Brown v. Google LLC

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA CHASOM BROWN, et al., Case No. 20-cv-03664-LHK (SVK) 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART 9 v. ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS TO FILE UNDER SEAL 10 GOOGLE LLC, Re: Dkt. Nos. 308, 309, 310, 321 11 Defendant.

12 Before the Court are several administrative motions to file under seal materials associated with discovery disputes in this case. Dkt. 308, 309, 310, 321; see also Dkt. 315.

14 Courts recognize a “general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. Of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 16 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Communs., Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7 (1978)). A request to seal court records therefore starts with a “strong presumption in favor of access.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178 (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 19 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). The standard for overcoming the presumption of public access to court records depends on the purpose for which the records are filed with the court. A party seeking to seal court records relating to motions that are “more than tangentially related to the underlying cause of action” must demonstrate “compelling reasons” that support secrecy. Ctr. For Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016). For records attached to motions that re “not related, or only tangentially related, to the merits of the case,” the lower “good cause” standard of Rule 26(c) applies. Id.; see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. A party moving to seal court records must also comply with the procedures established by Civil Local Rule 79-5.

1 Here, the “good cause” standard applies because the information the parties seek to seal was submitted to the Court in connection with discovery-related motions, rather than a motion that concerns the merits of the case. The Court may reach different conclusions regarding sealing these documents under different standards or in a different context. Having considered the motions to seal, supporting declarations, and the pleadings on file, and good cause appearing, the Court ORDERS as follows: 7 1. Dkt. 308 Court’s Ruling 9 Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Sealed Seal 10 October 20, 2021 Special Master’s GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect Report redacted portions at: confidential and proprietary 11 information regarding sensitive Page 5, line 10; features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including 13 Exhibit A, Page 1, details about internal identifiers, Column “Special projects, and data structures, that 14 Master’s Order”, lines Google maintains as confidential in 11-17; 19 the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the 16 Exhibit A, Page 3, public or Google’s competitors.

Column “Special 17 Master’s Order”, lines 15-16, 20, 38-41, 43 2. Dkt. 309 Court’s Ruling 21 Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling 22 Sealed Seal Plaintiffs’ Objections to the Special GRANTED as Narrowly tailored to protect 23 Master’s Report and Orders on to redacted confidential and proprietary Referred Discovery Disputes portions on information regarding 24 (“Plaintiffs’ Objections”) Pages 1-5. sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to project 26 names, cookies, internal identifiers, and financial 27 information as well as Google’s and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential 2 in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally 3 known to the public or Google’s competitors.

Plaintiffs’ [Proposed] Order Regarding GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect Plaintiffs’ Objections to the Special redacted portions at confidential and proprietary 6 Master’s Report and Orders on Page 2, lines 22-27; information regarding Referred Discovery Disputes Page 3, lines 1- sensitive features of Google’s 7 2, 9, 12-13. internal systems and operations, including details related to project 8 names, cookies, internal identifiers, and financial information as well as Google’s 10 internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito 11 and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential 12 in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s 14 competitors.

Exhibit A to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as Contains confidential and 15 GOOG-CABR-03662096 to the entire proprietary information regarding document. sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, 17 including details related to project names, cookies, internal 18 identifiers, and financial information as well as Google’s 19 internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that 21 Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its 22 business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s 23 competitors.

Exhibit B to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as Contains confidential and 25 GOOG-BRWN-00184875 to the entire proprietary information regarding document. sensitive features of Google’s 26 internal systems and operations, including details related to internal 27 projects as well as Google’s practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that 2 Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its 3 business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s 4 competitors.

Exhibit C to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as Contains confidential and 6 GOOG-BRWN-00433503 to the entire proprietary information regarding document. sensitive features of Google’s 7 internal systems and operations, including details related to 8 cookies, internal identifiers, and financial information as well as Google’s internal communications 10 and practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary 11 functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary 12 course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

Exhibit D to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as Contains confidential and 15 GOOG-BRWN-00204684 to the entire proprietary information regarding document. sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, 17 including details related to cookies, internal metrics, and 18 financial information as well as Google’s internal communications 19 and practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains 21 as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not 22 generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

24 Exhibit E to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as Contains confidential and GOOG-BRWN-00168623.C to the entire proprietary information regarding 25 document. sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, 26 including details related to project names, cookies, and internal 27 identifiers as well as Google’s practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that 2 Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its 3 business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s 4 competitors.

3. Dkt. 310 7 Court’s Ruling Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling 8 Sealed Seal Google’s Responses and Objections G tR oA reN dT acE tD ed a s N coa nr fr io dw enly ti ata l i alo nr de d p rt oo p p rir eo tt ae rc yt 10 to Special Master’s Report and portions at: information regarding sensitive Orders on Referred Discovery Issues features of Google’s internal 11 2:19-21; 3:2-7; 3:9; systems and operations, including 3:13; 3:15; 4:8; 4:18- details related to various types of 21; 5:3-4 Google’s internal identifiers, projects, data logs, and data structures related to its products and 14 services, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course 15 of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

17 GRANTED as Contains confidential and Exhibit 1 to the entire proprietary information regarding 18 document sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, 19 including details related to various types of Google’s internal identifiers, projects, data logs, and 21 data structures related to its products and services, that Google 22 maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and 23 is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

GRANTED as Contains confidential and 25 Exhibit 2 to the entire proprietary information regarding document sensitive features of Google’s 26 internal systems and operations, including details related to Google’s 27 internal logs data and data usage confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally 2 known to the public or Google’s competitors.

3 GRANTED as Contains confidential and Exhibit 3 to the entire proprietary information regarding 4 document sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to Google’s 6 internal identifiers and data usage policies, that Google maintains as 7 confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally 8 known to the public or Google’s competitors.

GRANTED as Contains confidential and 10 Exhibit 4 to the entire proprietary information regarding document sensitive features of Google’s 11 internal systems and operations, including details related to various types of Google’s internal identifiers, data flow, and data structures related to its products and 14 services, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course 15 of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

4. Dkt. 321 Court’s Ruling 19 Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Sealed Seal DENIED Plaintiffs’ Demonstratives Plaintiffs seek to seal information on 21 without the grounds that Google has prejudice 22 designated the information under the protective order in this case, but 23 Google has not filed a declaration demonstrating that the material is 24 sealable, as required under Civil Local Rule 79-5. Google must submit the required declaration no 26 later than November 19, 2021.

Failure to submit the required 27 declaration by this extended deadline 1 SO ORDERED.

2 Dated: November 12, 2021 Sesion yah SUSAN VAN KEULEN 5 United States Magistrate Judge

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