Is Font Awesome CDN GDPR compliant?

What does Font Awesome CDN do?

Icon fonts from a CDN. Like Google Fonts, every visit transmits the IP address to a third party before consent. Self-host the icon set, or subset only the icons you use.

Does Font Awesome CDN need consent?

Yes. Font Awesome CDN is Web fonts, which is never strictly necessary for a website to function. Under ePrivacy Article 5(3), and its national transpositions, storing or reading anything on the device for that purpose requires consent first, and that consent has to be as easy to refuse as it is to give.

ePrivacy Art. 5(3) · TDDDG § 25 (DE) · TKG 2021 § 165(3) (AT) · GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)

Does Font Awesome CDN send data outside the EEA?

Yes. Font Awesome CDN processes data outside the European Economic Area, so you need a transfer mechanism under Chapter V and you have to say so in your privacy policy. In practice this means standard contractual clauses, or a provider certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

LG München I, 3 O 17493/20 · GDPR Art. 6(1)

How do we detect Font Awesome CDN?

We load your page in a real browser as a first-time visitor who clicks nothing, then look at what it contacted. Font Awesome CDN is recognised by requests to fontawesome.com and fontawesome.net, and we report whether it merely loaded or actually sent data, and whether it set a cookie before any choice was made.