Face watchlists

Last modified: Tuesday July 01, 2025.

You can create lists of facial images that Alta Video uses as triggers for camera rules. You can assign one or more images of a person of interest to a profile and then curate lists of profiles.

For information on appearance searches and rules, see Search by appearance and Create rules for appearance.

It is the responsibility of administrators of each Alta Video deployment to ensure that the use of Face search complies with local, state, or national legislation for the use of facial recognition technologies. For more information, see Alta Video Face search.

By default, images in face watchlists are deleted after 30 days unless the settings are adjusted.

Watch how to create face watchlists:

Prerequisites

Users need system permissions to view and manage watchlists. For more information, see Create and edit Roles.

Task — Create a watchlist

  1. From the toolbar, open new tool button > rules tool button Rules.
  2. Click manage face watchlist Face watchlist.
  3. Open the Watchlists tab.
  4. Click add new watchlist button Add watchlist.
  5. Enter a name.
  6. Click add new profile button and select the required profiles.
  7. Click Data retention, the default data retention period is 30 days; however, it can be adjusted to a limited timeframe or configured to be indefinite.
  8. Click Add.

Task — Edit a watchlist

  1. From the toolbar, open new tool button > rules tool button Rules.
  2. Click manage face watchlist Face watchlist.
  3. Open the Watchlists tab.
  4. Select the required watchlist.
  5. To add new profiles, click add new watchlist. Select the required profiles from the dialog and click Add.
  6. Click see all profile images button to see additional images associated with a profile.
  7. To delete profiles from the list, select them and click delete profiles button.
  8. To delete the watchlist, click Delete watchlist button Delete. Acknowledge the warning and click Delete.

Task — Manage profiles

  1. From the toolbar, open new tool button > rules tool button Rules.
  2. Click manage face watchlist Face watchlist.
  3. Open the Profiles tab.
  4. To add a profile, click add new profile button.
    1. Drag and drop an image or upload one from your computer.
    2. After analysis, select the bounding box of the required face and click Next. To upload a different image, click add new profile button.
    3. To create a new profile, select Add as a new profile and choose the required watchlists. Optionally, enter a name.
    4. If Alta Video detects similarities with an existing profile image, you can choose to Merge with the suggested profile.
    5. Alternatively, use the dropdown to select and merge it with a different profile.
    6. Click Add.
  5. To edit a profile, click edit profile button and choose Edit.
    1. To add a new image, click Add image. Upload a picture, click the required face, and click Add.
    2. Click an image to set it as the main image seen in the watchlist. The main image is highlighted in blue.
    3. To delete a picture, hover over it and click Remove Role.
  6. To delete a profile, click edit profile button and choose Delete.