Fraud? - Google Fonts data protection violation - letter from a lawyer

The most important information at a glance:

• The Austrian Data Protection Authority has confirmed that no private individual or lawyer may directly demand penalties or settlements from anyone.
• Google Fonts (API) are currently not prohibited. The data protection authority is still examining this issue.
• This article is currently particularly relevant for website operators from Austria.

Current position of the Austrian Data Protection Authority: https: //www.dsb.gv.at/download-links/bekanntmachungen.html

Please note: This blog article will now be continuously updated and expanded by us. It is therefore best to save the URL now so that you can check for updates at any time.

We recommend the following procedure:

• Do not respond to the letter at first and do not transfer any money.
• Contact the Chamber of Commerce or your trusted lawyer.
• Check whether your website uses Google Fonts at all. We will be happy to help you.
• If Google Fonts are used, you have two options
  • Wait and see how the Austrian Data Protection Authority reacts to the issue of Google Fonts
  • Install Google fonts locally (or have them installed) - then you're done with the issue altogether

General information on this:

We ourselves have received various letters from a lawyer from Groß-Enzersdorf named Marcus Hohenecker, which could fit the scheme that is currently being warned against. He allegedly represents a Mrs Eva Zajaczkowska.

Of course, this blog article cannot replace legal advice, but can only provide information. Therefore, always contact a lawyer you trust or Ms Elisa Drescher, lawyer and GDPR expert. https://www. linkedin.com/in/elisa-drescher-scaleline-datenschutz/

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Check whether your website is generally GDPR-compliant:

We are happy to offer you a GDPR check for your website. We will check whether Google Fonts, your analysis tool (example: Google Analytics) etc. are correctly integrated and how high the costs of a correction would be. The GDPR check costs €125 excluding VAT.

If you would like to have this carried out, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

check whether your website uses Google Fonts: https: //www.ccm19.de/google-fonts-checker/

Why do we find this letter strange?

In our opinion, a GDPR violation should be reported to the data protection authority. The authority would then contact the website operator and issue a warning as a first step.

What is the actual problem?

On 19 January 2022, a ruling was made in Munich, according to which the use of Google Fonts as an external font is not GDPR-compliant. The reason for this is that the IP address of the website visitor is sent to Google unencrypted. However, this website visitor has no chance of preventing this.

Urteil: https: //rewis.io/urteile/urteil/lhm-20-01-2022-3-o-1749320/

The funny thing is, no IP address is actually transmitted at all. https://digisociety. ngo/2022/08/22/google-font-abzocke/

How can you integrate Google fonts locally?

Here is a helpful guide for Wordpress: https: //www.egm.at/blog/google-fonts-dsgvo-sicher-in-wordpress-einbinden/

Sources & further helpful information:

https://www.wko.at/service/k/innovation-technologie-digitalisierung/DSGVO-Warnung-vor-Abmahnwelle.html

https://www.kleinezeitung.at/oesterreich/6165832/Verstoss-gegen-Datenschutz_Aufregung-um-Unterlassungsschreiben

https://www.kleinezeitung.at/wirtschaft/6178966/190-Euro-gefordert_GoogleSchriften_Abmahnanwalt-verschickt

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10228652148068165&set=a.1328808219818