Have you recently received warning letters from lawyers regarding the use of Google fonts on your website? Have you also been accused of transferring personal data (IP address) of Eva Z. to the Google group without her consent?
A large number of our customers have already received such warning letters. All these letters have the following points in common:
- They originate from the pen of the same lawyer and his client "Eva Z.";
- The letters are almost identical in content, include a screenshot of your website and source code;
- You are accused of transmitting Eva Z.'s IP address to the google group without her consent;
- Against payment of an amount of EUR 190.00 you are promised an out-of-court settlement.
Due to the high number of these identical letters from different sectors of the website operators concerned, the approach taken by "Eva Z." can probably be regarded as an abuse of rights in very many cases. Especially as the codes displayed in the letters do not prove that data was actually transferred to Google. The alleged damage therefore often does not even exist. This is now also illustrated by the media presence of the matter, which shows the high number of letters and affected parties.
One thing is certain:
- IP addresses are personal data;
- Google does not store IP addresses for the purpose google fonts according to their own statements in their terms of use;
- There is no established case law on the subject of google fonts;
- Whether there is a violation of the law in data protection matters in Austria is judged by the data protection authority or the Austrian courts, not Eva Z.
Whether your IP address is actually transmitted to google cannot be said as a blanket statement and depends primarily on the settings of your website.
The sweeping assertions in the letters therefore appear to be false. The claim would therefore have to be disputed. You should nevertheless reply.
Contact us - We will be happy to support you and answer Eva Z.
