The opinion
1
2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
3 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
4
5 PATRICK CALHOUN, et al., Case No. 20-cv-05146-LHK (SVK)
6 Plaintiffs,
ORDER ON ADMINISTRATIVE
7 v. MOTIONS TO FILE UNDER SEAL
8 GOOGLE LLC, Re: Dkt. Nos. 225, 232
9 Defendant.
10 Before the Court are administrative motions to file under seal materials submitted in
11 connection with discovery disputes in this case. Dkt. Nos. 225, 232; see also Dkt. 229.
12 Courts recognize a “general right to inspect and copy public records and documents,
13 including judicial records and documents.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. Of Honolulu, 447 F.3d
14 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Communs., Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7
15 (1978)). A request to seal court records therefore starts with a “strong presumption in favor of
16 access.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178 (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d
17 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
18
seeking to seal court records relating to motions that are “more than tangentially related to the
19
underlying cause of action” must demonstrate “compelling reasons” that support secrecy. Ctr. For
20
Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016). For records attached to
21
motions that re “not related, or only tangentially related, to the merits of the case,” the lower
22
“good cause” standard of Rule 26(c) applies. Id.; see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. A party
23
moving to seal court records must also comply with the procedures established by Civil Local
24
Rule 79-5.
25
Here, the “good cause” standard applies because the information the parties seek to seal
26
was submitted to the Court in connection with discovery-related motions, rather than a motion that
27
concerns the merits of the case. The Court may reach different conclusions regarding sealing
1 these documents under different standards or in a different context. Having considered the
2 motions to seal, supporting declarations, and the pleadings on file, and good cause appearing, the
3 Court ORDERS as follows:
4 1. ECF 225
5
Court’s Ruling
6 Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling
7 Sealed Seal
Plaintiffs’ Notice of Motion and GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
8 Motion to Compel, and redacted portions at confidential technical information
Memorandum of Points and regarding features of Google’s
9 Authorities in Support thereof (Dkt. Page i, lines 9, 12 operations and consumer data,
10 225-1). Page 2, lines 27 including the various types of
Google’s internal
11 Page 3, lines 2-3 identifiers/cookies and their
proprietary functions, the various
12 Page 6, lines 16-17, types of logs maintained by
Google, and information
13 19-20, 22, 27-28
contained in those logs, that
14 Page 7, lines 3-28 Google maintains as confidential
in the ordinary course of its
15 Page 8, 1-3, 10-24, business and is not generally
known to the public or Google’s
16 27 competitors.
17 Page 9, line 16
Page 10, lines 15,
18 17, 20-23, 26
Declaration of Jay Barnes in GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
19
Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion to redacted portions at confidential technical information
20 Compel (Dkt. 225-2). regarding features of Google’s
Page 3, lines 5-8 operations and consumer data,
21 including the various types of
Google’s internal
22
identifiers/cookies and their
23 proprietary functions, the various
types of logs maintained by
24 Google, and information
contained in those logs, that
25 Google maintains as confidential
in the ordinary course of its
26
business and is not generally
27 known to the public or Google’s
competitors.
Exhibit A to the Declaration of Jay GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
1
Barnes (Dkt. 225-5). the document in its information regarding the
2 entirety. operation of Google’s products
and systems, including the various
3 types of Google’s internal
identifiers/cookies and their
4 proprietary functions, the various
types of logs maintained by
5
Google, and information
6 contained in those logs, that
Google maintains as confidential
7 in the ordinary course of its
business and is not generally
8 known to the public or Google’s
competitors.
9
Exhibit B to the Declaration of Jay GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
10 Barnes (Dkt. 225-6). the document in its information regarding features of
entirety Google’s operations and consumer
11 data, information regarding the
various types of logs maintained
12 by Google, and information
contained in those logs, that
13
Google maintains as confidential
14 in the ordinary course of its
business and is not generally
15 known to the public or Google’s
competitors.
16
Exhibit C to the Declaration of Jay GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
17 Barnes (Dkt. 225-7). the document in its information regarding features of
entirety Google’s confidential technical
18 information regarding the various
types of logs maintained by
19 Google, and information
contained in those logs, that
20
Google maintains as confidential
21 in the ordinary course of its
business and is not generally
22 known to the public or Google’s
competitors.
23 Exhibit D to the Declaration of Jay GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
Barnes (Dkt. 225-8). the document in its information regarding features of
24
entirety Google’s operations and consumer
25 data, including the various types
of Google’s internal
26 identifiers/cookies and their
proprietary functions, that Google
27 maintains as confidential in the
is not generally known to the
1
public or Google’s competitors.
2 Exhibit E to the Declaration of Jay GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
Barnes (Dkt. 225-9). the document in its information regarding features of
3 entirety Google’s operations and consumer
data, including the various types
4 of Google’s internal
identifiers/cookies and their
5
proprietary functions, the various
6 types of logs maintained by
Google, and information
7 contained in those logs, that
Google maintains as confidential
8 in the ordinary course of its
business and is not generally
9
known to the public or Google’s
10 competitors.
Exhibit F to the Declaration of Jay GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
11 Barnes (Dkt. 225-10). the document in its information regarding features of
entirety Google’s operations and consumer
12
data, including the various types
of Google’s internal
13
identifiers/cookies and their
14 proprietary functions, the various
types of logs maintained by
15 Google, and information
contained in those logs, that
16
Google maintains as confidential
17 in the ordinary course of its
business and is not generally
18 known to the public or Google’s
competitors.
19 Exhibit G to the Declaration of Jay GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
Barnes (Dkt. 225-11). the document in its information regarding Google’s
20
entirety internal policies regarding data
21 retention that Google maintains as
confidential in the ordinary course
22 of its business and is not generally
known to the public or Google’s
23 competitors.
Proposed Order on Motion to GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
24
Compel (Dkt. 225-12). redacted portions at confidential technical information
25 Page 1, lines 7, 10 regarding features of Google’s
operations and consumer data,
26 including the various types of logs
maintained by Google and
27 including the various types of
identifiers/cookies that Google
1
maintains as confidential in the
2 ordinary course of its business and
is not generally known to the
3 public or Google’s competitors.
4 2. ECF 232
5
Court’s Ruling
6 Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling
Document Sought to be Sealed on Motion to
7 Seal
Opposition To Plaintiffs’ Motion To GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
8 Compel Production of Plaintiffs’ redacted portions at confidential technical information
Information; regarding features of Google’s
9 operations and consumer data,
Page 1, lines 15-16 including the various types of
10 Page 5, lines 19-24 Google’s internal
11 identifiers/cookies and their
Page 6, lines 8, 13, proprietary functions, the various
12 21, 23-28 types of logs maintained by
Google, and information contained
13 Page 7, lines 1-2, 4- in those logs, that Google
10, 12-27 maintains as confidential in the
14
ordinary course of its business and
15 Page 8, lines 2-13 is not generally known to the
public or Google’s competitors.
16 Page 9, lines 14-16
Ex. 1, June 21, 2021 Google Letter to GRANTED as to Contains confidential technical
17 Plaintiffs redacted portions at information regarding highly
Exhibit A, pages 3- sensitive features of Google’s
18
13 operations and consumer data,
19 including the Google’s internal
identifiers/cookies, that Google
20 maintains as confidential in the
ordinary course of its business and
21 is not generally known to the
public or Google’s competitors.
22
Also contains Plaintiffs’
23 Personally Identifiable
Information.
24
Ex. 3, the April 9, 2021 deposition GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect highly
25 transcript of David Monsees redacted portions at confidential and proprietary
9:11, 36:1-3, 36:8- information regarding Google’s
26
37:5, 37:9-38:1, internal systems and operations,
27 39:24-40:6, 42:25- including details related to the
43:2, 43:8-12, 43:17- various types of identifiers /
46:2-19, 46:21-47:4, their proprietary functions, the
1
47:16-25, 49:1-3, various types of data logs
2 49:12-50:2, 52:13- maintained by Google, including
19, 54:16-56:2, 57:2- the information contained in those
3 59:9, 59:13-14, logs, and the role and
59:24-61:10, 62:4- responsibilities of its employee as
4 19, 62:23-24, 63:17- they relate to internal, proprietary
64:13, 65:23-67:1, Google services, that Google
5
67:5, 67:13-68:6, maintains as confidential in the
6 69:2-11, 69:14-18, ordinary course of its business and
69:20-22, 70:1-5, is not generally known to the
7 70:18-71:3, 71:23- public or Google’s competitors.
78:5, 78:7-18, 78:23-
8 79:13, 79:16-17,
79:19-80:11, 80:17-
9
24, 81:1-3, 81:5-17,
10 81:22-82:3, 83:13-
20, 84:1-2, 84:5-6,
11 84:8-85:12, 86:14-
87:21, 88:15-22,
12 89:4-25, 90:2-22,
90:25-91:2, 92:10-
13
93:14, 93:18-22,
14 93:24-97:8, 97:18-
24, 98:3-4, 98:7-
15 100:21, 100:25-
101:4, 101:6-102:20,
16 103:3-12, 103:16-
107:25, 108:5-9,
17
108:13-110:13,
18 110:16-25, 111:2-14,
111:18-22, 111:24-
19 113:7, 113:19-20,
113:23-114:5, 114:7-
20
14, 121:7-122:5,
21 122:8-17, 128:7-8,
128:16-19, 142:24-
22 143:9, 143:15-
144:25, 149:4-24,
23 183:17-190:2, 191:4-
200:18, 200:23-
24
202:1, 202:6-8,
25 202:10-203:25,
204:8-206:14,
26 206:18-207:14,
207:19-20, 207:24-
27 208:6, 209:16-
213:24- 216:2,
| 228:23-234:5,
> 235:20-236:16,
236:19-239:5,
3 241:14-243:19,
252:12-17, 254:9-15,
4 254:20-255:22,
258:10-259:19,
261:25-262:15,
6 263:8-24, 264:11-
265:25, 266:3-13,
7 266:17-20, 267:17-
268:14, 269:3-
8 270:14, 271:6-
9 274:21, 274:24-
277:10, 277:13-
10 283:12, 283:17-25,
285:2-286:7, 286:13-
11 289:6, 290:2-292:4,
292:7-24, 293:1-
297:14, 297:19-
298:2, 298:6,
298:17-299:1, 299:7-
44 14, 299:20-22,
300:19-24, 301:1-
308:7, 308:16-310:3,
6 310:6-25, 311:2-
315:7, 315:15-25,
47 317:1-22, 319:21-
&
320:20, 321:6-
12 322:13, 325:25-
328:19, 329:2-
19 333:19, 334:8-337:5,
337:13-339:15,
20 340:9-341:13, 342:8-
12, 342:15-25,
343:2-12, 343:16-
22 344:17;
Index, pp. 7, 8, 20,
23 22, 25, 28, 29, 33, 35,
34 39, 42, 47, 65
SO ORDERED.
25
Dated: August 11, 2021
26 S
27
SUSAN VAN KEULEN
28 United States Magistrate Judge