>Germany still requires that you register your residence, name, age and religion within two weeks of moving to a new place.

>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'.

I would argue it's fair to say that the current regulations were formulated with the intent to restrict the activities of 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 clarification: Having to register your religion mostly has to do with tax reasons, as the German state collects taxes for both Christian main branches. Outside of that context, it has literally zero relevance and you might as well just claim "No religion".

"The German obsession with privacy has a LOT to do with making life difficult for tech companies"

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.