People-Counting Sensors: Enhancing Building Efficiency with GDPR Compliance at TU Dublin
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People-Counting Sensors: Enhancing Building Efficiency with GDPR Compliance at TU Dublin
As part of the Towards a Sustainable University Campus (TSUC) initiative, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) is piloting innovative technologies designed to improve building energy and space efficiencies, and enhance occupants’ health, safety and comfort. An essential component of this transformative approach is the deployment of advanced people-counting sensors gathering accurate real-time occupancy data following rigorous adherence to GDPR principles.
Two complementary technological solutions are piloted in the Greenway Hub - people-counting sensors and security camera data stream analysis. The procured system provides reliable occupancy metrics, and can integrate with campus systems, such as Building Management System, Facility Management System, Room Booking Platform, and the academic calendar.
The sensors will be strategically positioned at key entry and exit points across the Greenway Hub building floors to continuously monitor footfall and collect data that can improve the campus sustainability through the following measures:
- Space Optimisation: Insights into how spaces are utilised allow TU Dublin to allocate space resources more efficiently, potentially reducing energy consumption and operational costs.
- Energy Efficiency: Occupancy data helps align energy usage with actual demand, minimising unnecessary heating and lighting consumption in underused areas.
- Improved Comfort and Health: Correlating occupancy patterns with environmental data (e.g., CO2 concentration and relative humidity) can help maintain comfortable indoor conditions, directly benefiting occupant wellbeing and productivity.
FootfallCam™ 3D Pro2
Collecting occupancy data inevitably raises critical concerns around data privacy. TU Dublin prioritises compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring that all data gathered through people-counting sensors remains fully anonymous and securely managed. The TSUC project team proactively engaged with TU Dublin’s Data Protection Officer, Joanne Lumley, to ensure compliance with GDPR Article 5, which emphasises principles such as data minimisation and storage limitation. Moreover, a comprehensive Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was undertaken, in line with Article 35 of GDPR, to evaluate potential privacy risks.
The people-counting sensors installed in the Greenway hub building will not capture or store any personally identifiable information (PII). Instead, they aggregate anonymised FootfallCam™ data to ensure that individuals cannot be identified or tracked. Additionally, the TSUC team carefully reviewed the data security policy of the technology supplier (FootfallCam™) to confirm strict alignment with GDPR.
To further reinforce data integrity and transparency, the TSUC project team established clear protocols for data storage, access, and retention:
- Limited Access: Only authorised project personnel have access to occupancy datasets, with collaborators receiving only read-only permissions as necessary.
- Secure Storage: Data is stored on secure, password-protected servers within TU Dublin or in approved cloud storage located exclusively within the UK or EU regions.
- Data Retention Policies: Occupancy data is stored with progressively reduced detail over time, from high-resolution real-time data initially (every minute) down to hourly or daily averages over subsequent years. After ten years, data is securely archived and deleted from the cloud servers.
A key aspect of the TSUC project involves turning our TU Dublin buildings and campuses into interactive living labs where occupants can actively participate in sustainability decisions. Real-time occupancy data can support user-centric dashboards that empower students, staff, and visitors to understand their impact on energy consumption and to encourage behaviour changes that support TU Dublin sustainability goals. Furthermore, lessons learned from the people-counting pilot phase can be rolled out across TU Dublin and beyond, providing a replicable model of best practice for other higher education institutions committed to decarbonisation.
In summary, integrating advanced people-counting sensors within a robust framework of GDPR compliance and ethical data management provides TU Dublin with an advanced model for smart and sustainable campuses. The TSUC aims to benefit from the people-counting system installation by demonstrating the immense potential of innovative data practices to deliver tangible environmental and social benefits.