When designing a sophisticated security system, it is tempting to begin with the technology: which cameras, which access-control platform, which perimeter detection, which intercom.

A more rigorous approach starts somewhere else: What can fail, what would that failure affect, and what needs to continue operating?

In South Africa, the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) provides a regulatory framework for the processing of personal information and gives effect to the constitutional right to privacy. CCTV imagery can constitute personal information where individuals are identifiable. That does not mean CCTV should not be used. Quite the opposite. Surveillance is an important component of modern security infrastructure. But…

A CCTV camera can show you what happened. But on its own, it may do very little to prevent an incident from happening in the first place. 

That distinction is becoming increasingly important as security technology becomes more sophisticated…

Security has traditionally been treated as something added to a property once the building is complete: install the alarm, position the cameras, add access control and connect everything to a monitoring service…