Remove Google surveillance

[aral]

By default, mdbook includes tracking code from Google. See: https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/mdBook/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=google&type=

Can we please remove this so that books generated by mdbook do not expose the people who read them to surveillance by Google/Alphabet, Inc.

The toot that brought it to my attention: https://mastodon.host/@BartG95/101222458295737848 (after I hosted a render of The DAT Protocol book on my own site. (Thereby unknowingly exposing people to tracking from my personal site.)

Related issue on The DAT Protocol book’s issue tracker: dat-ecosystem-archive/book#20

[seanlynch]

This seems like it could potentially cause people to violate GDPR, possibly even the authors themselves.

[BartG95]

It seems to be caused by the inclusion of some fonts from G👀gle (fonts.googleapis.com, fonts.gstatic.com)

[joepie91]

The analytics tag exists directly in the templates, not as a result of Google Fonts usage.

[BartG95]

Well, this is what I mean:

[BartG95]

Ah, found the bug: https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/mdBook/blob/42b87e0fbc6815ae2177a5fc4838dad11a33fe4f/src/theme/index.hbs#L20-L21

[BartG95]

Everything seems to render fine without this loaded. I suggest to either:

• Remove these lines; or
• Include the fonts directly in the repository.

[aral]

Related existing pull request that should resolve this issue if merged: #716

Please advise whether it would be preferable to serve Open Sans and Source Code Pro as first-party instead of via Google or whether the above pull request is the way to go.

[TerminusBot]

Google fonts is not available in China.
mkdocs/mkdocs#1138

Please don't use google fonts default.

[ddevault]

Hey guys, this is a serious problem. I'd apprecaite it if the maintainers took a moment to address it, rather than letting this issue continue to grow stale.

[Dylan-DPC-zz]

@ddevault sure will try and prioritise this and resolve it ASAP. Thanks

[ddevault]

Thanks @Dylan-DPC, I appreciate it.

[ehuss]

@Dylan-DPC I spent some time looking at #848 and it seems surprisingly complex. I'm also not sure how important non-latin fonts are, that PR does not include them. I think there would also be some licensing requirements for redistributing the fonts. I would also think there should be some consideration for theming. As-is, it unconditionally copies the fonts into the output, even if you don't use them.

Also of interest, rustdoc just updated its fonts in rust-lang/rust#60146. Would be curious to hear your opinion about which direction you would prefer to go. Just grabbing Open Sans locally seems like it would be the least disruptive. But I think there should be better control for changing which fonts are used. I'm willing to help, the delays caused by loading remote fonts while working locally can be a little frustrating.

[ddevault]

I think there would also be some licensing requirements for redistributing the fonts.

Google fonts use the Open Font License, which is a free (as in freedom) license that permits redistribution.

I'd suggest just using the system fonts and living with it if the user doesn't have them. It's not the end of the world.