Can you see the two men in the frame ?
I understimated my angle of view and stopped shooting prematurely.
By the way, I could not revive the old discussion.
In this town, only smokers can vote =
Major tornado damage in White Oak, IA
Gentleman reluctant to get into his taxi:
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Driving over a new bridge for the first time is a special moment. https://www.mapillary.com/app/user/osmplus_org?all_coverage=false&lat=49.396976422305244&lng=11.198524056335259&z=17.36770051222307&panos=true&pKey=4252097535106690&focus=photo&x=0.11338068814149499&y=0.43962828786905994&zoom=0&username[]=osmplus_org&dateFrom=2026-04-08&dateTo=2026-04-09&mapStyle=OpenStreetMap
Being stopped today by the police, they had a question why I had a camera on the roof of the car. They thought that it was not allowed. But in The Netherlands it’s allowed if you respect the privacy rules (blurring of faces and license plates). They would call me after verifying my information.
After a couple of hours they called and indeed it’s allowed 
.
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Yeah, who would have thought? But in fact, it is sad that we even have to talk about it.
You are lucky that they did not confiscate your equipment and you had to pay for your ride to pick it up again yourself. Just imagine the public outcry or the repercussions for these police officers if they had stopped a Google Maps, Bing Maps, HERE Maps, tomtom, or etc. vehicle. The world is an unfair place, even in so called “civilized value based democracies”.
And no, it is not just “allowed”. You have a RIGHT to it. Rights DO NOT require any permission or explanation. Taking pictures in public spaces in the EU does not require any permit (with minor limitations, of course), and hopefully never will. Legal intricacies only play a role as soon as (or when) you want to publish your footage. This is something many people do not understand or are totally confused about. Yes, even law enforcement officials… 
Anyhow, thank you for sharing this crucial experience! 
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That is very pharisaic of the police.
For television programs on bad drivers for example they really film people explicitly against their will for broadcast. As if blurring the face makes them unrecognisable.
I am ashamed that I look at such programs.
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Questions arise, sometimes out of curiosity; always remain polite and refer to Mapillary. This is advertising for Mapillary, advertising for the idea of ​​Street View, which is resonating and will surely be shared with law enforcement colleagues around the city.
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For ten years I have been pleading for a splash screen.
The only response I receive is “Mapi what ?”
Sure, curiosity might be a natural human thing and it is nice to have an idealized notion of police work but police must not stop you or question you “out of curiosity”, especially not in Germany. They are only permitted to do so if they have “initial probable cause” that you are doing something illegal. Probable cause is not a mere hunch, gut feeling, guess, or just curiosity by any means. In fact, the legal bar for police stopping or questioning you is set quite high in Germany. And, it should be kept that way. Similar is probably true for most other EU countries. You do not have to explain anything to the police, even when you might be doing something wrong, but especially when you are not doing anything illegal. And, while it is surely good advice to always stay polite; it is also good advice to usually keep the chitchat with police to a minimum.
Indeed, they have authority to stop you to check whether your camera mount on the car complies with public roads vehicle approval code or because of vehicle tax, emissions, or other safety regulations. But, they have no authority to ask you about what you are doing with a camera on your car, what you are going to do with the imagery, why you might be capturing, where you are coming from, or what your destination may be because it is none of their business.
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