Data protection for agencies and WordPress developers

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Is it even possible to use Google Fonts WordPress in compliance with data protection regulations?
The good news: Using Google Fonts in WordPress is not problematic per se. It is not problematic if it is set up correctly. The fonts should be uploaded locally to your own server. This means that no connection is established to the Google servers, which prevents the transfer of personal data.

This means that by integrating fonts locally on your own server, you can avoid this data transfer and better protect the privacy of your website visitors.

reality in practice
Unfortunately, this is often not implemented in practice. And not only that - there have already been several cases in practice where companies have had to pay large sums of money due to violations.

One case, for example, involved a website that loaded Google Fonts directly from Google's servers in the United States, which meant that visitors' IP addresses were transmitted to Google without their consent. The court ruled bc data philippines that this practice violated the right to informational self-determination and ordered the website operator to pay compensation. This example shows that it can be worthwhile to prevent fonts from being loaded via servers in the USA in just a few simple steps - and to store them locally.

In this article, we explain everything about data protection for agencies: from the appointment of data protection officers to order processing and consent to the hoster.

What other disadvantages can there be if Google Fonts are not integrated locally?
On the one hand, it is unpleasant to be able to expect a warning at any time because data protection guidelines are inadvertently violated. On the other hand, in addition to the data protection problem, other disadvantages can arise if Google Fonts are not integrated locally:

Longer loading times : The loading time of the website may increase because the fonts have to be loaded from external Google servers.
Dependence on external services : If Google servers fail or respond slowly, your website's loading time may be affected.
Inconsistent display : If access to Google servers is blocked (e.g. by firewalls), fonts cannot load, affecting the display of your website.
In summary, this means that the local integration of Google Fonts not only protects you from unpleasant warnings, but also improves the performance and reliability of your website.

How to find out if Google Fonts are running on your WordPress website
If you don't know if Google Fonts are running on your WordPress website, you can use the browser console or use the website checker:

Option 1: Use the browser console
If you see entries with fonts.googleapis.com or gstatic.com in the console, it means that Google Fonts are being loaded directly from Google's servers on your website. This request may transmit personal data such as visitors' IP addresses to Google, which poses a potential privacy risk and may violate GDPR without explicit consent.

Chrome:

Integrate Google Fonts locally in WordPress in compliance with GDPR
Open your website in Chrome.
Right-click the page and select Inspect.
Switch to the Sources tab.
On the left side, look for entries with “fonts.googleapis.com” or “fonts.gstatic.com”.