How Guard-e-Loo Works
Guard-e-Loo protects public washrooms from vandalism while respecting personal privacy. It never streams, stores, or shares personal data except in rare cases where the police decide to investigate an incident.
1. Approach & Entry
When someone enters, a still image of their face is captured and immediately encrypted using Police Scotland’s encryption key. This ensures only the police can ever decrypt it if necessary.
2. Inside the Facility
The internal camera stays physically covered—Guard-e-Loo “closes its eyes.” No recording takes place while the facility is in use.
3. Exit & Room Check
Once the user leaves and sensors confirm the room is empty, the camera opens briefly, captures one image, and compares it to the last known good image.
4. Smart Comparison
If only fair-use traces (like mud or paper) are seen, the system deletes all images automatically. If it looks like vandalism, it forwards the two interior images (before and after) for civilian review.
5. Civilian Review
Civilian operators only see the room—not faces. If they confirm vandalism, the encrypted face image is securely sent to Police Scotland alongside the incident record.
6. Police Scotland
Police Scotland decide whether to investigate. If they accept, they decrypt the face image using their private key. Otherwise, all data—including encrypted files—is permanently deleted.
Data Lifecycle
| Stage | Data Collected | Purpose | Access | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Face still (encrypted) | Possible identification if vandalism occurs | – | Deleted automatically within hours unless incident proceeds |
| During use | None | Privacy protection | – | – |
| Post-visit | Room image | Detect vandalism | System/Civilian reviewer | Deleted if no issue |
| Escalation | Encrypted face + incident bundle | Evidence review | Police Scotland | Until conclusion of case |
Summary: Guard-e-Loo’s guiding principle is least data, shortest time. All sensitive images are encrypted instantly and deleted automatically unless a police investigation is active.