In Germany any kind of data collection must be backed by a cause. So automated license plate scanning was illegal since it allows creation of movement profiles by the state, something that is very much frowned upon.<p>Putting fixed cameras up and filming the public is not legal either in Germany - you can&#x27;t have a surveillance camera pointed to public space, for example filming the boardwalk in front of your house. Whether dashcams are legal is still contested [1].<p>Whether large=scale manual collection would be legal is an interesting question which has - to the best of my limited knowledge - never been put to the test :)<p>[1] a fairly ok high level summary in german: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.adac.de&#x2F;infotestrat&#x2F;ratgeber-verkehr&#x2F;verkehrsrecht&#x2F;Dashcam&#x2F;Situation%20in%20Deutschland.aspx?ComponentId=219667&amp;SourcePageId=202144" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.adac.de&#x2F;infotestrat&#x2F;ratgeber-verkehr&#x2F;verkehrsrec...</a>