UniFi Protect 7.2.98: What the Update Actually Changes – and for Whom

An update like 7.2.98 is not a reason to update everything at once. It is a reason to take an honest look at your own system. The interesting features of this branch only work if the hardware underneath plays along. Skip that check, and you install the update, see new menu items in the interface – and wonder why the function never triggers.

We plan and maintain camera systems for entire properties, not the single doorbell camera. From that angle, 7.2.98 is genuinely relevant in one place above all.

Evidence Trust: video that can be verified

Until now, exported footage had a basic problem: once a clip left the system, its authenticity could no longer be proven. In court or against an insurer, any recording could be attacked as „altered after the fact".

This is exactly where Evidence Trust comes in. Exported videos are cryptographically SHA-256 fingerprinted and digitally signed. Whoever receives the clip later can verify its authenticity externally at evidence.ui.com – the site detects whether a file has been manipulated. A visible watermark is added on top, though that requires camera firmware 5.4.

On the island, this is concretely useful. A finca after a break-in, a business after theft in the warehouse: in both cases a technical proof of authenticity is worth more than a recording whose origin you can only claim. One honesty caveat remains – more on that below: a technical proof is not automatic legal validity before a Spanish court.

ONVIF: third-party cameras integrate more cleanly

The second practical step forward concerns existing installations. The 7.2 branch brings expanded ONVIF profile support, meaning broader compatibility with cameras from other manufacturers. Central recording, time synchronisation via the UniFi time server, camera I/O triggers – all of this now works more cleanly with non-Ubiquiti models too.

If you already have another manufacturer's cameras on the wall, you do not necessarily have to replace everything to manage them under Protect. The release notes list several matching bug fixes: stream instability with third-party cameras, a missing login prompt during adoption, and missing event detection with the AI Port have all been fixed.

PPE detection: vests and helmets only – nothing more

The AI now detects personal protective equipment. That sounds like workplace safety monitoring for the construction site and warehouse, and for the island's building trade it is that in principle. But the limit has to be stated clearly: according to the release notes, the function currently recognises only high-visibility vests and helmets. No safety glasses, no gloves, no ear protection, no safety boots.

Anyone planning PPE detection as complete workplace safety control is planning against reality. The function also runs via the AI Key hardware and requires camera firmware 5.4 plus AI Key firmware 2.2.5. Without that combination it does not even appear in the interface.

One point that belongs settled before the first camera on Mallorca: whether AI-based monitoring of which employee wears a helmet and vest is permissible under labour law is a separate, delicate question. This is surveillance of staff – not automatically allowed.

Case management and the bug fixes that matter day to day

The redesigned case management logs who viewed a case, which assets were retrieved and which evidence was downloaded. For a business with several people who have access to the footage, this audit trail is the real gain. The improved Case Manager requires UniFi OS 5.1.27 or newer.

Unspectacular, but often more important in daily use than any new AI: two bug fixes. Wi-Fi cameras previously could not be moved to a different SSID. And devices could not be re-adopted after a LAN subnet change – they stayed orphaned after a network rebuild. Both are fixed. If you still run an old version and are rebuilding your network soon, you will notice the difference immediately.

There are smaller improvements on top: multiview presets in the dashboard, stopping all active sirens with one action, schedule support for glass-break detection, NOx among the air quality metrics. Useful, but no reason for an update on their own.

Before you update: check three firmware levels

This is the most important paragraph in the whole article. The new functions depend not on the Protect version alone, but on the firmware underneath.

And a limit we will not hide: which specific older camera models actually still receive firmware 5.4 is not officially documented. For an existing installation on the island, that is precisely the decision point – and you answer it at your own property, not with a model table from the internet. Likewise, the exact release date of 7.2.98 could not be independently verified at the primary source; what is confirmed are the features of the 7.2 branch, not the precise assignment to the sub-version.

What belongs to it legally on Mallorca

A signed video export solves the technical problem. It does not solve the legal one. Video surveillance on the island falls under Spanish law – the AEPD rules on videovigilancia based on GDPR and LOPDGDD, not German data protection law.

For a business with staff this means in practice: employees must be informed, every entrance needs a yellow AEPD notice sign, a written information sheet for staff, an entry in the Registro de Actividades de Tratamiento. AEPD fines for small and medium businesses realistically sit in the range of roughly 2,000 to 20,000 euros and above. The technical SHA-256 proof does not replace this setup.

This section is not legal advice. The specific permissibility – especially for AI-based monitoring of employees – belongs settled with a Spanish specialist lawyer before installation.

Who on the island really benefits

Sorted briefly: fincas and villas with a history of break-ins benefit above all from Evidence Trust. Construction firms and warehouse operations from PPE detection – within its narrow limits. Systems with a mixed camera stock from ONVIF. And clients with several properties, hotel plus outbuilding or company plus warehouse, from multi-site management and the new PoS API, which links till transactions to video images. The requirement there is always a solid connection per location – on Mallorca very different depending on where you are.

Sources

• blog.ui.com – „Welcome to UniFi Protect 7.2" (retrieved 2026-08-04)
• Ubiquiti on X, 7.2 announcement (retrieved 2026-08-04)
• UniFi Protect Application 7.2.98 – release notes (community.ui.com)
• help.ui.com – „Choosing the Right UniFi Control Plane" (retrieved 2026-08-04)
• help.ui.com – UniFi AI Key Setup and FAQs (retrieved 2026-08-04)
• protecciondatos-lopd.com; ofidem.es – AEPD videovigilancia (retrieved 2026-08-04)

IT Service Mallorca

German-speaking IT service for fincas, villas and businesses on Mallorca. Networks, Wi-Fi, security technology and smart home — planned, installed and maintained.