Calhoun v. Google LLC

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA PATRICK CALHOUN, et al., Case No. 20-cv-05146-YGR (SVK) 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING 9 v. ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS FOR LEAVE TO FILE UNDER SEAL 10 GOOGLE LLC, Re: Dkt. Nos. 786, 793, 803, 809, 812 11 Defendant.

12 Before the Court are administrative motions to file under seal materials associated with discovery disputes in this case. Dkt. 786, 793, 803, 809, 812; see also Dkt. 820, 825.

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. 786 Document Sought to Court’s Ruling on Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling be Sealed Motion to Seal 10 Google LLC’s GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed Administrative Motion portions at: contains Google’s confidential and 11 Updating the Court on its proprietary information regarding sensitive Preservation Efforts and Pages 1:16-25, 2:2-18, features of Google’s internal systems and 12 Seeking Relief from the 3:2-6, 3:9-19, 4:4-13, operations, including internal projects, data July 30 Deadline 4:15, 4:19-27, 5:4-13, signals, and logs, and their proprietary 13 Imposed by the July 15, 5:17-18, 5:27 functionalities, that Google maintains as 2022 Preservation Order 14 (Dkt 766) confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the 15 public or Google’s competitors. Such confidential and proprietary information 16 reveals Google’s internal strategies, system designs, and business practices for operating and maintaining many of its services. Public 18 disclosure of such confidential and proprietary information could affect Google’s 19 competitive standing as competitors may alter their systems and practices relating to 20 competing products. It may also place Google at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, as third parties may seek to use the 22 information to compromise Google’s internal practices relating to competing products.

23 Proposed Order Granting GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed Google’s Administrative portions at: contains Google’s confidential and 24 Motion Seeking Relief proprietary information regarding sensitive 25 f Dro eam d lineth Ie m poJ su edly b y t3 h0 e Page 2:11-12 f oe pa et ru ar te is o no s,f G ino co lug dle in’s g in it ne tr en ra nl a l sys lote gm s,s ta hn ad t July 15, 2022 26 Google maintains as confidential in the Preservation Order ordinary course of its business and is not (DKT. 766) 27 generally known to the public or Google’s proprietary information reveals Google’s internal strategies, system designs, and 2 business practices for operating and maintaining many of its services. Public 3 disclosure of such confidential and proprietary information could affect Google’s 4 competitive standing as competitors may alter their systems and practices relating to competing products. It may also place Google 6 at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, as third parties may seek to use the 7 information to compromise Google’s internal practices relating to competing products.

8 Declaration of Benjamin GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed Kornacki portions at: contains Google’s confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive 10 Pages 1:23, 1:27-28, features of Google’s internal systems and 2:1-6, 2:8, 2:10-24, operations, including internal projects, data 11 3:6-12, 3:15, 3:17 signals, and logs, and their proprietary functionalities, that Google maintains as 12 confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Such 14 confidential and proprietary information reveals Google’s internal strategies, system 15 designs, and business practices for operating and maintaining many of its services. Public disclosure of such confidential and 17 proprietary information could affect Google’s competitive standing as competitors may alter 18 their systems and practices relating to competing products. It may also place Google 19 at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, as third parties may seek to use the information to compromise Google’s internal 21 practices relating to competing products.

22 2. Dkt. 793 Document Sought to Court’s Ruling on Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling 24 be Sealed Motion to Seal Google LLC’s GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed 25 Supplement to portions at: contains Google’s confidential and Administrative Motion proprietary information regarding sensitive 26 Updating the Court on its Pages 1:21, 1:23, features of Google’s internal systems and 27 Preservation Efforts and 1:28, 2:11-12, 3:2- operations, including various types of Seeking Relief from the 24,4:2-3. Google’s internal logs and data signals, that 2022 Preservation Order ordinary course of its business and is not (Dkt 766) generally known to the public or Google’s 2 competitors. Such confidential and proprietary information reveals Google’s 3 internal strategies, system designs, and business practices for operating and 4 maintaining many of its services. Public disclosure of such confidential and proprietary information could affect Google’s 6 competitive standing as competitors may alter their systems and practices relating to 7 competing products. It may also place Google at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, 8 as third parties may seek to use the information to compromise Google’s internal practices relating to competing products.

3. Dkt. 803; see also Dkt. 820 12 Document Sought to Court’s Ruling on Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling be Sealed Motion to Seal 13 Plaintiffs’ Response to GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed Google’s portions at: contains Google’s confidential and Administrative proprietary information regarding sensitive 15 Motion for Relief Pages 2:19, 2:22, features of Google’s internal systems and (Dkt. No. 787) from 2:26, 3:9, 3:22-24, operations, including various types of 16 the Court’s Modified 4:9-10, 4:15, 4:20-21, Google’s internal projects, data signals, and Preservation Plan 4:23, 4:26-27, 5:5-6, logs, and their proprietary functionalities, that 17 (Dkt. No. 766) 5:9-10, 5:12-15, 5:23, Google maintains as confidential in the 6:3, 6:5, 6:7, 6:10-11, ordinary course of its business and is not 6:13, 6:20-28 generally known to the public or Google’s 19 competitors. Such confidential and proprietary information reveals Google’s 20 internal strategies, system designs, and business practices for operating and 21 maintaining many of its services. Public disclosure of such confidential and proprietary information could affect Google’s 23 competitive standing as competitors may alter their systems and practices relating to 24 competing products. It may also place Google at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, 25 as third parties may seek to use the information to compromise Google’s internal practices relating to competing products.

4. Dkt. 809; see also Dkt. 825 2 Document Sought to Court’s Ruling on Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling be Sealed Motion to Seal Plaintiffs’ GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed Administrative portions at: contains Google’s confidential and Motion to Clarify the proprietary information regarding sensitive Court’s Modified Pages 3:8, 3:12, 3:17- features of Google’s internal systems and Preservation Plan 26, 4:4-6 operations, including various types of Dated July 15, 2022 Google’s internal projects, data signals and (Dkt. No. 766) their proprietary functionalities, that Google Regarding Definition maintains as confidential in the ordinary of “Express” Sync course of its business and is not generally State Fields known to the public or Google’s competitors.

9 Such confidential and proprietary information reveals Google’s internal strategies, system designs, and business practices for and 11 maintaining many of its services. Public disclosure of such confidential and 12 proprietary information could affect Google’s competitive standing as competitors may alter 13 their systems and practices relating to competing products. It may also place Google at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, 15 as third parties may seek to use the information to compromise Google’s internal 16 practices relating to competing products. [Proposed] Order GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed 17 Clarifying the Court’s portions at: contains Google’s confidential and Modified Preservation proprietary information regarding sensitive Plan Dated July 15, Page 1:22-28 features of Google’s internal systems and 19 2022 [Dkt. 766] operations, including various types of Google’s internal projects, data signals and 20 their proprietary functionalities, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary 21 course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

Such confidential and proprietary information 23 reveals Google’s internal strategies, system designs, and business practices for operating 24 and maintaining many of its services. Public disclosure of such confidential and proprietary information could affect Google’s competitive standing as competitors may alter their systems and practices relating to 27 competing products. It may also place Google at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, information to compromise Google’s internal practices relating to competing products.

5. Dkt. 812 Document Sought Court’s Ruling on Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling 4 to be Sealed Motion to Seal Google’s Opposition GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed 5 portions at: contains Google’s confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive Page 2 Lines 21, 26, 27 features of Google’s internal systems and 7 Page 3 Lines 11, 14 operations, including logs, and their proprietary functionalities, that Google 8 maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

Such confidential and proprietary information reveals Google’s internal 11 strategies, system designs, and business practices for operating and maintaining many 12 of its services. Public disclosure of such confidential and proprietary information could affect Google’s competitive standing as 14 competitors may alter their systems and practices relating to competing products. It 15 may also place Google at an increased risk of cybersecurity threats, as third parties may 16 seek to use the information to compromise Google’s internal practices relating to competing products.

18 Exhibit A GRANTED as to the The information requested to be sealed portions at: contains Google’s confidential and 19 proprietary information regarding sensitive Pages 6, 7 features of Google’s internal systems and 20 operations, including logs, and their proprietary functionalities, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary 22 course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors.

23 Such confidential and proprietary information reveals Google’s internal 24 strategies, system designs, and business practices for operating and maintaining many of its services. Public disclosure of such 26 confidential and proprietary information could affect Google’s competitive standing as 27 competitors may alter their systems and I cybersecurity threats, as third parties may seek to use the information to compromise 2 Google’s internal practices relating to competing products.

3 SO ORDERED.

Dated: August 12, 2022 ° Sessoen yerKl 7 SUSAN VAN KEULEN United States Magistrate Judge

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