The opinion
1
2
3
4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
6
7 PATRICK CALHOUN, et al., Case No. 20-cv-05146-LHK (SVK)
8 Plaintiffs,
ORDER ON ADMINISTRATIVE
9 v. MOTIONS TO FILE UNDER SEAL
SEAL
10 GOOGLE LLC,
Re: Dkt. Nos. 359, 360, 361
11 Defendant.
12 Before the Court are several administrative motions to file under seal materials associated
13 with discovery disputes in this case. Dkt. 359, 360, 361; see also Dkt. 365.
14 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
court records depends on the purpose for which the records are filed with the court. A party
20
seeking to seal court records relating to motions that are “more than tangentially related to the
21
underlying cause of action” must demonstrate “compelling reasons” that support secrecy. Ctr. For
22
Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016). For records attached to
23
motions that re “not related, or only tangentially related, to the merits of the case,” the lower
24
“good cause” standard of Rule 26(c) applies. Id.; see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. A party
25
moving to seal court records must also comply with the procedures established by Civil Local
26
Rule 79-5.
27
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. 359
8
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
12
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
15
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
18
2. Dkt. 360
19
20 Court’s Ruling
Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling
21 Sealed Seal
Plaintiffs’ Objections to (and GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
22
Motion to Modify) the Special redacted portions at: confidential and proprietary
23 Master’s Sealed information regarding Google’s
Recommendations and Order Page 2, Lines 8-11, internal systems and operations,
24 dated October 20, 2021 14-15, 27-28 including details related to the
Page 3, Lines 8, 11, various types of identifiers,
25 24, 26-27 cookies, and projects Google uses
Page 4, Lines 1-5, 8- internally and their proprietary
26
9, 17, 20, 25-27 functions.
27 Page 5, Lines 11, 14
Ex. A to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
1
the Declaration of Zubair redacted portions at: confidential and proprietary
2 Shafiq dated October 27, 2021 information regarding Google’s
Page 3, Lines 8-9, 11- internal systems and operations,
3 13, 15-24, 27-28; including details related to the
Page 4, Lines 1-23; various types of identifiers,
4 Page 5, Lines 1-21; cookies, and projects Google uses
5 Page 6, Lines 1-27; internally and their proprietary
Page 7, Lines 1-24, functions.
6 26-27;
Page 8, Lines 2-22;
7
Page 9, Lines 1-10;
8 Page 10, Lines 1-28;
Page 11, Lines 1-6, 9-
9 24;
Page 12, Lines 1-28;
10
Page 13, Lines 1-26;
11 Page 14, Lines 1-28
Ex. B to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
12
the Declaration of David redacted portions at: confidential and proprietary
13 Straite dated October 27, 2021 information regarding Google’s
Page 1, Lines 1-5, 16- internal systems and operations,
14 17, 26; including details related to the
Page 2, Lines 16, 20- various types of identifiers,
15 21, 24, 27-28; cookies, and projects Google uses
16 Page 3, Lines 1, 7, internally and their proprietary
11-23, 25; functions.
17 Page 4, Lines 3-4, 23,
26-28;
18
Page 5, Lines 1-6, 9,
19 14, 16, 17;
Page 6, Lines 2-4, 7-
20 15, 17, 19-21,
24;
21
Page 7, Lines 2, 6, 9-
22 10;
Page 8, Lines 2-3, 6-
23 17, 22-23, 25;
Page 9, Lines 1, 7, 9,
24
13-14, 23,
25 27-28;
Page 10, Lines 2-3,
26 25;
Page 11, Line 18
27
Ex. C to Plaintiffs’ Objections, GRANTED as to Contains confidential and
1
GOOG-CALH-00027768 to Entire Document proprietary information regarding
2 GOOG-CALH-00027771 Google’s internal systems and
operations, including details
3 related to the various types of
identifiers, cookies, and projects
4 Google uses internally and their
proprietary functions.
5
Proposed Order GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
6 redacted portions at: confidential and proprietary
information regarding Google’s
7 Page 4, Lines 9-15, internal systems and operations,
17, 24, 28; including details related to the
8 Page 5, Lines 3, 5, 15; various types of identifiers,
Page 6, Lines 13-16, cookies, and projects Google uses
9
19-23, 25; internally and their proprietary
10 Page 7, Lines 2, 5. functions.
11 3. Dkt. 361
12
Court’s Ruling
13 Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling
Sealed Seal
14 Google’s Responses and GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect
Objections to Special Master’s redacted portions at: confidential and proprietary
15 Report and Orders on Referred information regarding sensitive
Discovery Issues features of Google’s internal
16 1:6; 1:9; 3:2-3; 3:5;
systems and operations, including
17 3:8-10; 3:13; 3:17-19; details related to various types of
Google’s internal identifiers,
18 4:4-6; 4:10; 4:20-21; projects, data logs, and data
structures related to its products
19 5:7-11; 5:13; 5:20-21 and services, 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 Exhibit 1 GRANTED as Contains confidential and
to the entire proprietary information regarding
23 document sensitive features of Google’s
internal systems and operations,
24
including details related to various
25 types of Google’s internal
identifiers, projects, data logs, and
26 data structures related to its
products and services, that Google
27 maintains as confidential in the
is not generally known to the
2 Exhibit 2 GRANTED as Contains confidential and
to the entire proprietary information regarding
3 document sensitive features of Google’s
4 internal systems and operations,
including details related to
5 Google’s internal logs data and
data usage policies, that Google
6 maintains as confidential in the
7 ordinary course of its business and
is not generally known to the
8 public or Google’s competitors.
Exhibit 3 GRANTED as Contains confidential and
9 to the entire proprietary information regarding
document sensitive features of Google’s
10 internal systems and operations,
ll including details related to
Google’s internal identifiers and
3s 12 data usage policies, that Google
maintains as confidential in the
13 ordinary course of its business and
4 is not generally known to the
public or Google’s competitors.
B15 Exhibit 4 GRANTED as Contains confidential and
to the entire proprietary information regarding
16 document sensitive features of Google’s
internal systems and operations,
17 including details related to various
types of Google’s internal logs and
Z 18 their usage policies related to its
19 products and services, that Google
maintains as confidential in the
20 ordinary course of its business and
is not generally known to the
21 public or Google’s competitors.
22 SO ORDERED.
23 Dated: November 12, 2021
24
25 Suomn
6 SUSAN VAN KEULEN
United States Magistrate Judge
27
28