Brown v. Google LLC ( 2021 )

1 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 4 5 CHASOM BROWN, et al., Case No. 20-cv-03664-LHK (SVK) 6 Plaintiffs, ORDER ON MOTIONS TO SEAL 7 v. Re: Dkt. Nos. 255, 257, 260, 280 8 GOOGLE LLC, 9 Defendant. 10 Before the Court are several administrative motions to file under seal materials associated 11 with discovery disputes in this case. Dkt. Nos. 255, 257, 260, 280. 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 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. Dkt. 255 5 Court’s Ruling 6 Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Sealed Seal 7 June 2, 2021 Hearing Transcript GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect redacted portions at: confidential technical information 8 regarding features of Google’s 9 13:2, 13:8, 13:11, internal systems and operations, 32:18-20, 34:10, including Google’s internal policies, 10 34:23-25, 36:23-37:3, internal data structures, internal 37:8-11, 37:15-16, identifiers/cookies and their 11 37:19-20, 37:22-24, proprietary functions, that Google 38:3-5, 46:3-11, maintains as confidential in the 12 46:14-15, 46:17-23, ordinary course of its business and is 13 46:25, 47:1, 70:20, not generally known to the public or 70:24, 71:2. Google’s competitors. 14 15 2. Dkt. 257 16 Court’s Ruling 17 Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Sealed Seal 18 Joint Submission in Response to Dkt. GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect 242, 242-1 Re Custodians and Search redacted portions at information regarding features of 19 Terms pages 3, 4 Google’s internal systems and 20 operations, including details related to internal cookies, identifiers, and 21 projects and their proprietary functions, as well as Google’s 22 internal communications and practices with regard to Incognito, 23 that Google maintains as 24 confidential in the ordinary course of its business and is not generally 25 known to the public or Google’s competitors. 26 27 3. Dkt. 260 2 Court’s Ruling Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling 3 Sealed Seal August 12, 2021 Hearing Transcript | GRANTED asto |Narrowly tailored to protect 4 redacted portions at: confidential technical information 5 regarding features of Google’s 12:22-24; 14:3; 53:23 }internal systems and operations, 6 including Google’s internal data structures, internal identifiers and 7 heir proprietary functions, as well as plaintiff health information that 8 Google maintains as confidential in 9 he ordinary course of its business and is not generally known to the 10 public or Google’s competitors. 11 4. Dkt. 280 Court’s Ruling Document Sought to be on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Sealed Seal v 14 Joint Submission in Response to Dkt.| GRANTED as to |Narrowly tailored to protect 242 re Status of Discovery Disputes | redacted portions at: jconfidential information regarding 15 features of Google’s internal systems A 16 pages 27, 37, 41, 43, land operations, including details 44 related to cookies, internal 3 17 identifiers, and financial projections as well as Google’s internal Z 18 ommunications and practices with regard to Incognito, X-Client-Data 19 Header and their proprietary functions, that Google maintains as 20 . . onfidential in the ordinary course of 21 its business and is not generally known to the public or Google’s 22 ompetitors. 23 SO ORDERED. 24 Dated: September 30, 2021 25 26 Stessen yarYt— SUSAN VAN KEULEN 27 United States Magistrate Judge 28