitting valid, accurate and lawful information. SAFR is responsible for approving the retailer’s watchlist submissions.
When and How Do We Share Your Information?
We do not share personal information with third parties without your consent, except as described in this policy and as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined herein. In certain circumstances, we may share personal information we collect or receive as follows:
- With Subsidiaries, Affiliates, and Successors: We may share information with our subsidiaries, affiliates, and successors to support our operations, and to further the security purpose of its collection.
- With Contractors and Service Providers: We work with third parties who assist us in providing our services. These parties are bound by contractual obligations to maintain the confidentiality of the information and to use it solely for the purposes for which it was provided.
- With Other Retailers: To enhance the safety and security of a specific geographic location, we may share information about individuals suspected of violence or high dollar thefts. This information may include, but is not limited to, images of individuals, facial recognition templates, and descriptions of the suspected incidents. Such sharing is limited to participating retailers subject to contractual safeguards, and is based on verified records, used solely within the SAFR Guard platform for security and loss prevention purposes, and subject to mechanisms that allow individuals to request review, correction, or removal of their information.
We may also disclose personal information in the following situations:
- Legal Compliance: To comply with legal requirements, such as court orders, laws, or other legal processes.
- Safety and Protection: When necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of SAFR, our customers, or others.
Your privacy remains a top priority, and any disclosures or uses of information are carefully managed to align with our commitment to data protection and transparency.
How Long Do We Retain Your Data?
We retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the security purposes described in this privacy policy, and in accordance with the chart below.
| Data Type |
Retention Period and Details |
| Encrypted images of non-SOI* |
Retained for a rolling period of up to 30 days and deleted automatically if no incident is filed and approved on the image. |
| CCTV video from the camera |
Stored locally for 30 days. Used by retailers for incident review and event creation. Deleted after 30 days. |
| Facial recognition data of non-SOI |
Retained up to 1 second on the camera, deleted immediately after processing without leaving the camera. |
| Retailer-created incident records |
Retained for up to 12 months after being reviewed and verified by SAFR. Records older than 12 months are revalidated for relevance or purged. |
| Internal review or correction requests |
Records may be purged earlier if flagged for review or upon receipt of a valid correction request. |
| Encrypted images and incident data of the SOI |
Up to 12 months, subject to review every 12 months to determine if continued retention is necessary. |
| Matched SOI images added to the image gallery |
Held for up to 12 months, reviewed periodically for relevance. |
| Facial recognition data of the SOI |
Deleted immediately after verification of match or retained for up to 12 months if linked to an incident. Retained beyond 12 months after review and determination that continued retention is necessary up to another 12 months. |
*Subject Of Interest
This policy ensures data is retained only as long as necessary to maintain system efficiency, accuracy, and fairness, while upholding privacy standards.
Summary of Our Prior 12-Month Personal Information Handling Practices
| Category of Personal Information (with examples & sources) |
How We Use It |
When/Why We Share It |
| 1. Identifiers (e.g., facial images, facial recognition templates, CCTV footage, alerts associated with to individuals suspected of committing an unlawful activity; provided by retailers) |
To identify individuals reasonably suspected of unlawful conduct and to respond to data access requests |
Shared with participating retailers and service providers. We may also disclose these identifiers for legal compliance. |
| 2. Personal Information (e.g., images, descriptions of unlawful conduct; provided by retailers, contact information and any other personal data provided by individuals to exercise their privacy rights) |
To identify individuals reasonably suspected of theft or other unlawful conduct; to generate alerts; to respond to data access requests |
Shared with participating retailers and service providers. We may also disclose these identifiers for legal compliance |
| 3. Commercial Information (not collected—SAFR Guard does not track purchase history, product usage, or transaction records) |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
| 4. Biometric Information (e.g., unique facial recognition templates generated from captured images; collected directly from in-store cameras) |
To identify individuals reasonably suspected of unlawful conduct |
Shared with participating retailers and service providers. |
| 5. Internet or Other Network Activity (not collected—SAFR Guard does not monitor browsing history or search history) |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
| 6. Geolocation Data (SAFR Guard does not track or store precise geolocation. However, each record is associated with the specific retailer location where the camera is deployed, which means location information is automatically tied to the captured image or alert) |
To contextualize alerts and maintain records tied to a specific store location; |
Shared with participating retailers and service providers. We may also disclose these identifiers for legal compliance. |
| 7. Sensory Data (e.g., CCTV video footage, captured facial images; collected directly from cameras in stores) |
To generate alerts and compliance |
Shared with participating retailers and service providers. We may also disclose these identifiers for legal compliance. |
| 8. Professional or Employment-Related Information (not collected) |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
| 9. Education Information (FERPA-covered) (not collected) |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
| 10. Inferences Drawn from Other Personal Information (limited alerts generated from facial matches collected through system processing of images/templates) |
To determine whether captured images match individuals in the watchlist of suspected offenders |
Shared with participating retailers. We may also disclose these identifiers for legal compliance. |
U.S. Privacy Rights
We are committed to respecting the privacy rights of all individuals across the United States. While privacy laws differ from state to state, we extend the same core rights to all U.S. residents, regardless of where they live. These rights include the ability to:
- Right to Access: You have the right to request access to copies of your personal data processed by SAFR. If applicable, a small administrative fee may be charged for this service.
- Right to Rectification: If you believe any information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request that we correct or complete it promptly.
- Right to Erasure: Under certain conditions, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data. We will honor such requests where required by law or when the data is no longer necessary for its intended purpose.
- Opt-Out of Sharing: We do not sell personal information to advertisers. However, we provide a platform where participating retailers may opt into contribute and access information about individuals reasonably suspected of unlawful activity. This information is shared only among participating retailers through the SAFR Guard platform for purposes of security, fraud prevention, and loss prevention. Retailers who do not opt in will not have access to this shared dataset. You have the right to request that we stop sharing your personal information or limit the use and disclosure of personal information by contacting us using the methods provided below. We will process such requests in accordance with applicable law.
- Right to Data Portability: Where applicable, you have the right to request that your personal data be transferred to another organization or directly to you in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
If we deny your request, you may appeal our decision. We will furnish instructions for appeals in our formal response
Contact Us
For questions or concerns about this privacy policy, or to exercise any of your privacy rights, you can reach us at:
Privacy Policy Group
SAFR LLC
568 1st Avenue S, Suite 600
Seattle, WA 98104 USA
You can also contact us via: