If a camera recorded you being hurt, you can ask the person or organisation that runs it for a copy. Under UK data protection law this is a subject access request, and you can make it in writing or out loud. Do it quickly: most CCTV is deleted after about 30 days, so the footage that could prove your injury claim may be gone before you have even spoken to a solicitor.
This guide is for people in Scotland who were injured in a road accident, a fall in a shop or a street, or an accident at work. It covers who to contact, what to put in your request, how long they have to reply, what to do if they refuse, and how the footage fits into a personal injury claim.
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VisitTL;DR
- You have a legal right to a copy of CCTV that shows you. Ask the owner of the camera, in writing or verbally.
- Act within days. Most footage is deleted after roughly 30 days, and the owner has up to a calendar month to reply.
- Give the exact date, time, place, proof of who you are and a description of what you were wearing.
- Ask the organisation to keep the footage safe while your request is dealt with, then tell your solicitor straight away.
- If you are ignored or refused, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Table of Contents
Your right to see CCTV of yourself
The right comes from data protection law. Footage of an identifiable person is personal data, and the ICO explains that under Article 15 of the UK GDPR you can obtain a copy of your personal data, and you can ask verbally or in writing. The same law applies in Scotland as in the rest of the UK, and the same regulator, the ICO, oversees it.
Two points catch people out:
- The footage must show you. The right covers images of you. If the camera only recorded the road, a shelf or the place where you fell but you do not appear in it, the owner is not obliged to hand it over as your personal data. They may still choose to share it, particularly with a solicitor or insurer, so it is still worth asking.
- You are asking for a copy, not a viewing. In practice, you are entitled to your own data in a usable form. Say clearly that you want a copy of the recording.
There is normally no charge. The ICO states that there is no longer a standard fee for access requests, although an organisation may refuse or charge a reasonable fee if a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. A single request for the minutes around your accident is neither.
Why speed matters more than anything else
The law sets no fixed retention period for CCTV. The ICO says that neither the UK GDPR nor the Data Protection Act 2018 prescribes minimum or maximum retention periods. The purpose of the system decides how long recordings are kept, and that period should be the shortest needed. Many systems overwrite themselves automatically, and the GOV.UK guidance gives about 30 days as the usual point of deletion.
That has a practical consequence. A recording that is still on the system today can be gone by the time your claim is being prepared. Councils, shops, pubs, petrol stations and bus operators all run different cycles, and some keep footage for far less than a month. Some sites keep only a few days.
The ICO also says it is good practice to prevent the premature deletion of information covered by a subject access request, particularly where retention periods are set. So once your request is in, the organisation should not let the recording be wiped while it deals with you. Say this in your request and ask for confirmation that the footage has been saved.
The request goes to whoever controls the camera, which is not always the owner of the building. Work out who it is before you write.
| Where it happened |
Who to contact |
Useful to know |
| Shop, supermarket, restaurant, pub |
Store manager first, then head office or the data protection contact |
Large chains usually have a data protection email on their website or privacy notice |
| Street or public space with council cameras |
Your local council’s data protection or information governance team |
Councils publish a CCTV notice. Glasgow City Council, for example, names a Data Protection Officer in its CCTV notice |
| Bus, train or taxi |
The transport operator’s customer relations or data protection team |
On-board cameras are overwritten quickly, so call as well as write |
| Workplace |
Your employer, usually through HR or the data protection lead |
Tell your union representative or health and safety rep as well |
| Car park or private land |
The landowner or the parking operator named on signs |
Signs by law should say who runs the system |
| Private home or doorbell camera |
The householder |
Householders can be asked, but a doorbell that only shows the street may not hold your personal data |
Signs near the camera should identify the operator and give a contact. Photograph the sign, with the date, as soon as you can. If you cannot find the right body, ask a member of staff at the premises who is responsible, or check the organisation’s privacy notice.
Police
If the police attended your accident, tell them that cameras may have covered it and note the officer’s name and incident reference. Police can request footage in their own right, but that does not replace your own request, and what they gather is not automatically passed to you. Keep your own copy of the route if you can.
What to put in your request
GOV.UK says you should give a specific date and time, proof of your identity and a description of yourself so the operator can find you in the recording (Request CCTV footage of yourself, GOV.UK). Put this in one short email or letter:
- Your name and contact details, plus a photo ID copy such as a passport or driving licence, or a recent photograph of yourself.
- The date, the approximate time and a narrow window. Ask for ten minutes before and after, rather than a whole day. A short window is quicker to find and less likely to be refused as excessive.
- The exact location and the camera if you know which one: the entrance, the aisle, the junction, the platform.
- A description of you: clothing, bag, hair, anything you were carrying, and anyone with you.
- A clear statement that this is a subject access request under the UK GDPR for a copy of CCTV footage showing you.
- A request to preserve the footage until the matter is dealt with, including if there is any delay.
- A reply deadline: one calendar month from receipt.
Send it by email so you have a timestamp, or by recorded delivery if you post it. Keep a copy. If you phone first to stop the footage being overwritten, follow up in writing that day and note the name of the person you spoke to.
You do not need to explain why you want the footage, and you need not mention a claim. If the organisation asks, you can say you were injured and want to see what happened. If you already have a solicitor, they can make the request for you.
How long they have to respond
The organisation should provide the footage free of charge, usually within one calendar month, according to GOV.UK. The ICO states that the response must be prompt and within one month of receiving the request, and that the time can be extended by a further two months if the request is complex or the person has made a number of requests.
The month is a legal outer limit, not a goal. A shop can often send a clip in days. That is why the preservation request matters: your right to a reply in a month is no use if the system overwrites the recording in two weeks.
GOV.UK lists the main reasons. The owner can refuse if giving you the footage could put an ongoing criminal investigation at risk. They may also be unable to share it if other people appear in it and the owner cannot edit them out to protect their identity (GOV.UK).
In plain terms:
- Other people in shot. Expect blurring of faces or bystanders. That is normal and does not stop the footage showing what happened to you.
- Footage that does not show you. As above, there is no right to it, but a request from a solicitor setting out why it matters can still succeed.
- Footage already deleted. If it has gone, ask for the date it was deleted and the retention policy. That record can help later if the other side disputes what happened.
If you get no answer or a refusal
If more than a month has passed without a reply, send a follow-up email or letter. The ICO says you can then raise a complaint with the ICO within three months of your last meaningful contact with the organisation. Keep every message, because the complaint will rely on your dates.
A complaint can take time, and it will not recover footage that has already been deleted. If your injury was serious, talk to a solicitor at the same time, so other evidence is being gathered in parallel.
How CCTV helps a personal injury claim
In a Scottish injury claim, the person claiming has to show that someone else’s fault caused the injury. Footage is useful because it is neutral. It can show the spill that was never cleaned up, the loose paving slab, the vehicle that pulled out, the missing barrier on a building site, or how long a hazard was there before you reached it.
It works best alongside other material: photographs of the scene, witness names, medical records, and for road accidents, dashcam footage. Our guides on the best evidence for an injury claim in Scotland and how to request CCTV footage in Scotland after an accident cover the wider picture.
If your accident was a fall in a shop, car park or public place, the public liability evidence checklist explains what to gather and how the three-year time limit fits in. Do not let that long deadline relax you about the footage: the recording disappears far sooner than the right to claim.
Different accidents, different cameras
- Road traffic accidents: think of council street cameras, junction cameras, petrol station forecourts, shops and homes facing the road, and buses. Note the exact junction and direction of travel. See our road traffic accident claims page.
- Slips and trips: the shop, supermarket, pub, hospital grounds or car park where you fell. Footage may show how long the hazard was present and whether staff checked the area. See slip and trip injury claims.
- Accidents at work: your employer’s internal cameras, plus any on neighbouring premises. Ask your employer and report the accident in the accident book. See injury at work claims.
- Motorcycle accidents: junction and shop cameras, and your own helmet camera if you have one. See motorcycle accident claims.
A simple checklist for the first week
- Get medical attention, and keep a record of what you were told.
- Photograph the scene, any hazard and any camera or CCTV sign.
- Write down the time, place and what you were wearing while it is fresh.
- Identify who runs each camera nearby.
- Phone, then email, a request that includes a preservation request.
- Gather witness names and contact details.
- Speak to a solicitor so that the request and the claim support each other.
Our article on why documenting accident evidence matters goes through the same steps in more depth.
Perspective
Most people we speak to contact us a few weeks after an accident, and often the first thing we ask is whether anyone has asked for the CCTV. By then the answer can be that it has already been overwritten.
Our advice is simple. Do not wait to decide whether you will make a claim before you protect the evidence. A request costs you nothing, and a claim that never needed the footage has lost nothing by you asking.
We help injury victims across Scotland to deal with this early. Our specialist solicitors will assess your claim for free, and we work on a No Win No Fee basis. Where a claim succeeds we charge 15% plus VAT of the compensation, while other big firms commonly charge 20% including VAT. We are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland and offer a 24-hour callback, so you can speak to someone before the footage disappears.
Roger
Let us help with your claim
If you were injured because of someone else’s negligence in Scotland, our solicitors can tell you for free whether you have a claim and help you secure evidence such as CCTV while it still exists. There are no upfront costs, and if your claim is lost, you pay no fee. Start with our personal injury compensation claim page to request a callback or use the online form.
FAQ
You can ask anyone who runs a camera, but your legal right of access covers footage that shows you. For footage of other people, or of a place you do not appear in, the owner decides whether to share it, and they will often only do so for a solicitor, insurer or the police.
Usually not. Most systems delete recordings after about 30 days, and some after days. You can still ask, and if it has been deleted, request the retention policy and the deletion date in writing, as that may help your solicitor later.
Is it legal to film in public in Scotland?
Yes, filming in public places is generally lawful, but businesses and organisations running cameras must follow data protection rules, including displaying signs and responding to access requests. Householders with doorbell cameras should also follow data protection law where the camera captures people outside their property.
Do I need a solicitor to make a CCTV request?
No. You can write to the camera operator yourself, using the checklist above. A solicitor can help if the operator refuses, if the footage does not show you, or if you need it as part of a claim.
What if the organisation ignores my request?
Send a follow-up after one month, then complain to the ICO within three months of your last meaningful contact. Tell your solicitor, who can pursue the evidence through other routes.
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