Indivd
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Intro
“It’s only a sensor” is not a privacy answer. A 3D people counter is two cameras. See who can view people at each step, for a 3D sensor and for Indivd.
A 3D sensor is two small cameras in one box, mounted above the door. Its maker's own material says so [3]. During setup, the installer can open a screen that shows live video of people walking in [2]. The device reports a number. The installer has still watched people.
The rules follow what a device does with the data, not what it is called or where it runs. This guide compares a 3D sensor and Indivd on one question: who can see a person, and when. Indivd wrote it and is one of the two products in it. Everything about other products comes from their own documentation, listed at the end.
In brief
A 3D sensor is two cameras [3]. During setup and checking it can show or record people [2][4][5].
The rules follow what the device does, not what it is called or where it runs. Inside the sensor, in your building or in a cloud changes who can reach the data and what contract you need, not whether the rules apply [1].
At Indivd, nobody sees an unmasked picture of a visitor at any stage [7][8].
Neither "sensor" nor "anonymous" answers anything. The five questions at the end do.
Who can see a person, and when
Step | 3D sensor (two cameras) | Indivd |
|---|---|---|
Setup | A screen that, at the lowest privacy setting, shows live video of people [2] | A still picture with every person covered, taken when your own admin chooses [8] |
Checking the count | Video clips kept to check the count; one maker keeps them up to 30 days [4] | Short clips, recorded when and where you decide. Our checkers see only masked video, each person a solid box, once. The unmasked original is never watched by anyone and is deleted within 48 hours [8] |
Day to day | Numbers leave the device [3] | Every image deleted within thousandths of a second, before it can be saved; only anonymous data remains [7] |
Where it runs | Inside the device, with remote access for setup and clips where enabled [3][2] | In Indivd's data centre in Sweden; only anonymous data goes further [7] |
Who can view images | Depends on the privacy setting and who has admin access [2] | |
Contract about visitor data | Ask the vendor | Published; Indivd handles the data on your behalf [11] |
The 3D column shows examples from vendor documentation, not every product. Check the exact model and settings you are looking at.
If you already have 3D sensors
The same questions apply to the counters already on your ceiling. Three you can answer from your own files in ten minutes:
Is there a signed contract with the counter vendor about visitor data, and does it cover the setup screen and the checking clips?
Does the sign at the entrance mention the counters?
Who has the checking clips today, and when were they last deleted?
A "no" or a "don't know" is not a verdict on the product. It is the gap to close before comparing it with anything.
What the vendors' own documents say
Xovis PC Series: at the lowest privacy level the screen shows live video; higher levels hide it; short clips for remote checking can be switched on [3][2].
FootfallCam: counts are checked on recorded clips, kept up to seven days before the check and up to 30 days after [4].
Milesight VS133, an infrared sensor rather than two cameras, still offers a video preview and a checking function that lets video be downloaded [5].
Watching an image counts as handling personal data under the GDPR, even if nothing is saved [1], and the Swedish privacy authority says camera rules can apply to live viewing [6]. So for any counter, two questions follow: who can see the setup screen and the clips, and which signed contract covers that.
What Indivd does
Nobody at Indivd or at your company sees an unmasked picture of a visitor, at any stage [7][8]. Day to day, every image is deleted within thousandths of a second. When we check our counts, our checkers see only masked video, each person a solid box, once, and the clip is then deleted. The unmasked original is encrypted, kept at most 48 hours so the system can reprocess it, and watched by no one. You decide where, when and how much is checked.
The Swedish privacy authority has reviewed one Indivd installation, at a customer's request [12]. It said the installation could go ahead on conditions: use the data only for the stated purposes, identify nobody, and keep the promised privacy measures in place. It did not test whether the data is anonymous and it did not certify Indivd. Each customer is responsible for its own installation.
The full description of how Indivd handles data, including the guides for a privacy assessment, is published [7][8][9][10][11].
Five questions to send any vendor
Paste these into an email and name the exact model:
What does the device show during setup, and can that screen be opened later?
Can your staff or installers see live or recorded images?
Are checking clips switched on by default, where are they kept, and when are they deleted?
Who can change the privacy setting, and is every change logged?
Which signed contract covers the images and clips in questions 1 to 3?
A 3D sensor is two cameras [3], and the rules follow what it does, not what it is called. If a vendor says "it is only a sensor", you have not received an answer.
Sources
GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679: Article 4(2), processing includes collection and consultation; Article 28, processor. eur-lex.europa.eu
Xovis. Xovis sensors and data protection: privacy levels 0 to 3 and validation recording. Knowledge base document, copy published by a Xovis partner, May 2025. Read October 2026.
Xovis. 3D Sensors and Data Privacy: two optical CMOS image sensors; snippets recorded for remote data validation. xovis.com, read October 2026.
FootfallCam. Analytics Manager user guide, Chapter 10: Accuracy Audit: recorded videos kept up to 7 days, verified videos up to 30 days. Updated 8 November 2024, read October 2026.
Milesight. VS133 AI ToF People Counting Sensor User Guide, V1.8, 28 May 2025: Dashboard scene preview with video stream, Validation recording tasks, download of video stream footage. Read October 2026.
IMY (Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten). Bedöma om kamerabevakning är tillåten, steg 1: the rules apply even when images are only viewed in real time and not recorded. Read October 2026.
Indivd. DPIA Guide: People Counting.
Indivd. DPIA Guide: Quality assurance.
Indivd. Anonymization Policy.
Indivd. Appendix 4, Data Processing Agreement, version 1.4, 2 November 2025.
IMY. Prior consultation decision DI-2020-3670, 25 June 2020, attached to the People Counting DPIA guide (source 7).
Vendor documents cited as read in October 2026.
Common questions
Does Indivd record video of my visitors?
Not in daily operation: every image is deleted within thousandths of a second, before it can be saved. When a new installation is checked, short clips are kept for at most 48 hours; nobody watches the originals, and our checkers see only masked video. Sources 7 and 8.
Can anyone at Indivd see what my visitors look like?
No. At no stage does anyone at Indivd or at your company see an unmasked picture of a visitor. Sources 7 and 8.
Does it matter whether the counting happens in the sensor, in my building or in a cloud?
It changes who can reach the data and what contract you need. It does not change whether the privacy rules apply. Source 1.
Is a 3D sensor less of a privacy question than a camera system?
A 3D sensor is two cameras, as its maker's own documentation states. The question is the same for both: who can see a person, and when. The table above answers it step by step, and the five questions settle it with any vendor. Source 3.