In re Google RTB Consumer Privacy Litigation

Background

The parties submitted a joint letter about a discovery dispute involving Google’s clawback of four documents based on claims of attorney-client privilege and work-product protection. Plaintiffs filed exhibits provisionally under seal and submitted an administrative motion addressing whether materials Google had designated “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” should remain sealed. Google filed a response and declaration.

Legal standard

Federal courts generally presume that the public may access judicial records. For materials connected to a discovery dispute that is only tangentially related to the merits, however, the court applies the “good cause” standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). The court determined that this discovery dispute did not address the merits of the parties’ claims or defenses, so the good-cause standard applied.

Ruling

Google asked to seal portions of Exhibit A and Exhibits B through D in their entirety. The portions of Exhibit A concerned names and email addresses of current and former Google employees and document custodians. Exhibits B through D contained information about Google’s internal business practices, technical details related to product design, confidential code names, internal meeting notes, and names of Google employees. Google argued that disclosure could lead to unsolicited contact or harassment and could generally cause competitive harm.

The court found that good cause existed to seal the requested material. A redacted version of Exhibit A and sealed versions of Exhibits B through D had already been filed publicly or under seal, so the court required no further action from the parties. The order addressed sealing and did not decide the underlying discovery or privacy claims.