Privacy: photos, personal data, cash and the doorbell

Newcomers commonly report a few privacy-related surprises:

• Photos of people need care. Germany has a specific law on the right to your own image (Recht am eigenen Bild): pictures of identifiable people may generally only be published or shown publicly with their consent (§ 22 KunstUrhG). So asking before you post a photo of someone, especially of other people's children, is the safe habit.
• Cash is still common. In the Bundesbank's 2025 payment study (published June 2026), 45% of all recorded payments were made in cash, and 80% of respondents said it is important that paying in cash remains possible. At the same time, cashless payments made up the majority, at 55% of transactions. In the InterNations Expat Insider 2026 survey, 22% of expats in Germany disagreed that cashless payment is widely available (6% globally).
• Names on doorbells. In 2018 a Vienna housing company removed tenants' names from 220,000 doorbells over data-protection concerns. Germany's then Federal Data Protection Commissioner said names on doorbells generally fall outside the GDPR and that removing them was unnecessary. In practice you need your name on the mailbox: Deutsche Post says a letter cannot be assigned if the name is missing or does not match.

The rules behind these habits:

• The right to your own image dates from a long-standing law on art and photography. There are exceptions, for example for images of contemporary history, for pictures in which people appear only incidentally next to a landscape or place, and for gatherings and processions that people took part in (§ 23 KunstUrhG). Even then, a person's legitimate interests can prevail. Publishing a picture in breach of these rules can be a criminal offence, prosecuted on complaint (§ 33 KunstUrhG).
• Data protection in Germany follows the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, in German DSGVO). Public bodies and companies explain how they process data; Berlin's public transport company, for example, states the legal basis for its CCTV and for storing data when it issues penalties.
• Cash is not just about privacy. The Bundesbank found that older people, people with health restrictions, people on low incomes and people with little digital experience used cash more often. Cash could be used in 94% of recorded in-person purchases, and card or other cashless payment in 86%.

• Generation: cash use is higher among older people (Bundesbank 2025), while younger people more often pay by card or phone.
• Place and business: card acceptance is high but not universal; in the Bundesbank study, cashless payment was possible in 86% of recorded in-person purchases. If you have no cash on you, check before you order, especially at small cafés, kiosks and market stalls.
• Individuals: comfort levels differ from person to person, for example between being photographed at a party and having that photo shared online. When in doubt, ask.