[atoav]

It is a weird one in Germany. Generally you can record everything because of a law called Panoramafreiheit, however once you start to have discernible individuals on your photograph/video you need their consent, because individuals own the Bildrecht (”image rights”) to themselves, while you as the creator own the Urheberrecht (”creator rights”). And it needs both for a image to be taken legally.

So you get their written consent, ask them if it is okay or take the risk that they will e.g. see themselves in your movie and force you to take it down. This fits with the general feeling that filming another person without asking is seen as extremely rude.

The key here is that people need to be recognizable, so pictures of crowds usually don’t count.

Certain architects can also forbid circulation of photographed versions of their building if it is central subject of the photograph — but I only know of one such thing.

Note that this all was enshrined in law way before GDPR.

Unless you stick your camera into other people’s faces without asking or plan to distribute your images on a bigger scale you will probably manage without ever hearing about these laws.