In re Google Referrer Header Privacy Litigation

Filing 26

FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT against Google Inc.. Filed by Paloma Gaos. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit Certificate of Service)(Baglien, Bradley) (Filed on 5/2/2011) Modified on 5/3/2011 (cv, COURT STAFF).

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KASSRA P. NASSIRI (215405)
([e-mail])
CHARLES H. JUNG (217909)
([e-mail])
NASSIRI & JUNG LLP
47 Kearny Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, California 94108
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
MICHAEL J. ASCHENBRENER
([e-mail])
BRADLEY M. BAGLIEN
([e-mail])
EDELSON MCGUIRE LLP
350 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1300
Chicago, Illinois 60654
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

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Attorneys for Plaintiff

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SAN JOSE DIVISION

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Case No. 10-CV-04809-EJD

PALOMA GAOS, an individual, on behalf of
herself and all others similarly situated,

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CLASS ACTION

Plaintiff,

FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

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v.

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GOOGLE INC., a Delaware corporation,

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ACTION FILED: 10/25/10
JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

Defendant.

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Plaintiff Paloma Gaos brings this suit on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated,

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and makes the following allegations on information and belief, except as to allegations pertaining to

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Plaintiff, which are based on her personal knowledge:

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I.
1.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff brings this class action complaint against Google Inc. (“Google”) for

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intentionally, systematically and repeatedly divulging its users’ search queries to third parties. This

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practice adversely impacts billions of searches conducted by millions of consumers. Plaintiff’s

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-1CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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claims arise under the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2702, Cal. Civ. Code § 1572, and
common law.
2.

Google, the largest search engine in the United States, has repeatedly touted the

numerous ways in which it protects user privacy, particularly with regard to the terms that
consumers search for using the company’s search engine. Over protests from privacy advocates,
however, Google has consistently and intentionally designed its services to ensure that user search
queries, which often contain highly-sensitive and personally-identifiable information (“PII”), are
routinely transferred to marketers, data brokers, and sold and resold to countless other third parties.
3.

The user search queries disclosed to third parties contain, without limitation, users’

real names, street addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, financial
account numbers and more, all of which increases the risk of identity theft. User search queries also
contain highly-personal and sensitive issues, such as confidential medical information, racial or
ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs or sexuality, which are often tied to the user’s personal
information.
4.

In many instances, the information contained in disclosed search queries does not

directly identify the Google user. Through the reidentification (explained below) or deanonymizing
of data, however, the information contained in search queries can and, on information and belief, are
associated with the actual names of Google users. Computer science academics and privacy experts
are calling for the reexamination of privacy concerns in light of the growing practice and power of
reidentification.
5.

Google has acknowledged that search query information alone may reveal sensitive

PII. And Google has demonstrated that it could easily stop disclosing search query information to
third parties, without disrupting the effectiveness of its service to its users, if it wished to do so. But
because the real-time transmission of user search queries increases Google’s profitability, it chooses
not to utilize the demonstrated technology that would prevent the disclosure of its users’ PII.
II.
6.

PARTIES

Plaintiff Paloma Gaos is a resident of San Francisco County, California. Plaintiff has

at all material times been a user of Google’s search engine services.
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7.

Defendant Google Inc. (“Google”) is a Delaware corporation that maintains its

headquarters in Mountain View, California. Google conducts business throughout California and the
nation.
III.
8.

This Court has personal jurisdiction over Google because (a) a substantial portion of

the wrongdoing alleged in this complaint took place in this state, (b) Google is authorized to do
business here, has sufficient minimum contacts with this state, and/or otherwise intentionally avails
itself of the markets in this state through the promotion, marketing and sale of products and services
in this state, to render the exercise of jurisdiction by this Court permissible under traditional notions
of fair play and substantial justice.
9.

This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, 18 U.S.C. §

2702 and 18 U.S.C. § 2707. This Court has supplemental jurisdiction over the California state law
claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367.
10.

Venue is proper in this District under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) and (c). A substantial

portion of the events and conduct giving rise to the violations of law complained of herein occurred
in this District.
IV.
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INTRADISTRICT ASSIGNMENT

Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 3-2(e), this case shall be assigned to the San Francisco

Division or Oakland Division.
V.

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JURISDICTION AND VENUE

A.

Google’s Search Business
1.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS

Google’s Dominance in Search

“Searching” is one of the most basic activities performed in the Internet. Most

everyone with access to the Internet uses search engines to find information on the Internet. When
using a search engine, users formulate a search query using keywords and phrases reflecting the
information sought by the user. The search engine then matches the search query with websites
matching the query and provides a list of those matching websites to the user. The user clicks on the
link in the resulting list and is redirected to the website containing the sought-after information.
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13.

Google’s core service centers on its proprietary search engine. Google runs millions

of servers in data centers around the world and processes over one billions user-generated search
requests every day. On information and belief, Google is the most-used search engine in the world
and enjoys a market share of over 50% in the United States.
14.

Google generates substantial profits from selling advertising. The revenue it

generates is derived from offering search technology and from the related sale of advertising
displayed on its site and on other sites across the web. On information and belief, over 99% of
Google’s revenue is derived from its advertising programs, with total advertising revenues estimated
at $28 billion in 2010. Google has implemented various innovations in the online advertising market
that helped make it one of the biggest advertisers in the world.
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Google AdWords is Google’s main advertising product and source of advertising

revenue. The AdWords program allows advertisers to select a list of words that, when entered by
users in a search query, trigger their targeted ads. When a user includes words that match an
advertiser’s selections within a search query, paid advertisements are shown as “sponsored links” on
the right side of the search results screen. Accordingly, much of Google’s advertising revenue
depends directly on the search queries that its users run on Google search.
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Using technology from its wholly-owned subsidiary DoubleClick, Google can also

determine user interests and target advertisements so they are relevant to their context and the user
that is viewing them. Google’s Analytics product allows website owners to track where and how
people use their website, allowing in-depth research to get users to go where you want them to go.
17.

Third-party search engine optimization (“SEO”) companies help businesses design

their websites so that users conducting internet search using search engines like Google get search
results containing their business at or near the top of the search results page. SEOs accomplish this
task by ensuring that a business’s relevant pages are designed to work with Google’s search
algorithms. Google has a symbiotic relationship with SEOs. Google wants relevant results at the top
of their search results page, and SEOs want their customers’ relevant webpages to appear at the top
of Google’s search results. To the extent that SEOs are successful in getting their clients’ relevant
pages to appear at or near the top of Google’s search results page, users are more likely to return to
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Google next time they want to search for information on the internet. And the more people use
Google for search, the more revenue Google derives from its advertising business.
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Google’s Privacy Promises

Leading thinkers in the privacy community have long argued that consumers “treat

the search [engine] box like their most trusted advisors. They tell the Google search box what they
wouldn’t tell their own mother, spouse, shrink or priest.”1 Peer reviewed academic studies confirm
this fact, particularly regarding the use of search engines to look up sensitive health information.2
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Google has always recognized that user trust is paramount to its search business

success. To that end, Google adopted “Don’t be evil” as its motto, and Google states that its Code of
Conduct is one of the ways it puts that motto into practice.3 Google’s Code of Conduct recognizes
that it is “asking users to trust [it] with their personal information. Preserving that trust requires that
each of us respect and protect the privacy of that information. Our security procedures strictly limit
access to and use of users’ personal information.”4
20.

Because Google’s success depends on gaining the trust of its users, Google’s Privacy

Policy sets forth representations intended to foster the safety and privacy protection offered by
Google’s search services. As of October 14, 2005, Google’s Privacy Policy5 stated as follows:

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Google only shares personal information with other companies or individuals
outside of Google in the following limited circumstances:

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We have your consent. We require opt-in consent for the sharing of
any sensitive personal information.

1

Christopher Ketchum & Travis Kelly, The Cloud Panopticon (April 9, 2010),
http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/investigations/rightsliberties/1274/the_cloud_panopticon (last
visited October 24, 2010).
2
Gunther Eysenbach and Christian Köhler, How do consumers search for and appraise health
information on the world wide web? Qualitative study using focus groups, usability tests, and indepth interviews, BMJ 2002; 324:573, available at
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7337/573.
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Google’s Code of Conduct, http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html (last visited
October 24, 2010).
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Id.
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Google’s October 14, 2005 Privacy Policy,
http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacy_archive_2005.html (last visited October 24, 2010).
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We provide such information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies
or other trusted businesses or persons for the purpose of processing
personal information on our behalf. We require that these parties agree
to process such information based on our instructions and in
compliance with this Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality
and security measures.
We have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure
of such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any
applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental
request, (b) enforce applicable Terms of Service, including
investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or
otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (d) protect
against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, its
users or the public as required or permitted by law.

Google defines “Personal information” as “information that [the user] provide[s] to us

which personally identifies you, such as your name, email address or billing information, or other
data which can be reasonably linked to such information by Google” and “Sensitive Information” as
“information we know to be related to confidential medical information, racial or ethnic origins,
political or religious beliefs or sexuality and tied to personal information.6
22.

Google also stated in its October 14, 2005 Privacy Policy that “We may share with

third parties certain pieces of aggregated, non-personal information, such as the number of users
who searched for a particular term, for example, or how many users clicked on a particular
advertisement. Such information does not identify you individually.”7 Google defined “aggregated,
non-personal information” as “information that is recorded about users and collected into groups so
that it no longer reflects or references an individually identifiable user.”8
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Google’s privacy policy was unchanged until October 3, 2010, when it was revised to

exclude any statement about how Google shares search queries with third parties. The
representations that Google shares information only in “limited circumstances” remained unchanged.
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Google makes similar representations about the privacy of its users’ search queries on

its video “Privacy Channel” on YouTube. The first video that plays when a user visits the Privacy

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Google Privacy Center, FAQ, http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacy_faq.html (last visited
October 24, 2010).
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Google’s October 14, 2005 Privacy Policy, supra, n.5 (emphasis supplied).
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Google’s October 14, 2005 Privacy FAQs,
http://web.archive.org/web/20070113102317/www.google.com/intl/en/privacy_faq.html (last visited
October 24, 2010) (emphasis supplied).
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Channel starts with the statement “at Google, we make privacy a priority in everything we do.”9
Google also states in another privacy video that “We don’t sell user information to other
companies.”10
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Trade Commission. In a letter to the FTC, Google wrote that it “supports the passage of a
comprehensive federal privacy law that … build[s] consumer trust … enact[s] penalties to deter bad
behavior ... include[s] uniform data safeguarding standards, data breach notification procedures, and
stronger procedural protections relating to third party access to individuals’ information.”11 Google
also wrote that it “acts every day to promote and expand free expression online and increase global
access to information. As new technology empowers individuals with more robust free expression
tools and greater access to information, we believe that governments, companies, and individuals
must work together to protect the right to online free expression. Strong privacy protections must be
crafted with attention to the critical role privacy plays in free expression. The ability to access
information anonymously or pseudonymously online has enabled people around the world to view
and create controversial content without fear of censorship or retribution by repressive regimes or
disapproving neighbors … If all online behavior were traced to an authenticated identity, the free
expression afforded by anonymous web surfing would be jeopardized.”12
3.

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Earlier this year, Google reiterated its commitment to user privacy to the Federal

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Google Admits Search Queries Contain Sensitive, Personal Data

In 2006, the Department of Justice sought to compel Google to produce thousands of

users’ individual search queries. 13 As set forth in the Government’s subpoena, it sought only
“anonymized” data, namely, the text of the search string entered by Google users, and not “any
additional information that may be associated with such a text string that would identify the person
9

Google’s Privacy Principles, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fvL3mNt1g (January 26, 2010)
(last visited October 25, 2010).
10
Google’s Privacy Principles, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/googles-privacyprinciples.html at 1:44 (January 27, 2010, 7:00 p.m.) (last visited October 23, 2010).
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Google’s April 14, 2010 letter to Donald S. Clark, http://www.scribd.com/doc/30196432/FTCRoundtable-Comments-Final (last visited October 24, 2010).
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Id.
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Gonzales v. Google, 234 F.R.D. 674 (N.D. Cal. 2006) (No. 5:06-mc-80006-JW).
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who entered the text string into the search engine, or the computer from which the text string was
entered.”14
27.

To its credit, Google fought the government’s request. In a declaration submitted to

the court describing the kind of personal information that can end up in the company’s search query
logs, Matt Cutts, a Senior Staff Engineer who specializes in search optimization issues at Google,
stated as follows:15
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Google does not publicly disclose the searches [sic] queries entered
into its search engine. If users believe that the text of their search
queries could become public knowledge, they may be less likely to use
the search engine for fear of disclosure of their sensitive or private
searches for information or websites.

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There are ways in which a search query alone may reveal personally
identifying information. For example, many internet users have
experienced the mistake of trying to copy-and-paste text into the
search query box, only to find that they have pasted something that
they did not intended. Because Google allows very long queries, it is
possible that a user may paste a fragment of an email or a document
that would tie the query to a specific person. Users could also enter
information such as a credit card, a social security number, an unlisted
phone number or some other information that can only be tied to one
person. Some people search for their credit card or social security
number deliberately in order to check for identity theft or to see if any
of their personal information is findable on the Web.

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Similarly, in its Opposition to the Government’s Motion to Compel the disclosure of

Google users’ search queries, the company argued that:
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Google users trust that when they enter a search query into a Google search
box, not only will they receive back the most relevant results, but that Google
will keep private whatever information users communicate absent a
compelling reason.16

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The privacy and anonymity of the service are major factors in the attraction of
users – that is, users trust Google to do right by their personal information and
to provide them with the best search results. If users believe that the text of
their search queries into Google's search engine may become public

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Id. at 682.
15
Declaration of Matt Cutts at 9, Gonzales v. Google, 234 F.R.D. 674 (N.D. Cal. 2006) (No. 5:06mc-80006-JW).
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Google’s Opposition to the Government’s Motion to Compel at 1, supra, n.12.
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knowledge, it only logically follows that they will be less likely to use the
service.17

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This is no minor fear because search query content can disclose identities and
personally identifiable information such as user-initiated searches for their
own social security or credit card numbers, or their mistakenly pasted but
revealing text.”18

In its order19 denying the Government’s request to discover Google users’ search

queries, the Court shared Google’s concern that disclosing search queries would raise serious
privacy issues:
The Government contends that there are no privacy issues raised by its request for the
text of search queries because the mere text of the queries would not yield identifiable
information. Although the Government has only requested the text strings entered …
basic identifiable information may be found in the text strings when users search for
personal information such as their social security numbers or credit card numbers
through Google in order to determine whether such information is available on the
Internet. The Court is also aware of so-called ‘vanity searches,’ where a user queries
his or her own name perhaps with other information. Google’s capacity to handle
long complex search strings may prompt users to engage in such searches on Google.
Thus, while a user’s search query reading ‘[username] stanford glee club’ may not
raise serious privacy concerns, a user’s search for ‘[user name] third trimester
abortion san jose,’ may raise certain privacy issues as of yet unaddressed by the
parties’ papers. This concern, combined with the prevalence of Internet searches for
sexually explicit material — generally not information that anyone wishes to reveal
publicly — gives this Court pause as to whether the search queries themselves may
constitute potentially sensitive information.

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Google’s awareness of the privacy concerns surrounding search queries was also

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demonstrated in response to a massive disclosure of user search queries by AOL. In August 2006,

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AOL released an “anonymized” dataset of 20 million search queries conducted by 658,000 AOL

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users over a three-month period.20 That data included search queries revealing names, addresses,

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local landmarks, medical ailments, credit card numbers and social security numbers.21

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Id. at 18.
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Id.
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Gonzales, 234 F.R.D. at 687.
20
Complaint at ¶ 16, Doe 1 v. AOL LLC, 2010 WL 2524494 (N.D. Cal. June 23, 2010) (No. C-065866-SBA).
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Id at ¶ 18.
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“underscored how much people unintentionally reveal about themselves when they use search
engines,” and referred to search queries about “depression and medical leave,” “fear that spouse
contemplates cheating,” “child porno,” and “how to kill oneself by natural gas.”22
32.

and then link other, non-vanity search queries in the dataset to those individuals through the crosssession identifiers (cookies) included in the dataset.23 One AOL user who was reidentified said she
was shocked to learn that AOL had published her search queries: “My goodness, it’s my whole
personal life. I had no idea somebody was looking over my shoulder.”24
33.

users in the dataset: “We acknowledged that there was information that could potentially lead to
people being identified…”25
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and reassured Google users that their search queries were safe and private:
Well, [this sort of privacy breach is] obviously a terrible thing. And the data as
released was obviously not anonymized enough, and maybe it wasn’t such a good
idea to release it in the first place. Speaking for Google, we exist by virtue of the trust
of our end users. So if we were to make a mistake to release private information that
could be used against somebody, especially if it could be used against them in a way
that could really hurt them in a physical way or something like that, it would be a
terrible thing. We have lots and lots of systems in the company to prevent that.

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It’s funny that we talk about the company being more transparent. But there are many
things inside our company that are important that we don’t share with everyone,
starting with everyone's queries and all the information that that implies. I’ve always

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Soon after the release of the search query data by AOL, Google CEO Eric Schmidt

spoke about the AOL privacy breach. He called AOL’s release of user search data “a terrible thing”

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An AOL spokesman, Andrew Weinstein, apologized on behalf of AOL and said he

wasn’t surprised that the New York Times was able to connect the dots and reidentify “anonymous”

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Even more surprising, however, was that the New York Times journalists were able to

reidentify individual “anonymized” AOL search users due to the vanity searches they had conducted,

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In an article about the incident, the New York Times wrote that the AOL dataset

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Michael Barbaro and Tom Zeller Jr., A Face is Exposed for AOL Searcher No. 4417749, N.Y.
TIMES, August 9, 2006, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/technology/09aol.html.
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Id.
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Id.
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Id.
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worried that the query stream was a fertile ground for governments to randomly
snoop on people [for example]. We had a case where we were only a secondary party,
where the government gave us a subpoena, which was in our view, over-broad. And
this over-broad subpoena we fought in federal court – one of the great things about
the American system is that you can actually have a judge make an impartial
decision. And the judge ruled largely in our favor. So that’s an example of how
strongly we take this point.26

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35.

A Brief Primer on “Referrer Headers”

Software engineers are generally familiar with the risk of Referrer Header “leakage”

of information companies intended to keep confidential and/or are obliged to keep confidential.
36.

The HTTP Referrer function is a standard web browser function, provided by

standard web browsers since the HTTP 1.0 specification in May 1996.27 When an internet user visits
a web page using their computer or mobile device, every major web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer,
Firefox, Chrome, Safari) by default reports the last page that the user viewed before clicking on a
link and visiting the current page — that is, the page that “referred” them to the current page. This
information is transmitted in the HTTP Referrer Header.
37.

The current version of the publicly-available HTTP specification, RFC 2616,28

provides for HTTP Referrer Headers in its provision 14.36.29 It is well known that if a site places
confidential information, such as a username, in a URL, then the site risks releasing this information
whenever a user clicks a link to leave the site. Indeed, the HTTP specification specifically flags this
risk; in section 15.1.3, the HTTP specification advises developers of substantially the same problem:
“Authors of services which use the HTTP protocol SHOULD NOT use GET based forms for the
submission of sensitive data, because this will cause this data to be encoded in the REQUESTURI.”30
38.

While the HTTP Referrer function is a standard web browser function, Google

ultimately determines whether to send referrer header information to third parties and exercises
26

Conversation with Eric Schmidt hosted by Danny Sullivan,
http://www.google.com/press/podium/ses2006.html (last visited October 24, 2010).
27
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc1945/rfc1945
28
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616.html
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http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html#sec14.36
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http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec15.html#sec15.1.3
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control over the content of the URL that is referred by this function to the owner of the destination
web page.
5.
39.

Google Transmits Individual User Search Queries to Third Parties

Since the service’s launch, and continuing to this day, Google’s search engine has

included its users’ search terms in the URL of the search results page. Thus, for example, a search
for “abortion clinics in Indianapolis” would return a page with a URL similar to
“http://www.google.com/search?q=abortion+clinics+in+Indianapolis.”
40.

Because the search terms are included in the search results URL, when a Google user

clicks on a link from Google’s search results page, the owner of the website that the user clicks on
will receive from Google the user’s search terms in the Referrer Header.
41.

Several web analytics services, including SEOs, include and use functionality to

automatically parse the search query information from web server logs, or to otherwise collect the
search query from the referrer header transmitted by each visitor’s web browser. Google’s own
analytics products provide webmasters with this information at an aggregate level (e.g., revealing
how many visitors were drawn by particular search terms).
6.
42.

Google’s Transmission of User Search Queries is Intentional

Because Google’s financial success depends on, among other things, the symbiotic

relationship it shares with SEOs and the ability for third parties to engage in web analytics, Google
has placed a high priority on revealing individual user search queries to third parties.
Notwithstanding its repeated representations to the contrary in its Privacy Policy and to privacy
regulators, Google continues to this day to transmit user search queries.
43.

Neither Google’s search technology nor the nature of the Internet compels Google to

divulge user search queries. Google could easily cease transmission of user search queries to third
parties, but chooses not to.

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44.

On September 6, 2010, a former FTC employee, Christopher Soghoian, filed a

complaint with the FTC accusing Google of not adequately protecting the privacy of consumers’
search queries. Much of the following information comes from Mr. Soghoian’s complaint.31
45.

Starting approximately in November 2008, Google began to test a new method of

delivering search results that uses advanced AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)
technologies.32 AJAX is one of the key pillars of the Web 2.0 experience.33 This pilot was initially
deployed in the Netherlands,34 but in subsequent months, was observed by users in other countries.
46.

One of the side effects of the AJAX search page is that the URL of the search results

page includes the search query terms after a # symbol in the URL. Thus, on an AJAX enabled search
page, the URL listed at the top of the page will be similar to:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=drug+addiction
47.

The addition of the # symbol had a significantly positive, albeit unintentional impact

upon Google user privacy. This is because web browsers do not pass on any information after the #
symbol in the referrer header. Thus, using the previous example of a search for the query “drug
addiction,” if a user clicked on the first result, the owner of that web site would only receive
“http://www.google.com/” in the referrer header, rather than the search terms that follow the #
symbol.
48.

This change was immediately noticed by the webmaster and SEO community, who

complained to Google:

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31

In the Matter of Google, Inc., FTC Complaint, available at
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/FTCcomplaint100710.pdf.
32
Jesse James Garrett, Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications (February 18, 2005),
http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000385.php (“Ajax isn’t a technology. It’s really
several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways”).
33
Tim O’Reilly, What Is Web 2.0 Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of
Software (September 30, 2005), http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html (“AJAX is
also a key component of Web 2.0 applications such as Flickr, now part of Yahoo!, 37signals’
applications basecamp and backpack, as well as other Google applications such as Gmail and
Orkut.”)
34
Ulco, “Google Search in AJAX?!” (November 19, 2008), http://www.ulco.nl/gibberish/googlesearch-in-ajax.
-13CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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•

“I'm seeing hundreds of these empty google referrers today and wondered
what was going on.”35

•

“This means organic searches from Google will now show up as just
http://www.google.com/, with no search parameters. In other words, no
analytics app can track these searches anymore. I started noticing lots of hits
from just ‘http://www.google.com/’ recently in our own search logs. I thought
maybe it was just a bug with Clicky. But then one of our users contacted me
about this article, and my jaw about broke from hitting the floor so hard.”36

•

“What actually breaks if Google makes this switchover, and is in fact broken
during any testing they are doing, is much more widespread. Every single
analytics package that currently exists, at least as far as being able to track
what keywords were searched on to find your site in Google, would no longer
function correctly.”37

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49.

11

public statement:

12

Currently AJAX results are just a test on Google. At this time only a small
percentage of users will see this experiment. It is not our intention to disrupt
referrer tracking, and we are continuing to iterate on this project and are actively
working towards a solution. As we continue experiments, we hope that this test may
ultimately provide an easier solution for our customers and a faster experience for our
users.38

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Responding to complaints from the webmaster community, Google quickly issued a

50.

Google soon ended the test of the AJAX search results page, a fact confirmed by

Google Senior Engineer Matt Cutts, who specializes in search optimization issues at Google:

18

[T]he team didn’t think about the referrer aspect. So they stopped [the test]. They’ve
paused it until they can find out how to keep the referrers.39

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35

Posting of sorabji.com to Clicky.blog, http://getclicky.com/blog/150/googles-new-ajax-poweredsearch-results-breaks-search-keyword-tracking-for-everyone (February 03 2009, 1:05 p.m.).
36
Clicky.blog, http://getclicky.com/blog/150/googles-new-ajax-powered-search-results-breakssearch-keyword-tracking-for-everyone (February 03, 2009, 9:50 a.m.).
37
Posting of Michael VanDeMar to Smackdown!, What Will *Really* Break If Google Switches To
AJAX…?, http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2009/02/02/what-will-really-break-if-googleswitches-to-ajax/ (February 2, 2009, 11:26 a.m.).
38
Posting of Matt McGee to Search Engine Land, Google AJAX Search Results = Death To Search
Term Tracking?, http://searchengineland.com/google-ajax-search-results-death-to-search-termtracking-16431 (February 3, 2009, 5:41 p.m.) (emphasis supplied).
39
Posting of Lisa Barone to Outspoken Media, Keynote Address – Matt Cutts, Google,
http://outspokenmedia.com/internet-marketing-conferences/pubcon-keynote-matt-cutts/ (March 12,
2009).
-14CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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51.

In March 2009, Google again began to test technology that unintentionally caused the

users’ search terms to be stripped from the referrer header transmitted to web sites. The following is
an example of the format of the new URL that was being tested in March 2009:
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.webmd.com&ei=in66ScnjBtKgtwfn0LTi
Dw&sa=X&oi=smap&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&usg=AFQjCNF9RdVC6vXBFO
Yvdia1s_ZE_BMu8g

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52.

7

Michael VanDeMar, a prominent member of the SEO community noticed that he was

8

again seeing AJAX based search results in addition to redirected URLs for every link in the search

9

results page:

10

Occasionally you will see these Google redirects in the normal [search engine results
pages] as well, although usually not. The thing is, I was seeing them on every search I
performed. It struck me as odd, until I suddenly realized that every search was being
done via AJAX.40

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12
53.

13
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blog:
Hi Michael, I checked with some folks at Google about this. The redirection through
a url redirector was separate from any AJAX-enhanced search results; we do that url
redirection for some experiments, but it’s not related to the JavaScript-enhanced
[AJAX] search results.

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The solution to the referrer problem will be coming online in the future. It uses a
JavaScript-driven redirect that enables us to pass the redirect URL as the
referrer. This URL will contain a ‘q’ param that matches the user’s query.41

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54.

webmaster community:
Starting this week, you may start seeing a new referring URL format for visitors
coming from Google search result pages. Up to now, the usual referrer for clicks on
search results for the term "flowers", for example, would be something like this:

25

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On April 14, 2009, Google announced that it would be deploying the URL redirection

tool for all links in the search results. The company described the details in a blog post to the

24

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Google’s Matt Cutts soon responded to VanDeMar by leaving a comment on his

40

Posting of Michael VanDeMar to Smackdown!, Google Re-initiates Testing of AJAX SERP’s
With Faulty Proposed Fix, http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2009/03/13/google-re-initiatestesting-of-ajax-serps-with-faulty-proposed-fix/ (March 13, 2009, 11:14 a.m.).
41
Posting of Matt Cutts to Smackdown!, supra, n.39,
http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2009/03/13/google-re-initiates-testing-of-ajax-serps-withfaulty-proposed-fix/ (March 17, 2009, 10:10 a.m.) (emphasis supplied).
-15CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flowers&btnG=Google+Search

3

Now you will start seeing some referrer strings that look like this:

4

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=7&url=http%3A%2F%2
Fwww.example.com%2Fmypage.htm&ei=0SjdSa1N5O8M_qW8dQN&rct=j&q=flowers&usg=AFQjCNHJXSUh7Vw7oubPaO3tZOz
z-F-u_w&sig2=X8uCFh6IoPtnwmvGMULQfw
….
The new referrer URLs will initially only occur in a small percentage of searches.
You should expect to see old and new forms of the URLs as this change gradually
rolls out.42

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55.

The redirection tool that Michael VanDeMar described in March 2009 did not include

10

the search terms in its URL (and thus, these terms were not subsequently transmitted to webmasters

11

via the browser’s referrer header). However, one month later when Google announced that it would

12

be using the redirection tool for all links, the redirection script was changed to include the search

13

terms in the redirection URL (via a new “q” parameter), thus guaranteeing that webmasters would

14

not lose access to user search query data.

15

56.

The new redirection tool also leaks data to web site administrators that had never

16

before been available to anyone but Google: The item number of the search result that was clicked

17

on (e.g., the 3rd link or 5th link from the search results page).43 The leakage of this additional

18

information was confirmed by Matt Cutts, which he described as a benefit to web site administrators:

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I think if you do experiments, you'll be able to confirm your speculation … I think
this is awesome for webmasters--even more information than you could glean
from the previous referrer string.44

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57.

A May 2009 video featuring Matt Cutts, posted to the official GoogleWebmasterHelp

YouTube channel, describes the change in the search query information leaked via the referrer
header:

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42

Posting of Brett Crosby to Google Analytics Blog, An upcoming change to Google.com search
referrals; Google Analytics unaffected, http://analytics.blogspot.com/2009/04/upcoming-change-togooglecom-search.html (April 14, 2009, 2:50 p.m.).
43
Posting of Patrick Altoft to Blogstorm, Google Ads Ranking Data to Referrer String,
http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/google-adds-ranking-data-to-referrer-string/ (April 15, 2009).
44
Posting of Matt Cutts to Blogstorm, Google Ads Ranking Data to Referrer String,
http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/google-adds-ranking-data-to-referrer-string/#IDComment77457344
(April 15, 2009, 7:28 p.m.) (emphasis supplied).
-16CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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4

[T]here is a change on the horizon and it's only a very small percentage of users right
now, but I think that it probably will grow and it will grow over time where Google's
referrer, that is whenever you do a Google search and you click on a result, you go to
another website and your browser passes along a value called a referrer. That referrer
string will change a little bit.

5

It used to be google.com/search, for example.

2
3

6

Now, it will be google.com/url.

7

And for a short time we didn't have what the query was which got a lot of people
frustrated, but the google.com/search, the new Google referrer string will have the
query embedded in it.

8
9

And there's a really interesting tidbit that not everybody knows, which is--it also has
embedded in that referrer string a pretty good idea of where on the page the click
happened.

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11
12

So, for example, if you were result number one, there's a parameter in there that
indicates the click came from result number one. If you were number four, it will
indicate the click came from, result number four. So, now, you don't necessarily need
to go scraping Google to find out what your rankings were for these queries. You can
find out, "Oh, yeah. I was number one for this query whenever someone clicked on it
and came to my website."

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So that can save you a ton of work, you don't need to worry nearly as much, you don't
have to scrape Google, you don't have to think about ranking reports. Now, we don't
promise that these will, you know, be a feature that we guarantee that we'll always
have on Google forever but definitely take advantage of it for now.
….
[F]or the most part, this gives you a very accurate idea of where on the page you
were, so you get all kinds of extra information that you can use in your analytics and
to compute your ROIs without having to do a lot of extra work. So, if you can, it's a
good idea to look at that referrer string and start to take advantage of that
information.”45

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58.

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In or around July 2010, Google again began stripping the search terms from the

24

Referrer Headers transmitted by a small percentage of browsers. On July 13, 2010, individuals in

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the SEO community noticed the change made by Google. One commentator in a web forum wrote

26

that:

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45

Matt Cutts, Can you talk about the change in Google's referrer string?, GoogleWebMasterHelp
Channel (May 6, 2009), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XoD4XyahVw (last viewed October
24, 2010).
-17CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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More and more visits from Google in my server log files are without exact referrer
information, and have only ‘http://www.google.com’, ‘http://www.google.com.au’,
etc. which doesn't allow to find out keyword and SERP [search engine results] page
from which this visit was made.46

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3
59.

4
5

On July 13 2010, Matt Cutts posted a message to the same SEO forum:

7

Hey everybody, I asked folks who would know about this. It turns out there was an
issue a couple weeks ago where some code got refactored, and the refactoring
affected referrers for links opened in a new tab or window. Right now the team is
expecting to have a fix out in the next week or so. Hope that helps.47

8

7.

6

60.

9

The Science of Reidentification

“Reidentification” is a relatively new area of study in the computer science field.

10

Paul Ohm, a professor of law and telecommunications at the University of Colorado Law School, is

11

a leading scholar on how reidentification impacts internet privacy. Much of the following

12

information comes from Professor Ohm’s article entitled “Broken Promises of Privacy: Responding

13

to the Surprising Failure of Anonymizaton” published in the UCLA Law Review in August of

14

2010.48
61.

15

In a nutshell, reidentification creates and amplifies privacy harms by connecting the

16

dots of “anonymous” data and tracing it back to a specific individual. Professor Ohm describes it as

17

follows:
The reverse of anonymization is reidentification or deanonymization. A person,
known in the scientific literature as an adversary, reidentifies anonymous data by
linking anonymized records to outside information, hoping to discover the true
identity of the data subjects.
...
Reidentification combines datasets that were meant to be kept apart, and in doing so,
gains power through accretion. Every successful reidentification, even one that
reveals seemingly nonsensitive data like movie ratings, abets future reidentification.
Accretive reidentification makes all of our secrets fundamentally easier to discover
and reveal.49

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46

Posting of at2000 to Webmaster World, More and more referrals from Google are without exact
referrer string, http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4168949.htm (July 13, 2010, 4:01 a.m.).
47
Posting of Matt Cutts to Webmaster World, supra, n.45 (July 13, 2010, 9:46 p.m.) (emphasis
supplied).
48
57 UCLA L. REV. 1701 (2010).
49
Id. at *7-8.
-18CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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62.

Reidentification techniques, like those used in the AOL debacle, can be used as links

in chains of inference connecting individuals to harmful facts. Reidentification works by discovery
pockets of surprising uniqueness in aggregated data sets. Just as human fingerprints can uniquely
identify a single person and link that person with “anonymous” information—a print left at a crime
scene—so too do data subjects generate “data fingerprints”—combinations of values of data shared
by nobody else. What has surprised researchers is that data fingerprints can be found in pools of
non-PII data, such as the uniqueness of a person’s search queries in the AOL debacle.50
63.

Once a person finds a unique data fingerprint, he can link that data to outside

information, sometimes called auxiliary information. “Anonymous” search query information would
protect privacy, if only the adversary knew nothing else about people in the world. In reality,
however, the world is awash in data about people, with new databases created, bought and sold
every day. “Adversaries” (as defined above) combine anonymized data with outside information to
pry out obscured identities.51
64.

And the amount of information contained in new databases has grown exponentially.

What’s more, the type of available data is increasingly personal and specific. Take, for example, the
phenomenon of Facebook’s growth. The data created by Facebook users is highly personal, and
includes actual names, religious, sexual and political preferences, identification of friends, pictures,
messages intended to be shared with friends, and more. With the exploding popularity of social
network sites like Facebook, and personal blogs, the information available to adversaries is not only
highly-specific to individuals, it is often user-created, increasing accuracy and veracity of available
data. Never before in human history has it been so easy to peer into the private diaries of so many
people. Some researchers call this the “age of self-revelation.”52
65.

Reidentification is characterized by accretion, or the growing together of separate

parts into a single whole. As Professor Ohm explains:

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50

Id. at *17.
51
Id.
52
Id. at *17-18.
-19CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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The accretion problem is this: once an adversary has linked two anonymized
databases together, he can add the newly linked data to his collection of outside
information and use it to help unlock other anonymized databases. Success breeds
further success . . . once any piece of data has been linked to a person’s real
identity, any association between this data and a virtual identify breaks the
anonymity of the latter. This is why we should worry even about reidentification
events that seem to expose only non-sensitive information, because they increase
the linkability of data, and thereby expose people to potential future harm.53

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3
4
5
6

66.

The accretive reidentification problem is exacerbated by the growing prevalence of

7

internet “data brokers.” The buying and selling of consumer data is a multibillion-dollar,

8

unregulated business that’s growing larger by the day.54 Data is increasingly bought, sold and resold

9

by data brokers, which amplifies the accretion problem. Advancements in computer science, data

10

storage and processing power, and data accretion by data brokers make it much more likely that an

11

adversary could link at least one fact to any individual and blackmail, discriminate against, harass, or

12

steal the identity of that person.

13

67.

On October 25, 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported that a highly-sophisticated

14

data broker, RapLeaf Inc. is accomplishing accretive reidentification of “anonymous” data with

15

astonishing success.55 According to the report, RapLeaf has been gathering data, including user

16

names and email addresses, from numerous sources across the internet. Using accretive

17

reidentification techniques, RapLeaf is able to cross-index “anonymous” data with email addresses

18

and thereby associate real names with Web-browsing habits and highly-personal information scraped

19

from social network sites such as Facebook. By 2009, RapLeaf had indexed more than 600 million

20

unique email addresses, and was adding more at a rate of 35 million per month.

21

68.

Data gathered and sold by data brokers like RapLeaf can be very specific. RapLeaf

22

deanonymizes and connects to real names a wide variety of data types, including data regarding

23

demographics, interests, politics, lifestyle, finances, donations, social networks, site memberships,

24

purchases, and shopping habits. RapLeaf’s segments recently included a person’s household income

25

range, age range, political leaning, and gender and age of children in the household, as well as

26

53

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Id. at *29 (emphasis supplied).
54
Rick Whiting, Data Brokers Draw Increased Scrutiny (July 10, 2006),
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=190301136.
55
Emily Steele, A Web Pioneer Profiles Users by Name (October 25, 2010), available at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304410504575560243259416072.html.
-20CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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interests in topics including religion, the Bible, gambling, tobacco, adult entertainment and “get rich
quick” offers. In all, RapLeaf segmented people into more than 400 categories. This aggregated and
deeply personal information is then sold to or used by tracking companies or advertisers to rack
users across the Internet.
8.

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69.

Google’s Systematic Disclosure of Billons of User Search Queries Each
Day Presents an Imminent Threat of Concrete and Particularized
Privacy Harm

One type of anonymization practice is called “release-and-forget,” in which the data

administrator will release records, and then forgets, meaning she makes no attempt to track what
happens to the records after release.56 To protect the privacy of the users in the released data, prior
to releasing the data, the administrator will single out identifying information and either strip that
information from the database, or modify it to make it more general and less specific to any
individual.57 Many of the recent advances in the science of reidentification target release-and-forget
anonymization in particular.58
70.

Google’s transmission of search queries is a type of piecemeal “release-and-forget”

anonymization.59 Google transmits a single user search query each time a Google user clicks on a
link in Google’s search results page. Over the course of just one day, on information and belief,
Google transmits millions of search queries to third parties. Google will likely argue that search
query information alone contains no personally-identifiable information. Such an argument is
practically equivalent to the data administrator who “anonymizes” data before releasing it to the
outside world. But, as repeatedly demonstrated, easy reidentification of “anonymous” highlights the
flaws in this thinking.
71.

Google itself has taken the position that even seemingly benign, “anonymous”

information presents serious privacy concerns. For example, in Gonzales v. Google, supra, n.12,
even though the Government was requesting search queries stripped of any “identifying

56

Ohm, supra, n.47 at *9-10.
Id. at *11-12.
58
Id. at *10.
59
Id. at *9.
57

-21CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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information” (such as the user’s IP address), Google argued that releasing such data would
nonetheless risk disclosure of user identities.
72.

search query is not the only information revealed. For the vast majority of Google users, the user’s
IP address is concurrently transmitted along with the search query. An IP address is similar to a
phone number in that it identifies the exact computer being used by the user to search and navigate
the internet.
73.

In response to an inquiry from Congressman Joe Barton about privacy issues

surrounding Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, Google admitted that “information that can be
combined with readily available information to identify a specific individual is also generally
considered personal information.”60 But Google has repeatedly downplayed the existence of
“readily available information” helpful for tying IP addresses to places and individuals. Professor
Ohm highlights Google’s untenable position as follows:
For example, websites like Google never store IP addresses devoid of context;
instead, they store them connected to identity or behavior. Google probably knows
from its log files, for example, that an IP address was used to access a particular email
or calendar account, edit a particular word processing document, or send particular
search queries to its search engine. By analyzing the connections woven throughout
this mass of information, Google can draw some very accurate conclusions about the
person linked to any particular IP address.

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Other parties can often link IP addresses to identity as well. Cable and telephone
companies maintain databases that associate IP addresses directly to names,
addresses, and credit card numbers. That Google does not store these data
associations on its own servers is hardly the point. Otherwise, national ID numbers in
the hands of private parties would not be “personal data” because only the
government can authoritatively map these numbers to identities.61

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In fact, when a Google user clicks on a link in Google’s search results page, the user’s

74.

Similarly, an independent European advisory body on data protection and privacy

found that “The correlation of customer behaviour across different personalised services of a search

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60

Letter from Alan Davidson, Google’s Senior Policy Counsel and Head of U.S. Public Policy, to
Congressman Joe Barton at 12-13 (December 21, 2007), available at
http://searchengineland.com/pdfs/071222-barton.pdf.
61
Ohm, supra, n.47 at *41.
-22CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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engine provider … can also be accomplished by other means, based on cookies or other
distinguishing characteristics, such as individual IP addresses.”62
75.

focused on cookies and privacy. Cookies are small data files that store user preferences and other
information, and allow websites to recognize the user or computer visiting their site. In its response
to Congressman Barton, Google wrote that “online ad-serving technology can be used by advertisers
to serve and manage ads across the web … the ad server sets a cookie on the user’s computer
browser when the user views an ad served through the ad server. That cookie may be read in the
future when the ad server serves other ads to the same browser.”63 An ad serving company with any
substantial market share would thus be able to readily link the search queries that Google provides to
the IP addresses or cookies of internet users visiting the websites they serve.
VI.

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Congressman Barton’s inquiry in connection with the DoubleClick acquisition also

76.

FACTS RELATING TO PLAINTIFF

Plaintiff Paloma Gaos has at all material times been a user of Google’s search engine

services, including the period prior to November 2008 when Google first began to test advanced
AJAX technologies that temporarily eliminated user search queries from referrer headers coming
from Google search results pages, and for all periods thereafter when Google was disseminating
search queries to third party websites.
77.

During all time periods in which Google was transmitting user search queries to third

parties, Plaintiff conducted numerous searches, including “vanity searches” for her actual name and
the names of her family members, and clicked on links on her Google search results pages.
78.

As a result, Google transmitted Plaintiff’s full search queries to third parties by

sending the URLs containing her search queries to third party websites that appeared in Plaintiff’s
Google search results page and which Plaintiff clicked on a link.

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62

Article 29 Data Protection Working Party at 21 (January 2008), available at
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2008/wp148_en.pdf.
63
Letter from Davidson to Barton, supra, n.58 at 15.
-23CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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79.

In other words, when Plaintiff clicked on each link on her Google search results

pages, the owner of the destination website that Plaintiff clicked on received from Google Plaintiff’s
search terms through the Referral Header function.
80.

As a result, Plaintiff has suffered actual harm in the form of Google’s unauthorized

and unlawful dissemination of Plaintiff’s search queries, which contained sensitive personal
information, to third parties.
VII.
81.

CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS

Pursuant to Rules 23(a), (b)(2) and (b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,

Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of herself and all other persons in the following similarlysituated class: all persons in the United States who, at any time after October 25, 2006, submitted
a search query at Google.com and clicked on any link displayed by Google in its search results
(the “Class”). Excluded from the Class are Google, its officers and directors, legal representatives,
successors or assigns, any entity in which Google has or had a controlling interest, the judge to
whom this case is assigned and the judge’s immediate family.
82.

Plaintiff also seeks to represent a subclass that includes each member of the proposed

class described in paragraph 72 who at any time after October resided in the State of California (the
“Subclass”).
83.

The Class and Subclass are each composed of numerous people, whose joinder in this

action would be impracticable. The disposition of their claims through this class action will benefit
Class and Subclass members, the parties and the courts. Upon information and belief, Google’s
search engine has been used by hundreds of millions of users during the relevant time period.
84.

There is a well-defined community of interest in questions of law and fact affecting

the Class and Subclass. These questions of law and fact predominate over individual questions
affecting individual Class and Subclass members, including, but not limited to, the following:
a. whether and to what extent Google has disclosed its users’ search queries to third
parties, and whether the disclosure is ongoing;
b. whether Google’s conduct described herein violates Google’s Privacy Policy and
representations to Plaintiff, the Class and the Subclass;
-24CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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c. whether Google’s conduct described herein violates the Electronic

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Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2702 et seq.;

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d. whether Google’s conduct described herein violates Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1572 &

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1573;

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e. whether Google’s conduct described herein constitutes a breach of contract;

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f. whether Google unlawfully misrepresented that it would not share users’ search

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queries and personal information with third parties;

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g. whether Google is unjustly enriched as a result of its conduct described herein;

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and

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h. whether Plaintiff and members of the Class and Subclass are entitled to injunctive

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and other equitable relief.

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85.

Google has engaged, and continues to engage, in a common course of conduct giving

rise to the legal rights sought to be enforced by Plaintiff, the Class and the Subclass. Similar or
identical statutory and common law violations, business practices and injuries are involved.
Individual questions, if any, pale by comparison to the numerous common questions that dominate.
86.

The injuries, actual and imminent, sustained by Plaintiff, the Class and the Subclass

flow, in each instance, from a common nucleus of operative facts. In each case, Google caused or
permitted unauthorized communications of private and personally-identifying information to be
delivered to third parties without adequate or any notice, consent or opportunity to opt out.
87.

Given the similar nature of the Class and Subclass members’ claims and the absence

of material differences in the statutes and common laws upon which the Class and Subclass
members’ claims are based, a nationwide class will be easily managed by the Court and the parties.
88.

Because of the relatively small size of the individual Class and Subclass members’

claims, no Class or Subclass user could afford to seek legal redress on an individual basis.
89.

Plaintiff’s claims are typical of those of the Class and Subclass as all members of the

Class and Subclass are similarly affected by Google’s uniform and actionable conduct as alleged
herein.

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90.

Google has acted and failed to act on grounds generally applicable to Plaintiff and

members of the Class and Subclass, requiring the Court’s imposition of uniform relief to ensure
compatible standards of conduct toward the members of the Class and Subclass.
91.

Plaintiff will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the Class and Subclass and

has retained counsel competent and experienced in class action litigation. Plaintiff has no interests
antagonistic to, or in conflict with, the Class and Subclass that Plaintiff seek to represent.
92.

Plaintiff reserves the right to revise the above class definitions based on facts learned

in discovery.
COUNT I
(Violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act)
(on behalf of Plaintiff, the Class and the Subclass)

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93.

Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

94.

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (the “ECPA”) broadly defines an

“electronic communication” as “any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or
intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in party by a wire, radio, electromagnetic,
photoelectronic or photooptical system that affects interstate or foreign commerce…” 18 U.S.C. §
2510(12).
95.

The ECPA also broadly defines the contents of a communication. Pursuant to the

ECPA, “contents” of a communication, when used with respect to any wire, oral, or electronic
communications, include any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of that
communication. 18 U.S.C. § 2510(8). “Contents,” when used with respect to any wire or oral
communication, includes any information concerning the identity of the parties to such
communication or the existence, substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. The
definition thus includes all aspects of the communication itself. No aspect, including the identity of
the parties, the substance of the communication between them, or the fact of the communication
itself, is excluded. The privacy of the communication to be protected is intended to be
comprehensive.

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96.

Pursuant to the ECPA, “electronic storage” means any “temporary storage of a wire

or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof.” 18 U.S.C. §
2510(17)(A).
97.

Pursuant to the ECPA, Google operates an “electronic communications service” as

defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2510(15). Pursuant to the Stored Communications Act of 1986 (the “SCA”),
Google also provides a “remote computing service” to the public. 18 U.S.C. § 2711(2).
98.

In relevant part, 18 U.S.C. § 2702(a) of the ECPA provides as follows:

(a) Prohibitions.— Except as provided in subsection (b) or (c)—
(1) a person or entity providing an electronic communication service to the public shall
not knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of a communication while in
electronic storage by that service; and
(2) a person or entity providing remote computing service to the public shall not
knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of any communication which is
carried or maintained on that service—
(A) on behalf of, and received by means of electronic transmission from (or created by
means of computer processing of communications received by means of electronic
transmission from), a subscriber or customer of such service;
(B) solely for the purpose of providing storage or computer processing services to such
subscriber or customer, if the provider is not authorized to access the contents of any such
communications for purposes of providing any services other than storage or computer
processing; and
(3) a provider of remote computing service or electronic communication service to the
public shall not knowingly divulge a record or other information pertaining to a
subscriber to or customer of such service (not including the contents of communications
covered by paragraph (1) or (2)) to any governmental entity.
99.

As alleged herein, by disclosing the private search queries of Plaintiff and members

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of the Class without authorization, Google has knowingly divulged the contents of communications

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of Plaintiff and members of the Class while those communications were in electronic storage on its

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service, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2702(a)(1).

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100.

As alleged herein, by disclosing the private search queries of Plaintiff and members

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of the Class without authorization, Google has knowingly divulged the contents of communications

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of Plaintiff and members of the Class carried or maintained on its systems, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

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§ 2702(a)(2).

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101.

its profitability and revenue. The disclosures were not necessary for the operation of Google’s
systems or to protect Google’s rights or property.
102.

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As a result of Google’s unauthorized and unlawful disclosure of Plaintiff and Class

members’ private search queries, Plaintiff and members of the Class have suffered damages from
Google’s violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2702 in an amount to be determined at trial.
103.

Plaintiff and Class members are “person[s] aggrieved by [a] violation of [the SCA] in

which the conduct constituting the violation is engaged in with a knowing or intentional state or
mind…” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 2707(a).
104.

Plaintiff and members of the Class therefore seek remedy as provided for by 18

U.S.C. § 2707(b) and (c), including such preliminary and other equitable or declaratory relief as may
be appropriate, damages consistent with subsection (c) of that section to be proven at trial, punitive
damages to be proven at trial, and attorneys’ fee and other litigation costs reasonably incurred.
COUNT II
(Fraudulent Misrepresentation)
(on behalf of Plaintiff, the Class and the Subclass)

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Google intentionally disclosed its users’ communications to third parties to enhance

105.

Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

106.

Google falsely represented in its Privacy Policy and elsewhere that it would not make

users’ personal information and search queries available to any third party.
107.

Google made these false statements in order to induce users to use Google’s search

engine service.
108.

In contradiction to its representations and as described herein, Google sent and made

available to third parties Plaintiff and Class members’ private search queries.
109.

Plaintiff and members of the Class relied on Google’s fraudulent misrepresentations

in agreeing to use Google’s search services, including use of Google to search for sensitive personal
information, because users believed that Google did not transmit such information to third parties.
110.

As a result of Defendant’s fraudulent misrepresentations, Plaintiff and the Class have

suffered harm, including but not limited to the disclosure of their sensitive personal information, in
an amount to be determined at trial.
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COUNT III
(Negligent Misrepresentation)
(On behalf of Plaintiff, the Class and the Subclass)

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3

111.

Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

4

112.

In an effort to induce users to use Google’s search service, Defendant negligently

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and/or recklessly represented in its Privacy Policy and elsewhere that it would not make users’

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personal information and search queries available to any third party.

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8
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113.

In contradiction to its representations and as described herein, Google sent and made

available to third parties Plaintiff and Class members’ private search queries.
114.

The purpose of Google’s representations was to induce users to use Google’s search

engine service.
115.

Plaintiff and members of the Class relied on Google’s negligent and/or reckless

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misrepresentations in agreeing to use Google’s search services, including use of Google to search for

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sensitive personal information, because users believed that Google did not transmit such information

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to third parties.

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116.

As a result of Defendant’s negligent and/or reckless misrepresentations, Plaintiff and

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the Class have suffered harm, including but not limited to the disclosure of their sensitive personal

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information, in an amount to be determined at trial.

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COUNT IV
(Public Disclosure of Private Facts)
(on behalf of Plaintiff and the Subclass)

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117.

Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

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118.

By its conduct, Google has knowingly and intentionally caused the public disclosure

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of Plaintiff and members of the California Subclass’ private search queries. These private search

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queries were not newsworthy, were not generally available to the public, and are facts that a

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reasonable person would not wish disclosed.

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119.

Plaintiff and members of the Subclass have suffered harm as a result of Google’s

public disclosure of their private search queries in an amount to be determined at trial.
120.

Plaintiff and members of the Subclass are entitled to actual and punitive damages and

injunctive relief for these torts.
COUNT V
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(Violation of Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1572 & 1573)
(on behalf of Plaintiff and the Subclass)

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121.

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Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

122.

3

California Civil Code § 1572 provides in relevant part that actual fraud exists when a

party to a contract suppresses “that which is true, by one having knowledge or belief of the fact”
“with intent to deceive another party thereto, or to induce him to enter into the contract.”
123.

“[i]n any such act or omission as the law specially declares to be fraudulent, without respect to actual
fraud.”
124.

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Google’s Privacy Policy constitutes a valid and enforceable agreement with Plaintiff

and members of the Subclass.
125.

Google violated § 1572 through its repeated and explicit false assertions that it would

not share its users’ search queries with third parties without consent or absent a compelling reason,
as described herein. Google further violated this section by suppressing its knowledge of this fact.
126.

Additionally and/or alternatively, Google violated § 1573 by breaching its duty to

protect its users’ identities from third parties and gaining an advantage in doing so, by misleading its
users to their prejudice, as described herein.
127.

Plaintiff, on behalf of herself and the Subclass, seek damages from Google, including

but not limited to disgorgement of all proceeds Google obtained from its unlawful business
practices.
COUNT VI
(Breach of Contract)
(on behalf of Plaintiff, the Class, and the Subclass)

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California Civil Code § 1573 provides in relevant part that constructive fraud exists

128.

Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

129.

The provisions of Google’s Privacy Policy (the “Agreement”) constitute a valid and

enforceable contract between Plaintiff and the Class on the one hand, and Google on the other.
130.

Under the Agreement, Plaintiff and the Class agreed to use Defendant’s services and

transmit sensitive personally-identifiable information to Google in exchange for Google’s promise
that it would not share that personal information with third parties without users’ authorization.

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131.

alleged herein, including the disclosure of Plaintiff’s and the Class’s private search queries to third
parties.
132.

damages from Google in an amount to be determined at trial.
COUNT VIII
(Unjust Enrichment (In the Alternative))
(on behalf of Plaintiff, the Class and the Subclass)

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133.

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of the Class and Subclass, and as a result of sharing its users’ search queries with third parties
without their consent, Google has improved the quality of its search engine and enjoyed increased
revenues from advertisers.
135.

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Google appreciates or has knowledge of said benefit.

136.

Under principles of equity and good conscience, Google should not be permitted to

retain the benefits that it unjustly received as a result of its actions.
137.

Plaintiff, on her own behalf and on behalf of the Class, seeks the imposition of a

constructive trust on and restitution of the proceeds of Google received as a result of its conduct
described herein, as well as attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1021.5.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF

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Plaintiff and members of the Class and Subclass have conferred a benefit upon

Google. Google has received and retained valuable information belonging to Plaintiff and members

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Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

134.

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As a result of Google’s misconduct and breach of the Agreement described herein,

Plaintiff and the Class suffered injury. Plaintiff, on behalf of herself, the Class and Subclass, seek

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Google materially breached the terms of the Agreement through its unlawful conduct

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, individually and on behalf of the Class, prays for the following
relief:
A.

Certify this case as a class action on behalf of the Class and Subclass defined above,

appoint Plaintiff as representative of the Class and Subclass, and appoint her counsel as counsel for
the Class and Subclass, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure;

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B.

Communications Privacy Act (18 U.S.C. § 2702 et seq.), Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1572-73, constitute
violations of the common law and unjust enrichment;
C.

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Awarding injunctive and other equitable relief as is necessary to protect the interests

of Plaintiff, the Class, and the Subclass, including, inter alia, an order prohibiting Google from
engaging in the wrongful and unlawful acts described herein;
D.

Awarding damages, including statutory damages where applicable, to Plaintiff, the

Class and the Subclass, in an amount to be determined at trial;
E.

Awarding all economic, monetary, actual, consequential, and compensatory damages

caused by Google’s conduct, and if its conduct is proved willful, award Plaintiff, the Class and the
Subclass exemplary damages;
F.

Award restitution against Google for all money to which Plaintiff and the Class are

entitled in equity;
G.

Order Google to disgorge revenues and profits wrongfully obtained;

H.

Awarding Plaintiff and the Class their reasonable litigation expenses and attorneys’

I.

Awarding Plaintiff the Class and the Subclass interest, to the extent allowable; and

J.

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Declare that Google’s actions, as described herein, violate the Electronic

Awarding such other and further relief as equity and justice may require.

fees;

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Dated: May 2, 2011

Respectfully submitted,
EDELSON MCGUIRE, LLC
/s/ Michael Aschenbrener
Michael Aschenbrener
Attorneys for Plaintiff

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JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
Plaintiff hereby demands a trial by jury.

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Dated: May 2, 2011

Respectfully submitted,
EDELSON MCGUIRE, LLC
/s/ Michael Aschenbrener
Michael Aschenbrener
Attorneys for Plaintiff

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-33CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

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