Google Fonts warning wave - what to do?
In recent weeks, we have received many calls and emails regarding the use of Google Fonts on websites.
The reason for this is a wave of warning letters in which those affected object to IP addresses being passed on to Google.
You must decide for yourself whether and how to respond to such letters. We are not allowed to advise on this.
According to the GDPR, which came into force in May 2018, website visitors must explicitly consent *before* data is transferred to companies outside the EU. If they do not give their consent, the data transfer must be prevented.
Google Fonts can either be loaded directly from Google's servers or locally from your own web storage space. We describe how to load the fonts locally using TYPO3 as an example in our instructions at https://jweiland.net/typo3/beispiele-anleitungen-faq/allgemeines/google-webfonts-in-typo3-einbinden.html
The current wave of warnings relates to Google Fonts. However, a similar problem also exists when loading Javascript files (e.g. jQuery), Google Analytics, etc. from external servers. Even if maps from Google Maps are integrated into the website, these in turn load fonts from Google servers.
Various online tools can be used to obtain an initial assessment of whether your own website is affected. However, it should be noted that not all subpages are checked.
The developer tools in browsers can also be used to check whether data is being loaded from external sources.
Our TYPO3 sample template is inherently data protection compliant. However, data could be transferred to external services if additional extensions are installed.
A wave of warnings about Google Fonts unsettles website operators