To get CCTV footage in Scotland, work out who owns the camera, then send that owner a written subject access request (SAR) giving the exact date, time and place, and ask them in the same message to preserve the recording. Do it within days. Most systems overwrite their recordings on a short cycle, and an accident does not stop that automatically.
This guide covers the practical side: finding the camera owner, what to write, what to expect back, and what to do when you are refused. It is written for people hurt in a road collision, a fall in a shop or a workplace incident, where the footage may later matter to a compensation claim.
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- Police Scotland has stopped accepting requests for CCTV, dashcam and video footage, so go to the camera owner: a council, a shop, an employer or a venue.
- You have the right to a copy of footage of yourself. The owner must normally reply within one calendar month, but footage can be wiped long before that.
- Ask for the footage to be preserved on day one, in writing, and keep a copy of what you sent.
- Be specific: a tight time window, an exact location and a description of what you were wearing.
- If you are injured and someone else may be to blame, a solicitor can chase footage for you as part of a claim.
Table of Contents
Most injury claims turn on one question: what actually happened? A wet floor with no warning sign, a van that pulled out without looking, a scaffold left unguarded. Your word counts, but a recording settles arguments that memory cannot.
Footage also helps in ways people do not expect. It can show how long a spill was on the floor before you slipped. It can show which vehicle moved first, or whether a driver was on a phone. It can confirm the lighting, the weather and the state of the surface at the moment you were hurt. We cover the wider habit of gathering proof in our piece on why documenting accident evidence matters for your claim.
The catch is time. The footage belongs to someone else, and they have no reason to keep it for you unless you ask.
The first mistake people make is asking the wrong body. The person you write to is the owner or operator of the CCTV system, known in data protection terms as the data controller. The GOV.UK guidance says you make the request to the owner of the CCTV system, and that you can do it in writing or verbally.
Work out who that is from where you were standing.
| Where it happened |
Likely owner of the footage |
What to do |
| Shop, supermarket, petrol station, restaurant, pub |
The business itself, often through a head office or security contractor |
Ask the manager for the data protection contact, then email a written request |
| Workplace |
Your employer or the site operator |
Write to your employer’s HR or data protection lead, and tell your union rep if you have one |
| Street, town centre, car park run by the council |
The local authority |
Check the council’s CCTV or privacy page for the right route |
| Bus, train, taxi |
The transport operator |
Use the operator’s data protection address |
| Private home or doorbell camera |
The householder |
Ask politely and in writing; the ICO’s home CCTV guidance explains how householders are expected to respond |
| Another driver’s dashcam |
The driver |
Usually by agreement; there is no neat route, so ask early |
Look for signs. A camera that is lawfully operated should usually carry a sign naming who runs it and how to contact them. Photograph the sign and the camera positions while you are there, because that is the quickest route to the right address.
Why not the police?
Many people assume Police Scotland will simply pull the footage. Police Scotland’s own page on the provision of reports states that the supply of video, DVD, CCTV and dashcam footage has been discontinued and that it can no longer accept such requests. That applies to individuals and to solicitors.
That does not make the police irrelevant. If you reported the incident, the officers may have viewed or secured footage as part of their inquiry, so give them the camera details you have. If you are unsure whether you need a report at all, see our guide on whether you need a police accident report in Scotland.
Council cameras in Scotland
Public space CCTV is run by local authorities, often with police involvement, and the route differs from council to council. Do not assume it works the same everywhere.
- Glasgow: public space and traffic management CCTV is the responsibility of Glasgow City Council and its partners, set out in the council’s CCTV privacy statement. It is also where the retention period is stated: the research we checked records 14 days.
- Highland: the council’s page says anyone wanting to view footage from Highland public space CCTV that relates to them should make a subject access request through Police Scotland. Read that page for your own area before you write, because it shows that the system’s operator and the body handling requests are not always the same.
- Edinburgh: the council runs an online subject access request form that asks who the information is for before you continue.
The lesson is simple: search the name of your council with “CCTV” and “subject access request”, read the council’s own page, and phone the data protection team if it is unclear. Where a council points you to a particular body, follow that instruction and keep a note of it, as it also shows you did the right thing if there is a delay.
This is the part most guides bury, and it is the most important. CCTV is usually recorded over on a loop. Glasgow’s privacy statement gives a 14 day retention period for its public space system, and other systems vary. Shops and workplaces may keep recordings for a similar spell, or longer, depending on their own policy. Do not wait to find out which applies to you.
A formal SAR has a one calendar month response window, which can be extended by up to two further months for complex requests, according to GOV.UK. That is far too slow to protect a 14 day recording by itself. So send two things at once, or in a single message:
- A request to preserve the footage for the relevant period, so that it is not overwritten.
- A subject access request for a copy.
Phone first if the place is open, as the manager can often stop the overwrite there and then. Then confirm by email so there is a record. Note the name of the person you spoke to, the time and what they said.
What to put in your request
You do not need legal wording. GOV.UK confirms you can ask in writing or verbally, but an email gives you proof. The ICO’s guide to subject access also confirms that people can make requests verbally or in writing.
Include:
- Your name and contact details, and a clear statement that you are making a subject access request under data protection law.
- The date, start time and end time. Keep the window tight. Police Scotland’s own guidance on subject access requests advises being as specific as possible, and vague requests for “all footage” tend to be delayed or rejected.
- The exact location, including the camera or area if you know it: the aisle, the entrance, the junction.
- A description of you: clothing, bag, hair, any distinctive item, what you were doing and which direction you came from. The owner has to find you among many people.
- Vehicle registrations if it was a road incident.
- The preservation request, in plain words: please do not delete or overwrite this footage while the request is dealt with.
- A preferred format, such as a download link or a USB stick, and an email address for a reply.
They may ask for ID so they can be sure you are who you say you are. That is normal. Answer quickly, because delays on your side can pause their clock.
A short template
Subject: Subject access request and request to preserve CCTV footage
I am making a subject access request under data protection law for CCTV footage of myself at [location] on [date] between [time] and [time]. I was wearing [description] and entered by [door/direction]. I was injured in an incident at around [time].
Please preserve this footage and do not overwrite it while you deal with my request. Please confirm receipt and tell me when I can expect a reply. I would like a copy supplied electronically to [email].
Send it from an email address you check daily and keep the sent copy.
What happens next
The owner should confirm receipt, check your identity, find the footage and decide what to release. Three things commonly happen.
Other people appear in the footage. Privacy rights extend to everyone on camera. The ICO’s advice to small organisations is that information not relating to the requester should be redacted or removed, so faces may be blurred. Blurring takes software and time, which is one reason replies are not instant.
You are offered a viewing instead of a copy. The ICO’s guidance on post-deployment governance treats viewing as an alternative arrangement when a copy is not possible. If a copy can be supplied, you do not have to accept a viewing. It can still be worth attending, as it quickly confirms that the incident was recorded and shows you what a solicitor will want. Take notes, and ask politely if you may film the screen, or have a witness with you.
You are told the footage no longer exists. Ask for that in writing, with the date the footage was overwritten and the retention policy. If you asked for preservation in time and it was still deleted, that matters, and a solicitor will want to see the correspondence.
If you are refused or ignored
Stay calm and stay in writing.
- Chase politely once the month has passed, quoting your original date.
- Ask for a reason if the answer is no. An owner has to have a basis for refusing, and “we don’t give footage out” is not necessarily one.
- Escalate to the organisation’s data protection officer if there is one.
- Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if the owner still does not deal with your request properly. The ICO’s pages for the public explain how to raise a concern.
- Ask a solicitor to request it as part of your claim. If you are pursuing compensation, there may be other legal routes to the footage than a personal SAR.
A refusal under a SAR does not mean the footage will never be seen. In a civil claim, evidence can later be requested through the proper legal process. That is a job for a solicitor, not something to try on your own with a threatening letter.
Perspective: what we see in injury cases
We deal with people who have been hurt in road collisions, at work and in slips and trips. The pattern we see is that people lose footage not because it was never recorded, but because nobody asked in time. They were in hospital, off work, or just assumed the police would collect it.
Our advice is practical. Photograph the cameras before you leave if you can. Ask for the footage to be kept the same day. Do not rely on one phone call. If you were hurt through someone else’s negligence, tell your solicitor about every camera you noticed, even if you are not sure it was working. It costs nothing to check, and it can be the difference between your account and a bare allegation.
We would also say this: do not let the hunt for footage hold up your claim. A claim can proceed on witness statements, photographs, medical records and incident reports. Footage is strong support, not a precondition. For the full checklist, see our guide to what to do after a road traffic accident in Scotland.
— Roger
Other evidence to gather while you wait
CCTV is one piece of the puzzle. While your request is being dealt with, build the rest.
- Photographs and video of the scene, the hazard, your injuries and any vehicle damage, taken as soon as it is safe.
- Witness details. Names and phone numbers of anyone who saw it. People forget quickly.
- The accident book at a workplace, or the incident report at a shop or venue. Ask for a copy of the entry.
- Medical records. See your GP or go to A&E and make sure your injuries are recorded properly.
- A diary of symptoms, time off work and costs.
- Dashcam footage of your own, saved to a second device immediately.
If the accident was on the road, our guide on how to claim for a road traffic accident in Scotland explains how this evidence fits into a claim.
When a solicitor can take this off your plate
If someone else was at fault and you were injured, chasing footage while recovering is a heavy load. At Scotland Claims Injury Lawyers we help people in Scotland with road traffic accident claims, injury at work claims and slip and trip claims, among others.
Our success fee is 0%. We work on a no win no fee basis, with no upfront cost to you, and the fees are recovered from the opposing insurer when a case is won, so you keep 100% of your compensation. You can ask for a free claim assessment and tell us about the cameras you saw. The earlier you call, the better the chance that the footage is still there. See how our no win no fee personal injury claims work.
We handle personal injury claims only. We do not act on medical negligence or criminal injuries matters.
FAQ
Yes, if you appear in it. You have a right to a copy of footage of yourself, and the business must usually respond within one calendar month, according to GOV.UK. Send a written request with the exact time and a description of yourself, and ask them to preserve it straight away.
Realistically, almost never. Many systems record over their footage within weeks, and Glasgow’s public space system, for example, keeps it for 14 days. A business may hold footage longer for its own purposes, so it is still worth asking, but do not expect it.
No. Police Scotland states that it can no longer accept requests for video, DVD, CCTV or dashcam footage. Write to whoever owns the camera, whether that is a business, an employer or a council. Some councils route certain public space requests through the police, so read your own council’s page.
How long does a CCTV request take?
The standard response time is one calendar month, which can be extended by up to two more months if the request is complex, according to GOV.UK. Narrow requests with a tight time window are usually dealt with faster. Because footage can be overwritten sooner than that, always request preservation at the start.
No, you can make the request yourself, in writing or verbally. A solicitor becomes useful when you are making an injury claim, because they can pursue evidence in the proper way and use it to build your case.
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