This article was published on 28 Jun 2022. Software and regulations change, so please check details before you decide.
Under the name Google Fonts, Google offers around 1,500 typefaces with free licences in a kind of interactive library. Website operators can use them freely without paying licence fees. There is a catch, though: the fonts are loaded from servers of Google LLC in the USA. For that to work, the IP address of the website visitor has to be transferred to Google in the USA, which counts as an unsafe third country. And that is exactly what is not permitted without the user’s active consent, as the Munich Regional Court ruled in January 2022.
So that you, as the operator of an online shop or website, cannot be sued for injunctive relief and damages, we at Web Labels have developed a solution for our partners that meets the requirements of the GDPR.
Web Labels has a solution for its partners
The magic words are “local hosting”: the Google Fonts are loaded from your own server instead of Google’s servers. For a small amount (one developer hour costs 120 euros) you get a solution from us that lets you keep focusing on your business while staying compliant with data protection law.
By the way, the Munich ruling does not only affect Google Fonts. It applies to all web services from the USA that are embedded dynamically in a website. Feel free to get in touch, so that our website experts can look at which adjustments are needed in your particular case.
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