As of: March 16, 2024, 5:22 a.m
By: Simon Mones
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The advertising chief reports illegal parking nationwide.
His controversial hobby causes a lot of criticism.
His track record is anything but good.
He is currently on everyone's lips: we are of course talking about the advertising master Niklas Matthei from Saxony-Anhalt.
The 18-year-old gained nationwide fame with his strange hobby through a Spiegel TV report.
His goal is to report illegal parking in every city nationwide.
According to his own statement, he will have generated 140,000 euros in 89 cities and municipalities in 2023 alone.
Of course, not everyone likes that.
But is it actually legal what the advertising master does?
After all, Matthei takes photos of the cars with the license plates.
So is there a violation of the GDPR lurking here?
No, as the Ansbach district court decided in two landmark judgments (file numbers AN 14 K 22.00468 and AN 14 K 21.01431).
The same applies to the use of apps with which you can easily report illegal parking.
The advertising chief also uses one of these.
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Police sign on the bike: Is the advertising chief committing official arrogance?
On this point, Matthei is not committing a criminal offense.
But there is still the police sign on his bike.
Is he perhaps committing official presumption here?
This would be anything but a trivial offense and is punishable by up to two years in prison.
Illegal parking can be reported using an app on your smartphone.
© Oliver Berg/dpa
However, the 18-year-old doesn't see this as a problem.
He came up with the word himself and doesn't use any national emblems, he explains in the Spiegel TV report.
He would also have to actively give the impression that he is a police officer and he does exactly the opposite, as the Cologne lawyer Christian Solmecke from the law firm WBS Legal emphasizes in a YouTube video: “He always discloses that.
So I have to say, this is not presumption of office.
It's not like he's taking any sovereign actions here." He just reports and doesn't impose any fines.
And there is no risk of confusion with a bicycle police officer because he is not wearing a uniform.
On the other hand, anyone who drives with flashing lights on their car risks being convicted of official arrogance.
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Advertisement manager hunts down illegal parkers – with little success
Legally, Matthei is on the safe side, as Solmecke emphasizes.
In order to report illegal parking, the chief report officer does not have to be affected himself.
The public order office is probably less likely to be happy about the supposed help.
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Because not every ad by the 18-year-old is successful.
Most of them come to nothing, at least in his home community of Gräfenhainichen, as
Bild
reports.
The advertising chief there filed 905 advertisements in 2023 alone.
According to the catalog of fines, that would be income of 32,875 euros.
In reality, however, only 22 proceedings were initiated following reports from private individuals and fines of 357 euros were imposed.
Probably also because most of Matthei's complaints would not hold up in court, as Mayor Enrico Schilling (CDU) explains.
The city in Saxony-Anhalt is therefore examining all legal measures to prohibit the 18-year-old from pursuing his unusual hobby.
On social media, however, the work of the advertising master is viewed with more humor.
As a block in the comments under lawyer Solmecke's video shows:
“The guy could only have been smuggled in by Jan Böhmermann!”
“The boy replaces Amthor as “Germany’s youngest pensioner.”
“The most German thing I’m doing here is watching a lawyer’s video about the advertising master.”