noviscanby Secufor

Documentation

Protect and manage your data

This page covers where Noviscan keeps what it records, how to back it up and restore it, and how long it keeps it.

Before you start: most of these steps need an administrator account.

Where your data is

Alerts, images, named people, settings: everything stays on your computer. Face prints are stored on the computer where Noviscan is installed.

The first time you launch Noviscan, a window suggests the folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\Noviscan. Answer Yes to keep it, or No to pick another one. In that case, the file data_location.txt, which stays in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Noviscan, tells you which.

On the disk, Noviscan protects captures, face prints and other sensitive items, with nothing to type.

What leaves your computer

The Internet access setting (Settings, General tab, Allow this instance to connect to the Internet box) is off by default. While it is off, Noviscan uses none of these services:

  • updates;
  • online license activation;
  • the download of the recognition models, without which Noviscan recognizes nobody (to install them without Internet access, see Install the recognition models without Internet);
  • cameras that go through the Internet (Ezviz, Nest);
  • the Secufor connection service that lets your phone reach you away from home.

The notifications you set up yourself (email, Telegram, Discord, Slack, webhook) are the exception. This setting does not block them.

Back up

A backup is a complete archive: database, images, videos, configuration, license.

  1. On the Dashboard, click ⏹ Stop. The backup is refused while monitoring is running.
  2. Open Settings, then Backup.
  3. Click Back up. A 12-word passphrase appears.
  4. Write it down somewhere other than this computer. It is never shown again.

<!-- IMG I7-01 : Backup screen showing the 12-word passphrase (sample phrase) -->

  1. Retype the passphrase in Confirm the passphrase you wrote down. The Start the backup button stays grayed out until it matches.
  2. Click Start the backup.
  3. When the message Backup complete appears, click Download the archive.

<!-- IMG I7-02 : Backup complete message and Download the archive button -->

The archive is encrypted (AES-256) with that passphrase. Without it, it stays unreadable. It holds the whole database, so it includes the people you enrolled. Store it as carefully as the data itself.

Restore

Before you start: the archive’s 12-word passphrase and an account that exists in the backup.

⚠️ Restoring replaces Noviscan’s current state with the one in the archive. After a restore, the license held in the archive is no longer valid and you need to request a new one: see If the license is refused. Paired devices have to be paired again.

  1. On the Dashboard, click ⏹ Stop. The restore is refused while monitoring is running.
  2. Open Settings, then Backup.
  3. Enter the archive’s passphrase.
  4. Click Restore, then Confirm the restore. Nothing is deleted: each replaced file is renamed with the mention “.pre-restore-date”.
  5. Restart Noviscan and sign in with an account from the backup.

How long Noviscan keeps what

While it is running, Noviscan deletes anything too old by itself, about once a day. Expired sessions are the exception: only the Noviscan.exe purge command deletes them. Here are the durations of a new installation. They do not touch archives you have downloaded.

What is kept How long Where to change it
Unknown faces 30 days Unknown faces (days)
Alert images 30 days Analyzed media (days)
Alerts 90 days Events and alerts (days)
Premium videos 7 days Premium video clips (days)
Sign-in attempts 180 days Configuration file
Sessions 30 days Session duration (days); deleted by manual purge, see Purge expired sessions

Named or whitelisted faces are never deleted automatically. The settings in bold are in Settings, Advanced tab, Data retention section; Session duration (days) is on the same tab, outside that section. They need an administrator account and apply immediately. An empty field means “keep without limit.” For the configuration file, see Advanced settings.

If it does not work

  • The archive is refused: the passphrase you entered is not the one written down at backup time. Check the 12 words and their order. Without the right passphrase, the archive stays unreadable.
  • Start the backup or Restore is refused: monitoring is still running. On the Dashboard, click ⏹ Stop, then try again.
  • The license is refused after a restore: this is expected, see If the license is refused.
  • Anything else: see Fix a problem and get help.

Applies to Noviscan 1.0.0