European data protection law

This is a can of worms, Thomas.

You're probably concerned about the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation - in German, I think it has one of your famous long names - something like Datenschutzgrundverordnung).

I believe this is unlikely to have significant effect on amateur photographers, although the legal position concerning what the new law calls 'collection and sharing of personal data' remains unclear. It is certainly a minefield for businesses, professional photographers and website owners. If you're one of those, the most easily understood site I've encountered is one from Togs in Business - Google: 'What GDPR means for Photographers – The Lowdown!'

However, while I stand to be corrected, I believe that amateurs shouldn't lose any sleep about photographing people without their permission if they are in a public place and the pictures are for your personal use. Of course, one has to be careful that the pictures don't hold them up to ridicule or invade their privacy, particularly if you're posting them on social media sites.

Does anyone else have a view on this contentious subject? Reply to this

I think, I can't add links here.
But it is called

Data Protection Directive (officially Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data (PII (US))

and there is a Wikipedia and other links about it. But I am no lawyer. Reply to this

This is a text from Wikiepdia. It mentionnes photos.

Scope
The regulation applies if the data controller (an organisation that collects data from EU residents), or processor (an organisation that processes data on behalf of a data controller like cloud service providers), or the data subject (person) is based in the EU. Under certain circumstances, the regulation also applies to organisations based outside the EU if they collect or process personal data of individuals located inside the EU. The regulation does not apply to the processing of data by a person for a "purely personal or household activity and thus with no connection to a professional or commercial activity." (Recital 18)
According to the European Commission, "personal data is any information relating to an individual, whether it relates to his or her private, professional or public life. It can be anything from a name, a home address, a photo, an email address, bank details, posts on social networking websites, medical information, or a computer's IP address." Reply to this