https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/website_fine_google_fonts_gdpr/ [user] [user] Sign in The Register(r) -- Biting the hand that feeds IT [magn] [burg] [burg] Topics Security Off-Prem All Off-PremEdge + IoTChannelPaaS + IaaSSaaS (X) On-Prem All On-PremServersStorageNetworksHPCPersonal Tech (X) Software All SoftwareAI + MLApplicationsDatabasesDevOpsOSesVirtualization (X) Offbeat All OffbeatDebatesColumnistsScienceGeek's GuideBOFHLegalBootnotesSite NewsAbout Us (X) Vendor Voice All Vendor VoiceAdobeAmazon Web Services (AWS) MigrationGoogle Cloud Google Cloud's ApigeeGoogle WorkspaceLenovoNutanixRapid7Red hatSophos VeeamVirtru (X) Resources * Whitepapers * Webinars * Newsletters Situation Publishing * The Next Platform * Devclass * Blocks and Files Get our Weekly newsletter [legal] Legal Website fined by German court for leaking visitor's IP address via Google Fonts Now that's egg on your typeface Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Mon 31 Jan 2022 // 20:40 UTC 9 comment bubble on white --------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 comment bubble on white # reddit Twitter Facebook linkedin WhatsApp email [https://www.theregis] Copy Earlier this month, a German court fined an unidentified website EUR100 ($110, PS84) for violating EU privacy law by importing a Google-hosted web font. The decision, by Landgericht Munchen's third civil chamber in Munich, found that the website, by including Google-Fonts-hosted font on its pages, passed the unidentified plaintiff's IP address to Google without authorization and without a legitimate reason for doing so. And that violates Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). That is to say, when the plaintiff visited the website, the page made the user's browser fetch a font from Google Fonts to use for some text, and this disclosed the netizen's IP address to the US internet giant. This kind of hot-linking is normal with Google Fonts; the issue here is that the visitor apparently didn't give permission for their IP address to be shared. The website could have avoided this drama by self-hosting the font, if possible. [legal] "The unauthorized disclosure of the plaintiff's dynamic IP address by the defendant to Google constitutes a violation of the general right of personality in the form of the right to informational self-determination according to SS 823 Para. 1 BGB," the ruling stated, as algorithmically translated. "The right to informational self-determination includes the right of the individual to disclose and determine the use of their personal data." [legal] [legal] The decision says IP addresses represent personal data because it's theoretically possible to identify the person associated with an IP address, and that it's irrelevant whether the website or Google has actually done so. Google Fonts screenshot Google Fonts' typeface picker ... With some sample text of our own in light of this case "The defendant violated the plaintiff's right to informational self-determination by forwarding the dynamic IP address to Google when the plaintiff accessed the defendant's website," the ruling says. The ruling directs the website to stop providing IP addresses to Google and threatens the site operator with a fine of EUR250,000 for each violation, or up to six months in prison, for continued improper use of Google Fonts. Google Fonts is widely deployed - the Google Fonts API is used by about 50m websites. The API allows websites to style text with Google Fonts stored on remote servers - Google's or a CDN's - that get fetched as the page loads. Google Fonts can be self-hosted to avoid running afoul of EU rules and the ruling explicitly cites this possibility to assert that relying on Google-hosted Google Fonts is not defensible under the law. * Machine needs more Learning: Google Drive dings single-character files for copyright infringement * UK data watchdog slaps Ministry of Justice with Enforcement Notice for breaking GDPR law * Lawmakers propose TLDR Act because no one reads Terms of Service agreements * Austrian watchdog rules German company's use of Google Analytics breached GDPR by sending data to US The German court ruling echoes two other recent decisions, one earlier in January by Austria's data protection authority that found the use of Google Analytics violated the law, and one in December last year when a different German court found that a Danish consent manager's CookieBot program shared European IP addresses with US-based Akamai in violation of EU data laws. These data privacy judgments complicate how websites and applications can integrate remotely hosted content or services by requiring a legitimate purpose for doing so if personal data gets transferred or lawful consent. [legal] They reflect the consequences of the EU Court of Justice's 2020 decision to strike down the Privacy Shield data protection arrangements that had previously allowed US companies to exchange data with European partners under "Standard Contract Clauses." That ruling is known as Schrems II because it originated with Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems 2011 complaint against Facebook in Ireland. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (r) Get our Tech Resources # Share reddit Twitter Facebook linkedin WhatsApp email [https://www.theregis] Copy 9 Comments Similar topics * Europe * GDPR * Google * Privacy Broader topics * Alphabet * Continent * Data Protection * European Union Narrower topics * Android * Armenia * Austria * Azerbaijan * Belarus * Belgium * Bulgaria * Chrome * Chromium * Croatia * Cyprus * Czech Republic * Denmark * Estonia * Finland * France * Georgia * Germany * Google AI * Google Cloud Platform * Google Nest * Greece * G Suite * Hungary * Iceland * Ireland * Italy * Kazakhstan * Kubernetes * Latvia * Liechtenstein * Lithuania * Luxembourg * Malta * Monaco * Netherlands * Norway * Poland * Portugal * Romania * Russia * San Marino * Serbia * Slovakia * Slovenia * Spain * Sweden * Switzerland * Tavis Ormandy * Turkey * Ukraine * United Kingdom Corrections Send us news --------------------------------------------------------------------- [legal] Other stories you might like * Intel R&D spending surges after years of neglect as Gelsinger pledges to make Chipzilla great again A timeline of the x86 giant's stumbles - and commitments for the future Agam Shah Mon 31 Jan 2022 // 21:49 UTC 1 comment bubble on white Analysis Intel is cranking up its research spending to fix past mistakes, catch up with and overtake the competition, and build a foundation to grow in future. The US giant spent $15.19bn on research and development in fiscal 2021, more than 20 per cent of the company's $74.7bn revenue. That was about a 12 per cent increase from research and investments in 2020, and it was largest year-over-year increase since 2012, when R&D spending went up by 20 per cent. Compare that to recent years, when research and development spending was stagnant or barely increased and Chipzilla spent billions on stock price support instead. Enter CEO Pat Gelsinger, who took the reins last year and hit the reset button on Intel's priorities to focus on engineering. Continue reading * There's a new Chipzilla in town: Samsung topples Intel to become largest chip maker Semiconductor shortage helps cause reshuffle at the top Agam Shah Mon 31 Jan 2022 // 18:59 UTC comment bubble on black The semiconductor shortage helped smartphone and memory chips in 2021, and Samsung toppled Intel to become the world's largest chip company, according to Counterpoint Research. 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An online ad (screenshots here and here) was looking for someone to "lead and help build the team responsible for enabling Neuralink's clinical research activities and developing the regulatory interactions that come with a fast-paced and ever-evolving environment." The Musk-backed startup claims to be building the "future of brain interfaces... that will help people with paralysis and inventing new technologies that will expand our abilities, our community, and our world." Continue reading ABOUT US* * Who we are * Under the hood * Contact us * Advertise with us MORE CONTENT* * Latest News * Popular Stories * Forums * Whitepapers * Webinars SITUATION PUBLISHING* * The Next Platform * DevClass * Blocks and Files * Continuous Lifecycle London * M-cubed Situation Publishing The Register - Independent news and views for the tech community. 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