When dealing with personal data, various aspects of data protection law must be observed. Anonymisation can avoid restrictions under data protection law. "Anonymisation is the alteration of personal data in such a way that the individual details about personal or factual circumstances can no longer be assigned to a specific or identifiable natural person or can only be assigned to a specific or identifiable natural person with a disproportionate amount of time, cost and effort" (§ 3 Abs. 6, BDSG). Furthermore, there is the possibility of pseudonymisation. This describes "the processing of personal data in such a way that the data can no longer be assigned to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that this additional information is stored separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures that ensure that the data cannot be assigned to a data subject" (§ 46 Abs. 5, BDSG neu).
If there is a reference to a person, research data may only be collected and further processed with the signing of a declaration of consent by the subjects.
The field of data protection is a broad one. TU Braunschweig has its own data protection officer who is available for any questions regarding data protection.
You can find more information on the topic here.