Yes, scraping public data in Germany is generally permissible, but strict compliance with privacy and competition laws is mandatory. Publicly accessible data does not inherently grant unrestricted reuse; platforms may impose technical barriers or terms of service prohibiting automated extraction. The 2024 amendments to the German Competition Act (GWB) and ongoing GDPR enforcement by the Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit (BfDI) further restrict aggressive scraping practices, particularly when personal data is involved.
Key Regulations for Scraping Public Data in Germany
- GDPR Compliance (Art. 6, 9): Personal data extraction requires a lawful basis (e.g., legitimate interest) or explicit consent. Scraping sensitive categories (e.g., health data) without justification risks fines up to €20M or 4% of global turnover under GDPR.
- German Competition Act (GWB §19a): Dominant platforms (e.g., social networks, marketplaces) can prohibit scraping if it interferes with their business model or violates fair competition rules. The 2024 GWB amendments explicitly target “data scraping as an abuse of market power.”
- Telemedia Act (TMG §14): Automated data collection from websites must respect technical measures (e.g.,
robots.txt, rate limits). Unauthorized scraping may constitute a breach of contract or tort under §823 BGB (German Civil Code).
Practical Considerations:
- Public Sector Data: Open government data (e.g., Open Data Portal Deutschland) is typically reusable under the Informationsweiterverwendungsgesetz (IWG), but restrictions apply to third-party datasets.
- Technical Safeguards: Implement delays between requests, anonymize data where possible, and document lawful bases for processing. The BfDI has signaled increased scrutiny of scraping activities in 2025.
- Platform Terms: Contractual prohibitions (e.g., LinkedIn’s ToS) may override public accessibility. Courts (e.g., LG München I, 2023) have upheld such bans when scraping disrupts service stability.