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Germany makes a distinction between expectations of privacy and being in a public space. If you’re in a cafe and talking to someone at your table, you generally
by dgellow 3mo ago
Germany makes a distinction between expectations of privacy and being in a public space. If you’re in a cafe and talking to someone at your table, you generally do not expect others to participate and listen to your conversation, that can be enough to be considered private and would likely be illegal to record without consent. The act of recording audio is in itself restricted, though if you share you can have additional charges. I’m pretty sure that makes always-on video recording (with audio) very much incompatible with German laws.
It’s an ok system but too restrictive and outdated IMHO, so many people recording something with their phone will unwillingly record people passing by, which is likely not allowed.
- sodapopcan 3mo agoI'm speaking generally here, not specifically about German or any law. I also know there are probably situations I'm not thinking about. But it seems generally pretty cut and dry as to what the focus of a recording is. If you are filming your friend in public and there are people in the background, I don't see that as a big deal. If you film strangers, get audio of their conversation, you should not be allowed to post this online. If they are interacting or harassing you, this should also be a pretty cut and dry case where posting them is ok. I do realize this probably opens up a bunch of loop holes but ya. I dunno. Honestly, I'd rather have the German laws than what we have in North America right now.
- aqme28 3mo agoI think the "American" version is the one that's outdated, if anything. The German one is a bit too restrictive, sure, but I'd rather lean a little towards too much privacy than too little.
- dgellow 3mo agoI don’t know. I would move the restriction on the distribution more than the recording itself. Though I’m happy I didn’t move to the US when I had the opportunity, the German privacy laws are closer to my personal values than the US, I find the whole concept of having no privacy as soon as you’re in a public place pretty terrible