3 ms·

Nobody is going to get in “legal hot water” on account of Google Fonts or Google Analytics unless they’re Google themselves or a top 10 ecommerce company some p

Nobody is going to get in “legal hot water” on account of Google Fonts or Google Analytics unless they’re Google themselves or a top 10 ecommerce company some politician wants to make an example of. There’s millions of sites relying on those things. Is the EU going to drag them all into court? This is like saying you never jay walk because you want to avoid the legal hot water. The water isn’t even lukewarm!

fhars 5y ago
Some courts beg to disagree with your position: https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/website_fine_google_fonts_gdpr/ https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/website_fine_google_f...
- paulcole 5y ago
  Oh, wow, didn’t realize 1 website had been fined $100. The legal water is boiling!
  - p_l 5y ago
    GDPR mechanisms are directed at pushing you towards compliance, not getting big payouts. So in many cases you can even avoid any fine if you cooperate on first notice.
  - jeroenhd 5y ago
    The fine is only $100 if your lawyers and legal team work for free.
  - chaosite 5y ago
    Yeah, that's definitely a slap on the wrist. But now that website needs to stop doing that, or it would face actual consequences.
  - martin_a 5y ago
    You must have missed this part: > The ruling directs the website to stop providing IP addresses to Google and threatens the site operator with a fine of €250,000 for each violation, or up to six months in prison, for continued improper use of Google Fonts. So, if you feel brave you can challenge some courts on this.
    - paulcole 5y ago
      No, I didn't miss that part. "Next time, I'll really punish you" rarely works until there's actual consequences.
      - martin_a 5y ago
        There are actual consequences: https://www.dsgvo-portal.de/gdpr-fine-database.php https://www.dsgvo-portal.de/gdpr-fine-database.php (I think I have seen one of those databases somewhat more official before)
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    This is basically a 'we are watching you' warning, second time the fine will be different
  - zuzun 5y ago
    It's per claimant. That would be a $15bn Equifax settlement.
tpxl 5y ago
> Is the EU going to drag them all into court? Why would they need to? Just hand out fines, like you do with traffic tickets, no courts required.
- bliteben 5y ago
  I would venture most of the internet is not hosted in the EU. You expect US, Chinese, and Japanese citizens to respect an EU fine for a law they have no say in? Sure they are doing "business" in the EU, but many of them are not doing business at all.
  - tpxl 5y ago
    > You expect US, Chinese, and Japanese citizens to respect an EU fine for a law they have no say in? No. What is the EU going to do, besides nothing? If you do business in the EU they will take your business away, and if you don't there's nothing they can do. I'm sure we all break some foreign countries laws every day and there's nothing they can do about it. I do expect fines to be handed to EU companies and I expect them to pay them though. > I would venture most of the internet is not hosted in the EU Most content isn't made in the US, and the US somehow still forced its copyright system on the world.
postalrat 5y ago
Show me a single site that relies on google analytics.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  www.airbnb.com
- paulcole 5y ago
  Somehow I'm not surprised that my choice of words was jumped on. Let's say "making use of" to keep further pedantry at bay.
mschuster91 5y ago
> Is the EU going to drag them all into court? Not the EU itself... but your competitors, who can not just complain at your respective data protection agency but also file for c&d letters, court injunction orders or penalties.
esyir 5y ago
You can sue, as said google fonts case awarded damages. I'm now wondering if I can scale this for profit.

fhars 5y ago

Some courts beg to disagree with your position: https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/website_fine_google_fonts_gdpr/ https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/website_fine_google_f...

paulcole 5y ago
Oh, wow, didn’t realize 1 website had been fined $100. The legal water is boiling!
- p_l 5y ago
  GDPR mechanisms are directed at pushing you towards compliance, not getting big payouts. So in many cases you can even avoid any fine if you cooperate on first notice.
- jeroenhd 5y ago
  The fine is only $100 if your lawyers and legal team work for free.
- chaosite 5y ago
  Yeah, that's definitely a slap on the wrist. But now that website needs to stop doing that, or it would face actual consequences.
- martin_a 5y ago
  You must have missed this part: > The ruling directs the website to stop providing IP addresses to Google and threatens the site operator with a fine of €250,000 for each violation, or up to six months in prison, for continued improper use of Google Fonts. So, if you feel brave you can challenge some courts on this.
  - paulcole 5y ago
    No, I didn't miss that part. "Next time, I'll really punish you" rarely works until there's actual consequences.
    - martin_a 5y ago
      There are actual consequences: https://www.dsgvo-portal.de/gdpr-fine-database.php https://www.dsgvo-portal.de/gdpr-fine-database.php (I think I have seen one of those databases somewhat more official before)
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  This is basically a 'we are watching you' warning, second time the fine will be different
- zuzun 5y ago
  It's per claimant. That would be a $15bn Equifax settlement.

tpxl 5y ago

> Is the EU going to drag them all into court? Why would they need to? Just hand out fines, like you do with traffic tickets, no courts required.

bliteben 5y ago
I would venture most of the internet is not hosted in the EU. You expect US, Chinese, and Japanese citizens to respect an EU fine for a law they have no say in? Sure they are doing "business" in the EU, but many of them are not doing business at all.
- tpxl 5y ago
  > You expect US, Chinese, and Japanese citizens to respect an EU fine for a law they have no say in? No. What is the EU going to do, besides nothing? If you do business in the EU they will take your business away, and if you don't there's nothing they can do. I'm sure we all break some foreign countries laws every day and there's nothing they can do about it. I do expect fines to be handed to EU companies and I expect them to pay them though. > I would venture most of the internet is not hosted in the EU Most content isn't made in the US, and the US somehow still forced its copyright system on the world.

postalrat 5y ago

Show me a single site that relies on google analytics.

missedthecue 5y ago
www.airbnb.com
paulcole 5y ago
Somehow I'm not surprised that my choice of words was jumped on. Let's say "making use of" to keep further pedantry at bay.

mschuster91 5y ago

> Is the EU going to drag them all into court? Not the EU itself... but your competitors, who can not just complain at your respective data protection agency but also file for c&d letters, court injunction orders or penalties.

esyir 5y ago

You can sue, as said google fonts case awarded damages. I'm now wondering if I can scale this for profit.