Farewell to Section Control: Data protection stops speed camera technology!
On June 15, 2025, Section Control in Lower Saxony was switched off due to data protection problems. Find out more about the background and effects.

Farewell to Section Control: Data protection stops speed camera technology!
In Germany, the innovative Section Control system, which enjoyed great success in other European countries, is now history. On January 23, 2024, the system on Bundesstraße 6 in Lower Saxony was switched off for data protection reasons. This ends an era of virtual speed monitoring, which has been in regular operation there since 2021. Recording license plates and averaging speed over a set section was efficient in theory, but legal requirements proved too severe to allow the technology to continue operating.
A pilot project that started in 2018 and was carried out on a 2.2 kilometer long route between Gleidingen and Laatzen in Lower Saxony was intended to test the new traffic monitoring options. The measurements ran from December 2018 to December 2020 and produced remarkable results: the average speed of vehicles fell from 105 km/h to 95 km/h, and compliance with the speed limit increased by an impressive 40 percent. There were no traffic accidents on the route, which was once considered dangerous, which underlined the positive effects of the system. [Chip] notes that this method continues to be used successfully in other countries, such as Italy and Austria.
Technical and legal hurdles
The technical basis of Section Control was the capture of photos with a time stamp at two points, which made it possible to assign the vehicles. But the new legal regulations for encryption and protection of the collected data have thrown a spanner in the works. From the beginning of 2024, new requirements applied that the Lower Saxony system no longer met. Retrofitting was necessary, but the manufacturer Jenoptik had announced that it did not want to make improvements. [Fine Catalog] explains that resulting fine notices issued until the end of 2023 will remain valid.
The Lüneburg Higher Administrative Court had already confirmed the legality of the measurements in 2019, but the changes in data protection law have now led to the system being finally discontinued. The police have announced that they want to intensify speed controls on the route after Section Control is switched off.
A look at Austria and other countries
The discussion about effective traffic monitoring is not just a German phenomenon. In Austria, the similar procedure will continue to be used and provides for consequences for speeding in the form of executive mandates or anonymous orders. [ADAC] has pointed out that other European countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands have had positive experiences with section control. There, the measure for monitoring road traffic is so valued that many drivers stick to the speed limits.
The unexpected suspension of Section Control in Germany shows once again how important data protection is in modern technology. While other countries are taking advantage of such technology, Germany remains behind in the digital Stone Age of traffic monitoring.