It's a lesson that I wish the rest of the world had had as well.
The Stasi (state security service) also spied a lot on the citizens. Do not forget that the GDR only ceased to exist in 1990.
Often, you even have to provide proof from a landlord that you do live there.
The German obsession with privacy has a LOT to do with making life difficult for tech companies, rather than the privacy of its citizens per say.
>Often, you even have to provide proof from a landlord that you do live there.
You left out the part where persons wishing to access those government records need to provide justification, a fee, and the access gets logged. Unfortunately, government employees accessing those records aren't as tightly regulated (although it's gotten better, iirc).
So no, it has nothing to do with some intention of 'making life difficult for tech companies'.
At the same time, though, you might see the problem of having the government collect data on religion (even if safeguards are in place today).
Tomorrow the AfD might be in power, and they might use that data for purposes beyond those envisioned today.
More broadly, I feel, while great to restrict tech companies, there are also very real dangers from the state collecting data.
Some people actually care about their information and who has it more than convenience. Maybe they don't trust corporations and assume their interests don't align. It wouldn't be bad assumption at this point. It's pretty obvious most tech companies value profit over anything else.
The GDR with it's Stasi also didn't really make a great case for "Trust your government, give them all your data!"
That's why a lot of Germans are very careful about private information, we've seen it abused at large scale, with inhumane results, not just once but twice.