Identity Cloak vs Ocucon Pixelate: which video redaction software is right for you?

When a Subject Access Request (SAR) lands on your desk, under GDPR, you have 30 days to respond — and every minute of footage has to be redacted before it leaves your organisation. If you've ever tried to do that manually, frame by frame, you already know that this approach is extremely time-consuming and has a high risk of manual errors.

When organisations start looking for a video redaction solution that can automate that work, they find that broadly speaking, they’ll need to choose between cloud-based and on-premise specialised video redaction solutions.

In a cloud-based tool, like Ocucon’s Pixelate, you upload your footage to a third-party server, have it processed in the cloud, and download the result. Fast to get started, but for organisations in healthcare, education, or any other sector with strict data residency requirements, uploading their footage to the cloud is a non-starter.

An on-premise solution keeps everything inside your own network, behind your own firewall. For example, Identity Cloak is an on-premise AI-powered video redaction tool that processes footage locally on your hardware in under 12 minutes on average.

Keep reading to find out more about each of the solutions, or jump to the Identity Cloak vs Pixelate comparison section.

#Identity Cloak by Facit Data Systems

Identity Cloak helps organisations process CCTV, bodycam, and dashcam footage quickly and compliantly, without sending it to the cloud.

In this section we cover:

• How Identity Cloak works

• Identity Cloak's 3 key features

• Top use cases with customer case studies

#How Identity Cloak works

Most people assume that cloud tools are always simpler. They require no installation or specific hardware and are accessible from any browser. 

On the surface, that's true.

But "easier to start" is not the same as "easier to use for high-volume or long SARs." 

Here's what the cloud-first experience actually looks like in practice:

• Processing speed depends on internet connectivity and server availability.

• For most cloud-based solutions, you’re working with monthly minute limits, where one long video can exhaust your plan.

• Depending on the platform you choose, you may not have access to all the features you need  to process SARs, requiring additional tools.

Identity Cloak runs on Windows, and can be up and running in under 15 minutes. It was designed to be used without extensive training, following a simple 4-step workflow.

Here are the steps:

1. Import and trim footage
   Import MP4 or AVI files directly or use the built-in screen recorder for other file types.

2. Run autotracking and blurring
   AI automatically detects, tracks, and blurs people and vehicles across every frame.

3. Adjust and finalise
   Customise blur shape, size, and density. Unblur persons of interest with a single click. Manually mask static elements like signage, ID cards, or credit card information. 

4. Review and export
   Review the final output, export in AVI or MP4. The original file is left completely unchanged for data integrity.

#What makes Identity Cloak different

At Facit, we wanted to make sure that Identity Cloak could solve all the challenges that our customers mentioned in conversations with our team, including:

• Processing different types of footage across a variety of environments

• Keeping video redaction costs consistent and predictable

• Being able to use a video redaction tool without having to significantly change internal workflows

Here’s how Identity Cloak does it.

1. Flexible application for different types of video redaction environments

Many video redaction tools focus on solving a single scenario, such as blurring people’s faces or bodies, but can’t be used to fully blur out sensitive environments, handle footage with fast-moving people or objects, or redact audio tracks for bodycams.

Identity Cloak can handle all of the following:

• Flexible blur settings
  Identity Cloak can be used for face, body, and licence plate blurring, plus inverse blur and manual blurring for static objects (more on that below).
  You can also adjust blur density and shape to work for crowded or low-visibility environments, and adjust the frame rate for videos with fast-moving people or cars.

• Audio redaction
  Redact spoken personal data from bodycam, dashcam, CCTV, and meeting recordings. This is a critical capability for healthcare and legal use cases where audio tracks frequently contain sensitive information.

• Video trimming
  Remove irrelevant sections of footage inside Identity Cloak before exporting. This reduces file size, speeds up review, and ensures you only release footage that's directly relevant to the request.

• Layered blurring for static objects
  Mask visible signage, ID cards, credit card information, and whiteboards using custom square or elliptical blur tools. If a person of interest walks in front of a masked sign, they remain visible.

• Screen recorder
  You can import any video file you can play on your desktop, from any legacy system or proprietary VMS. This means that teams don’t need to worry about file compatibility or find workarounds to import their video files.

Pixelate, by comparison, focuses exclusively on CCTV footage. There is no audio redaction or ability to adjust blur mode or blur settings. 

For organisations with complex, multi-format redaction needs, this is a significant capability gap.

2. Per-video pricing, no limits on video duration or file size

With minute-based pricing, video redaction costs become impossible to budget for: organisations can’t possibly predict future requests. 

Especially for industries that handle complex SARs that combine multiple sources, this can become an issue. For example, Pixelate's Essential plan includes just 5 minutes of redaction per month. Their Professional plan gives you 15 minutes. Their Enterprise plan gives you 30 minutes.

If you get multiple SARs in a single month, this may not be enough time to process all of them — and you can’t delay your SAR response.

Identity Cloak takes a different approach: you're charged based on the number of videos exported, not how long they are. 

This means organisations with variable, unpredictable request volumes aren't penalised for it, can predict costs more accurately, and can roll over unused video redaction projects to the next period.

3. Milestone XProtect and API integrations

Identity Cloak helps reduce the workflow complexity by making it possible to trim videos inside the software, redact audio tracks, and import files in legacy formats with the screen recorder.

But what if your organisation already has a VMS in place and doesn’t want to have to export videos to redact them? Identity Cloak can be integrated with your current VMS.

Identity Cloak offers 2 Milestone XProtect plug-ins that are compatible with body-worn, PTZ, 360°, and fixed dome cameras. These plug-ins can be deployed in under 10 minutes.

Alternatively, Identity Cloak can be integrated with your VMS via API.

#Top use cases for Identity Cloak

Identity Cloak is trusted by 130+ organisations across retail, healthcare, education, transportation, local government, and venues. 

The most common customer types are:

• Healthcare organisations responding to patient and staff SARs involving CCTV and bodycam footage

• Retailers and transport operators handling incident footage, theft investigations, and insurance claims

• Local councils and public sector bodies fulfilling FOIA and SAR obligations for public space CCTV

Use case #1: Healthcare

Healthcare organisations face some of the most demanding redaction requirements — footage often involves patients in vulnerable situations, and the audio track frequently contains sensitive clinical information. 

The on-premise architecture of Identity Cloak is particularly well-suited to NHS and private healthcare environments.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust uses Identity Cloak to fulfil SARs and comply with data privacy regulations without depleting expert resources on manual redaction tasks.

Read the full King's College Hospital case study

Use case #2: cultural venues and security-sensitive organisations

Venues with high footfall — museums, galleries, stadiums — regularly receive SARs relating to incidents captured on CCTV. The combination of speed, accuracy, and data security makes Identity Cloak the preferred choice for organisations where both compliance and reputation are at stake.

Tate Foundation uses Identity Cloak across its museums to maintain high standards of security compliance while responding quickly to requests.

Read the Tate Museum case study

Use Case #3: Transportation and logistics

Companies in transportation and logistics often need to handle long-form footage from dashcams and platform CCTV — exactly the scenario where minute-based pricing models become prohibitively expensive. Identity Cloak's unlimited video length model and fast processing make it the natural fit.

Nottingham City Transport uses Identity Cloak to process footage start-to-finish in minutes, not hours.

Read the Nottingham City Transport case study

#Ocucon Pixelate

Ocucon Pixelate is a cloud-based video redaction SaaS tool built primarily to process Subject Access Requests.

How it works: Users upload footage directly to the Pixelate cloud platform via end-to-end encrypted transfer. The AI engine processes the footage, and users delete redaction masks from individuals they do not wish to redact. Then the video is processed and returned to the dashboard for download.

Pricing model: Pixelate operates on a monthly subscription (billed annually) with three tiers:

• Essential (£25/month, 5 minutes per month included)

• Professional (£50/month, 15 minutes per month included), and 

• Enterprise (£75/month, 30 minutes per month included). 

Minutes are counted based on the video duration, and additional minutes can be purchased in blocks.

Redaction scope: Pixelate focuses on body redaction in CCTV footage. Audio redaction is only offered as a custom or managed service, and there’s no option to trim footage or adjust the blur.

Free account: A free account allows users to upload videos and use auto-detect and manual masking functions, but footage cannot be processed or exported without an active subscription.

Key limitations to consider:

• Cloud processing means footage leaves your network — a potential blocker for healthcare, public sector, and any organisation with strict data residency requirements

• Minute-based pricing creates unpredictable costs and is poorly suited to long-form footage

• No audio redaction on regular plans means that spoken personal data cannot be redacted

• No video trimming, so that footage must be trimmed externally before upload

#Identity Cloak vs Pixelate: which tool is right for you?

Choose Identity Cloak if:

• You want a tool that can be deployed in under 15 minutes and used by non-technical staff

• You need audio redaction, video trimming, and ability to adjust settings for different recorded environments as part of your workflow

• Your organisation operates in healthcare, public sector, education, or any environment where footage cannot leave your network

• You process long-form footage and need predictable, unlimited-length pricing

• You use Milestone XProtect or want redaction built directly into your VMS

Consider Ocucon Pixelate if:

• Your organisation is comfortable with cloud processing

• Your redaction needs are limited to short CCTV clips (under 30 minutes/month) 

• You need a managed service option where Ocucon handles redaction on your behalf

• You want to integrate redaction in a third-party application

#Start redacting your video footage today

Identity Cloak is trusted by the NHS, major retailers, transport operators, and retailers across 23 countries. 

Download your free 7-day trial or schedule your demo with the Facit team.

#Relevant articles

• Best video redaction software: what to look for

• CaseGuard alternatives

• Secure Redact alternatives