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Technical audit · 2026-05-13

erc.europa.eu

ERC — the EU Agency Funding Fundamental Scientific Research
EU-INSTITUTIONS

The European Research Council — 142 requests, 3 domains. Google Fonts (Montserrat) is the only external dependency transmitting data to the USA. Loads on every one of the four pages in the session.

Timeline of the leak

+226 ms · on load
Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com) — Montserrat. IP address to Google, USA. Repeats on every page.

Declared versus actual

+ Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com) — не заявлен

Transfer timings

+226 ms fonts.googleapis.com

Montserrat. IP address to Google, USA

Detected trackers

Indicators of GDPR non-compliance

Context

The European Research Council (ERC) is an EU agency that funds fundamental scientific research through competitive grants. Funded under the Horizon Europe program. Governed by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. HAR: 142 requests, 3 domains, 4 pages per session.

What the HAR shows

Three domains: erc.europa.eu, webtools.europa.eu, and fonts.googleapis.com. Zero trackers, zero Set-Cookie responses. Google Fonts loads on each of the four pages in the session — the Montserrat font in its full weight range (100 through 900, plus italic). The visitor’s IP address is transmitted to Google on every page transition.

Google Fonts — the one fix needed

Self-hosting Montserrat would eliminate the only data transfer to the USA. Montserrat is available under the SIL Open Font License, both on Google Fonts and on GitHub. EDA, EBA, ENISA, and ERC — all use Google Fonts. The fix is identical for all four: download the woff2 files, host them on the proprietary server, one line of CSS.

The EDA + ERC pattern

EDA uses Source Sans 3 via Google Fonts, ERC uses Montserrat. Both otherwise meet the europa.eu standard. Self-hosting fonts is a minimal technical effort with maximum compliance benefit.

Conclusion

ERC is an almost ideal result. Three domains, zero trackers, just webtools.europa.eu and a single Google Fonts dependency. Self-hosting Montserrat would move the site into the green zone.

Evidence
Original (audit)
HAR file: eu/erc-europa-eu-2026-05-13.har
SHA-256: 0a51729b52447fa7c7bf00f22726bbef170e33478c165f700cee8e4b1fa9a363
Re-check snapshot
Awaiting changes
HAR files are stored on EU infrastructure (Proton Drive). SHA-256 is published for integrity verification.
IMPORTANT: before filing a complaint with the regulator, first contact the company directly and give it 30 days to respond. Without this step the regulator may reject the complaint. Details and a template letter to the company are in the Methodology.
Ready-to-send complaint letter

Where to file: European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) — edps.europa.eu

To: European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
From: [Your name], [contact email]

1. Subject of the complaint
I am filing a complaint regarding the processing of my personal data by the website erc.europa.eu.

2. Circumstances
I visited the website erc.europa.eu and found indications that the processing of my personal data does not comply with the GDPR. The technical analysis published on gdpru.eu on 13 May 2026 (open methodology, reproducible measurements) documents the following indications:

1) Google Fonts (+226 ms) loads on every page opened, with no consent. The visitor's IP address is transmitted to Google (USA) 4 times per session, across 4 pages.

Full technical documentation is published at: https://gdpru.eu/en/audits/eu-erc-europa-eu/

3. Provisions violated
Regulation 2018/1725 Art. 5

4. Request
I request that you investigate the violations described and apply the measures provided for in Article 58(2) GDPR.

5. Attachments
The full evidence base — the HAR file, its SHA-256 checksum and the quotation from the site's privacy policy documenting the stated contradiction — is published and verifiable at the link in point 2 above.

[Date]                                    [Signature / name]