Commercial collection · Region
Egocentric Data Collection in Europe
- Countries
- United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine
- Legal basis on file
- UK GDPR · GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)
- Settings
- Commercial only
- Start
- Spec Pilot
Definition
What does egocentric data collection across Europe mean?
Egocentric data is video recorded from the point of view of the person doing the work, with their hands, tools and the objects they handle in frame. Regional collection runs that capture across several countries under one spec, so a model sees the same tasks performed in different markets rather than in one.
Packaging, tools, store layouts and work habits differ between countries even inside one region. A model trained on a single country's footage quietly overfits to it. Spreading a spec across Europe is how a program widens that variation on purpose, while the spec, the QA gates and the delivery schema stay fixed.
Countries
Which Europe countries are in the program?
Each row links to the country page. Status and legal basis come straight from the published coverage data.
| Country | Status | Legal basis | Listed environments |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Legal basis on file | UK GDPR | Kitchen & food prep, Retail & shelf ops |
| Germany | Legal basis on file | GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) | Tool use & assembly, Automotive service |
| Netherlands | Legal basis on file | GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) | Warehouse & logistics, Retail & shelf ops |
| Poland | Legal basis on file | GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) | Warehouse & logistics, Tool use & assembly |
| Portugal | Legal basis on file | GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) | Kitchen & food prep |
| Spain | Listed capture country | Confirmed per engagement | Recruited to spec |
| Ukraine | Recruited to spec | Confirmed per engagement | Recruited to spec |
"Legal basis on file" means the consent framework is documented in the provenance section. "Listed capture country" means the country is published as a capture country without a documented basis yet. "Recruited to spec" means contributors are sourced when a spec asks for it.
Commercial settings
Which commercial environments are listed in Europe?
Environments that are not listed for a country are still recruited to spec; listed ones are where a spec can usually start fastest.
| Environment | What is recorded | Listed in |
|---|---|---|
| Retail & shelf ops | Shelf stocking, facing and store-floor tasks, recorded first-person with the hands in frame. | United Kingdom, Netherlands |
| Warehouse & logistics | Picking, packing and handling work, recorded first-person with the hands in frame. | Netherlands, Poland |
| Kitchen & food prep | Commercial kitchen and food-prep work only under this program, not home kitchens. | United Kingdom, Portugal |
| Automotive service | Service-bay tasks, recorded first-person with the hands and tools in frame. | Germany |
| Tool use & assembly | Hand-tool and assembly procedures, recorded first-person with the hands and tools in frame. | Germany, Poland |
See the full catalog of commercial environments and tasks.
Consent
How does the legal basis differ across Europe?
United Kingdom (UK GDPR), Germany (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)), Netherlands (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)), Poland (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)) and Portugal (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)) havea consent framework documented in Firsthand's provenance section, so the named basis is printed and its official regulator page is linked in the sources below.
For Spain and Ukraine, no statute is printed. That is deliberate: the site does not name a legal basis for a country it has not papered. The basis and site clearance are confirmed per engagement and written into the spec you approve.
Whatever the country, releases are collected before capture, contributors stop recording when an un-consented person enters the manipulation region, and every hour ships with its consent record. The full chain of custody is on the provenance page.
Multi-country
How does a multi-country spec work?
- 01 · Brief the gapTell us the tasks, commercial settings and which Europe countries you need.
- 02 · Approve one specTasks, environments, capture tier, annotation depth and accept criteria apply to every country; each country is quoted for reach and timeline.
- 03 · Run a Spec PilotA small, fast first batch that proves the spec and QA bar hold on real footage before volume scales.
- 04 · Scale by countryCountries scale against the same spec, with on-demand top-ups afterward.
A median of 48 hours from signed spec to first validated batch where coverage is deep. Where coverage is thin, the timeline is quoted against the spec before capture begins.
QA
Is the QA bar the same in every country?
| Gate | What is checked | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Spec fit | The take shows the task, environment and conditions the spec asked for | Rejected and recaptured |
| Consent | A signed release exists for every person in the manipulation region | Rejected; never shipped |
| Sync | Streams are present and aligned to the shared clock (rig tier) | Rejected and recaptured |
| Anonymization | Faces, plates and screens redacted and human-reviewed | Held until redaction passes |
| Billing | Only validated hours are invoiced | Rejected hours are never billed |
Yes. The gates do not change by country, which is what makes footage from several markets comparable inside one training set. Anonymization is documented on the anonymization page.
Delivery
What is delivered, and in which formats?
Footage from every Europe country is delivered in RLDS, LeRobot, WebDataset, HDF5, zarr and Rerun .rrd, mapped to the canonical episode schema, under a buyer-owned commercial licence. See delivery formats, sample data outputs and pricing.
FAQ
Egocentric data collection in Europe, answered.
- Which Europe countries can Firsthand collect egocentric data in?
- The commercial program has country pages for United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. Recruiting runs worldwide, so a country not listed here can still be scoped against a spec.
- Is there a legal basis on file for Europe?
- Yes for United Kingdom (UK GDPR), Germany (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)), Netherlands (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)), Poland (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)) and Portugal (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). For the other countries the legal basis is confirmed per engagement and written into the spec before capture starts.
- Can one spec cover several countries?
- Yes. Multi-country specs are normal: one written spec sets the tasks, environments, capture tier, annotation depth and accept criteria, and each country is quoted for reach and timeline against it.
- What does "commercial" collection mean here?
- Recordings are made in commercial settings only: retail floors, warehouses, commercial kitchens, automotive service bays and tool-use and assembly work. Household and home-routine footage is outside this program.
- Is the footage anonymized?
- Faces, licence plates and screens are detected and blurred in the anonymization pipeline, with a human review step, before footage is delivered.
- What formats is the data delivered in?
- RLDS, LeRobot, WebDataset, HDF5, zarr and Rerun .rrd, each with the same canonical episode schema, so footage from every country in a program loads the same way.
- How much does collection cost?
- Pricing is quoted per engagement rather than from a rate card, and billing is per validated hour: footage that passed sync and QA against your spec. See the pricing page for how quotes are built.
Sources
Where are the documented legal bases published?
- ICO — UK GDPR guidance and resources (opens in a new tab)The Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection. ico.org.uk
- European Data Protection Board (GDPR) (opens in a new tab)The EU body that oversees consistent application of the GDPR across member states. www.edpb.europa.eu
- BfDI — Federal Commissioner for Data Protection (opens in a new tab)Germany's federal data protection authority. www.bfdi.bund.de
- UODO — Personal Data Protection Office (opens in a new tab)Poland's data protection authority. uodo.gov.pl
- CNPD — Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (opens in a new tab)Portugal's data protection authority. www.cnpd.pt
Other regions
Which other regions are covered?
Need commercial footage from across Europe?
Tell us what your model is missing. We quote reach, timeline and price per country against one written spec, starting with a Spec Pilot.