Google Fonts not GDPR conform in Europe anymore! Need a solution urgently!

[festefeiern]

With a judgement in Germany it is not GDPR conform to use Google Fonts loaded from a US-Server. There is acually a huge action from a lawyer in austria to sue thousands of website owners because of this trying to get money out of this.

As it is definitly not conform with the DDPR in Austria and Germany, Weebly has to come to action as otherwise thousands of user have to withdraw from weebly.

Has anybody an other solution for that?

[RL2006]

The problem must be solved urgently due to data protection issues. The use of Google Fonts leads to legal warnings in Germany and is associated with corresponding penalties.

[aeve]

I completely agree with you. When will we be informed about what Weebly will do about this?

[Bernadette3]

Thank you all for posting. I have not heard of this, but will see if I can find more information. 

[ned_d]

Same here (in Austria). This is a very severe and critical issue and has to be fixed urgently as it violates the law (DSGVO/GDPR).

The usage of certain fonts is obviously adding the mal/spyware (//fonts.googleapis.com/*) to the page’ source code.

This stuff is tracking and disclosing sensitive user data of the page’s visitor to <nobody knows>.

There is neither information given to the site’s designer when selecting certain fonts in the UI, nor is it possible to generally remove it from the list of proposed font types.

The default setting is a font type which is part of this malware and changing the default font is not possible.

Neither changing all the fonts manually on each page – to presumably harmless types like Arial or Verdana – is fixing the problem (apart from time/effort considerations).

Nor removing imports in “HTML/CSS edit” section of the Theme solves the problem.

The unwanted malware is added to the page’s header section automatically and unwanted during publication of the page.

My page is offline.

Until when can you offer a general solution for that problem.

What are your suggestions to fix it temporarily?

[RL2006]

Hi Bernadette, 

thanks for getting into this. When can we expect an answer? It is just a question of "when" do we get a legal penalty. 

Best, 

Ralf 😉 

[Bernadette3 · Accepted solution]

9/10/22 UPDATE: This issue has been resolved, but requires a re-publish of the website. Please make sure to log into your site editor and click the blue Publish button in the top right corner of the website as soon as possible. 

Just wanted to post an update here. Our team is aware of this issue and currently working on a resolution. 

In the meantime, I recommend visiting this Google Fonts page to make sure the font you are using in the editor is not on the list.

You can view and change the fonts you are using in the editor under Theme > Change Fonts

I will also keep an eye out for any known fonts that are okay to use, and will post any future update here.

[guenther]

Hi Bernadette,

• we did change to a font not found on fonts.google.com (Droid Sans)
  But now this font is ALSO loaded from fonts.googleapis.com
• The font used before "Open Sans" is stil linked although not used in theme anymore.

Proposed soultion does not work - please help out, we are facing a lawsuit too.

Kind regards,
Günther

[Nacho1]

I am having exact the same issue!!!!!!

[RL2006]

Weebly support should take some actions. That's what I am waiting for. I got some support some weeks ago, but that was not helpful at all. The guy had not enough knowledge about the coding of the weebly platform. But we need some expert knowledge here to solve the problem. Bettina wrote "I am now working on this miracle 😉 " ... me too, but without success so far. 

[Bernadette3]

Hi there. According to the bug filed for this issue, there is a solution in place, but you must republish your website for it to go into effect. 

[einzelstueck-at]

Hi Bernadette!

I have a workaround to embed google fonts locally on Weebly.

1. I have downloaded the webfonts zip from https://google-webfonts-helper.herokuapp.com/fonts/ --> Go on my site, THEME, EDIT HTML/CSS I created an folder unter "OBJEKTE" (OBJECTS) named "fonts" and uploaded all the font files

2. I have copied the css code from the site https://google-webfonts-helper.herokuapp.com/fonts/ and inserted in the main.less CSS file

+ deleted all the "../" in the link-lines (otherwise the link to the fonts folder and  files won't work)

+ added the word "local" after the fontname in all the CSS Code f.e. font-family: 'Roboto local'; otherwise weebly takes the Google Roboto font and not the embedded “local font”

3. Changed all the Fonts under THEME, "Schriftarten ändern " / "Change fonts" into "Roboto local" (is default) or changed in Arial/Verdana/Times system fonts

4. Some templates have an additional link in the head/php (when using external templates f.e. webfire themes, etc.).

This workaround works very well on many of my sites on my WWD.

But not on all sites:

On 2 of my sites there is still the googleapis-link. I am now working on this miracle 😉 with the support team via e-mail.

Maybe this helps the community.

Best regards,

Bettina

[RL2006]

Hi Bettina, 

it works almost perfect. The system uses the uploaded fonts and your manual works fine. But there is always one single line in the code of all websites I can't get out (always the same!): <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:400italic,700italic,300,400,700" />

Do you have any idea how to resolve that? The fonts are uploaded into the font-directory. The family is set to Open sans local, but the line does not disappear. 

It's nearly perfect, but this single line stays into the code. 

Best Ralf 😉

[einzelstueck-a1]

Hi Ralf!

Good things happened in the meanwhile 🙂

Weebly Support told me a few days ago, the engineers have resolved it. And yes, Weebly moved all the Google fonts to direct hosting. Thats wonderful time-saving!

But there is still a line in the code further down, where googleapis is linked. But not on all of my weebly sites.

To be continued...

Bettina

[Bernadette3]

Thank you for sharing, Bettina. Have you reached out to the team regarding the additional link? I suggest this route in case the rep needs to escalate to the advanced support team for further research. 

[RL2006]

Hope, that somebody listens. I contacted support several times. It was always quite disappointing. Either they did not understand the problem or they had no clue. That was really annoying. 

But I still have the hope that there must be some dev guys with better knowledge. Question is how to find the right and responsive people within the weebly organization. Perfect would be a mail address of the head of dev or head of technology. 

[RL2006]

Hi Bettina,

that's good news. I really hope that they get the problem solved regarding this single line of code that's still there. 

I think, we spent already an incredible effort in solving problems that the weebly   dev team should do. 

Cheers, 

Ralf 😉

[ME91]

Hi Bernadette,

after republish the website I found 

</style><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:400italic,700italic,300,400,700" />

How can I remove this ?
I don`t use any google fonts, only arial

Thanks

[freshflavour]

Hi Bernadette,

We get sued here in europe right now for using Google font because of our DSGVO-Law.


You can find more Infos here:
www-abmahnung-wtf

[Tiphan]

Hello,

a few days ago I had my website checked with a website checker. I was told that I should remove Google Fonts or install them locally on the server. It COULD come to a lawsuit ~190€ (I am in Austria).
I am not a professional when it comes to websites and have never heard of this problem. I have always used the fonts that Weebly offers in the editor. I ask for support or clarification on this matter. What should/can I do.

Thanks a lot
Stephan Tikatsch

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[alx1]

Having the same over here.

allready got mail from a GPDR Lawyer. They want 190€ for GPDR Faults because IP Address of clients is transferred to US Google to load google fonts.
Friend of mine has same problem (but not google site)

@weebly  I have no clue if i can check if the IP has been Transferred.

I tried contacting Weebly, but did not have any luck

I also have writing from WKO which is not clear what i shoudl do now.

Seems I get sued, for stuff i cannot change on Weebly.

As of now I have put the site offline, and I recomend doing the same.
any help would be higly appreciated.

--- 
german.
Gleiches Problem hier, nur dass ich schon eine Anwaltsbrief bekommen habe mit der forderung 190€ zu bezahlen.
die Abmahnanwälte (die m. M. nach einen großen Dienst an der Menschheit verrichten) sind anscheindend gerade sehr aktiv.

Weebly kann man ja nicht kontaktieren.

Ich habe meine Seite offline genommen, und würde auch empfehlen, wenns denn noch nicht zu spät ist. Habe in weebly (free) account keine Möglichkeit gefunden die Schriften statisch einzubinden, oder abzuschalten