Brown et al v. Google LLC et al, No. 5:2020cv03664 - Document 330 (N.D. Cal. 2021)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART 308 309 310 321 ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS TO FILE UNDER SEAL. Signed by Judge Susan van Keulen on 11/12/2021. (svklc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/12/2021)
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Brown et al v. Google LLC et al Doc. 330 Case 5:20-cv-03664-LHK Document 330 Filed 11/12/21 Page 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 CHASOM BROWN, et al., Plaintiffs, 8 9 10 v. GOOGLE LLC, United States District Court Northern District of California 13 14 ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS TO FILE UNDER SEAL Re: Dkt. Nos. 308, 309, 310, 321 Defendant. 11 12 Case No. 20-cv-03664-LHK (SVK) 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. Courts recognize a “general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, 15 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 17 (1978)). A request to seal court records therefore starts with a “strong presumption in favor of 18 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 20 court records depends on the purpose for which the records are filed with the court. A party 21 seeking to seal court records relating to motions that are “more than tangentially related to the 22 underlying cause of action” must demonstrate “compelling reasons” that support secrecy. Ctr. For 23 24 25 26 27 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. 28 Dockets.Justia.com Case 5:20-cv-03664-LHK Document 330 Filed 11/12/21 Page 2 of 7 1 Here, the “good cause” standard applies because the information the parties seek to seal 2 was submitted to the Court in connection with discovery-related motions, rather than a motion that 3 concerns the merits of the case. The Court may reach different conclusions regarding sealing 4 these documents under different standards or in a different context. Having considered the 5 motions to seal, supporting declarations, and the pleadings on file, and good cause appearing, the 6 Court ORDERS as follows: 7 1. Dkt. 308 8 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 Document Sought to be Sealed October 20, 2021 Special Master’s Report 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2. Court’s Ruling on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Seal GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect redacted portions at: confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive Page 5, line 10; features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including Exhibit A, Page 1, details about internal identifiers, Column “Special projects, and data structures, that Master’s Order”, lines Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business 11-17; 19 and is not generally known to the Exhibit A, Page 3, public or Google’s competitors. Column “Special Master’s Order”, lines 15-16, 20, 38-41, 43 Dkt. 309 20 21 22 23 24 Document Sought to be Sealed Plaintiffs’ Objections to the Special Master’s Report and Orders on Referred Discovery Disputes (“Plaintiffs’ Objections”) Court’s Ruling on Motion to Seal GRANTED as to redacted portions on Pages 1-5. 25 26 27 28 2 Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Narrowly tailored to protect confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to project names, cookies, internal identifiers, and financial information as well as Google’s internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito Case 5:20-cv-03664-LHK Document 330 Filed 11/12/21 Page 3 of 7 and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Plaintiffs’ [Proposed] Order Regarding GRANTED as to Plaintiffs’ Objections to the Special redacted portions at Master’s Report and Orders on Page 2, lines 22-27; Referred Discovery Disputes Page 3, lines 12, 9, 12-13. 8 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 Exhibit A to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GOOG-CABR-03662096 16 GRANTED as to the entire document. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Exhibit B to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GOOG-BRWN-00184875 GRANTED as to the entire document. 27 28 3 Narrowly tailored to protect confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to project names, cookies, internal identifiers, and financial information as well as Google’s internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Contains confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to project names, cookies, internal identifiers, and financial information as well as Google’s internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Contains confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to internal projects as well as Google’s internal communications and Case 5:20-cv-03664-LHK Document 330 Filed 11/12/21 Page 4 of 7 practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Exhibit C to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GOOG-BRWN-00433503 7 GRANTED as to the entire document. Contains confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to cookies, internal identifiers, and financial information as well as Google’s internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. GRANTED as to the entire document. Contains confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to cookies, internal metrics, and financial information as well as Google’s internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. GRANTED as to the entire document. Contains confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to project names, cookies, and internal identifiers as well as Google’s internal communications and 8 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 Exhibit D to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GOOG-BRWN-00204684 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Exhibit E to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GOOG-BRWN-00168623.C 26 27 28 4 Case 5:20-cv-03664-LHK Document 330 Filed 11/12/21 Page 5 of 7 practices with regard to Incognito and its proprietary functions, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3. Dkt. 310 Document Sought to be Sealed Google’s Responses and Objections to Special Master’s Report and Orders on Referred Discovery Issues United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Exhibit 1 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Exhibit 2 Court’s Ruling on Motion to Seal GRANTED as to redacted portions at: Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Narrowly tailored to protect confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including 2:19-21; 3:2-7; 3:9; 3:13; 3:15; 4:8; 4:18- details related to various types of Google’s internal identifiers, 21; 5:3-4 projects, data logs, and data structures related to its products and services, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Contains confidential and GRANTED as proprietary information regarding to the entire sensitive features of Google’s document internal systems and operations, including details related to various types of Google’s internal identifiers, projects, data logs, and data structures related to its products and services, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Contains confidential and GRANTED as proprietary information regarding to the entire sensitive features of Google’s document internal systems and operations, including details related to Google’s internal logs data and data usage policies, that Google maintains as 5 Case 5:20-cv-03664-LHK Document 330 Filed 11/12/21 Page 6 of 7 1 2 3 Exhibit 3 4 GRANTED as to the entire document 5 6 7 8 9 10 Exhibit 4 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 GRANTED as to the entire document 12 13 14 15 16 17 4. Dkt. 321 18 19 20 21 22 confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Contains confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including details related to Google’s internal identifiers and data usage policies, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Contains confidential and proprietary information regarding sensitive features of Google’s 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 services, that Google maintains as confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. Document Sought to be Sealed Plaintiffs’ Demonstratives Court’s Ruling on Motion to Seal DENIED without prejudice 23 24 25 26 27 28 6 Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Plaintiffs seek to seal information on the grounds that Google has designated the information under the protective order in this case, but Google has not filed a declaration demonstrating that the material is sealable, as required under Civil Local Rule 79-5. Google must submit the required declaration no later than November 19, 2021. Failure to submit the required declaration by this extended deadline may result in denial of the motion to seal. Case 5:20-cv-03664-LHK Document 330 Filed 11/12/21 Page 7 of 7 1 2 SO ORDERED. Dated: November 12, 2021 3 4 SUSAN VAN KEULEN United States Magistrate Judge 5 6 7 8 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 7
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