In re Google Referrer Header Privacy Litigation

Filing 64

STATUS REPORT by Paloma Gaos. (Attachments: #1 Declaration of Kassra P. Nassiri, #2 Declaration of Randall W. Edwards)(Nassiri, Kassra) (Filed on 5/5/2014)

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KASSRA P. NASSIRI (215405)
1 ([e-mail])
NASSIRI & JUNG LLP
2 47 Kearny Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, California 94108
3 Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
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MICHAEL J. ASCHENBRENER
5 ([e-mail]) (277114)
ASCHENBRENER LAW, P.C.
6 795 Folsom Street, First Floor
San Francisco, CA 94107
7 Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
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9 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class
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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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In re GOOGLE REFERRER HEADER PRIVACY
LITIGATION

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Case No. 5:10-cv-04809-EJD
CLASS ACTION

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_______________________________________

JOINT STATUS REPORT

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This Document Relates To: All Actions
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The Parties submit the following joint status report:
I.

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THE CLASS ADMINISTRATOR TIMELY IMPLEMENTED THE NOTICE PLAN
On March 26, 2014, this Court issued its Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary

4 Approval of Class Action Settlement (“Order”). (Dkt. 63.) The Order requires that the Class
5 Administrator implement the Notice Plan, including the Settlement Website and Publication Plan,
6 no later than thirty days after entry of the Preliminary Approval Order. (Order at 14.)
7 Accordingly, on April 25, 2014, the Class Administrator launched the fully-operational settlement
8 website (www.googlesearchsettlement.com), launched the toll-free telephone number (855-3329 3405) where class members can obtain additional information and request a class notice, issued a
10 press release, and implemented the publication notice plan. (Declaration of Kassra P. Nassiri, ¶
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II.

GOOGLE’S DISCLOSURES HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT RECENT

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CHANGES IN GOOGLE’S SEARCH SERVICES

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Section 3.1 of the proposed Settlement Agreement and Release (Dkt. 52-3, “Settlement

15 Agreement”) concerns Google’s disclosures of how it handles search queries. Section 3.1 further
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If a subsequent change to Google’s services renders the AgreedUpon Disclosures inaccurate, Google may make future changes to
its disclosures to ensure continued accuracy. Likewise, Google
may change the form or placement of the disclosures as part of
future changes to its privacy policies, provided that the substance
remains substantially the same and that it is incorporated into the
applicable terms of the service of privacy policy and is reasonably
accessible to the user.
The Parties negotiated and attached to the Settlement Agreement specific disclosure

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language that was based on Google’s search services at the time. (Exhibit A to the Settlement
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Agreement.) The settlement did not require Google to implement the exact disclosure attached at
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Exhibit A, but to make a “disclosure in substantially the same content and form” as that contained
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in Exhibit A. (Id.) The disclosure in Exhibit A states:
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Are my search queries sent to websites when I click on Google
Search results?
In some cases, yes. When you click on a search result in Google
Search, your web browser also may send the Internet address, or
URL, of the search results page to the destination webpage as the
HTTP Referrer [preceding term will be a hyperlink to the Key
Terms page, located at
https://www.google.comlintl/en/policies/privacy/key-terms/]. The
URL of the search results page will sometimes contain the search
query you entered. If you are using SSL Search (Google's
encrypted search functionality) or if you are logged in to your
Google Account, under most circumstances your search terms will
not be sent as part of the URL in the HTTP Referrer. There are
some exceptions to this behavior. For example, if you click on an
ad appearing on the search results page, your browser will continue
to send the search terms in the HTTP Referrer to help advertisers
to improve the relevancy of the ads they present to you. More
information on SSL Search can be found here [preceding term will
be a hyperlink to:
http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answe
r= 173733]. Google may provide Google Analytics users with the
search query or with the information contained in the HTTP
Referrer.
In April 2014, prior to Google’s implementation of any disclosure under the Settlement

14 Agreement, Google made changes to its search services which, in turn, changed how referrer
15 headers are handled. As a result, Google revised its disclosure, pursuant to Section 3.1 of the
16 Settlement Agreement, to reflect the changes to its search service. The revised disclosure, which
17 is now incorporated on Google’s website per the Settlement Agreement, and which is linked to the
18 settlement website (http://www.googlesearchsettlement.com/hc/en-us/articles/201921810-Where19 can-I-get-more-information-about-referrer-headers-and-or-how-Google-handles-your-search20 queries-), reads as follows:
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Are my search queries sent to websites when I click on Google
Search results?
In some cases, yes. When you click on a search result in Google
Search, your web browser also may send the Internet address, or
URL, of the search results page to the destination webpage as the
HTTP Referrer. The URL of the search results page may
sometimes contain the search query you entered. If you are using
SSL Search (Google’s encrypted search functionality), under most
circumstances, your search terms will not be sent as part of the
URL in the HTTP Referrer. There are some exceptions to this
behavior, such as if you are using some less popular browsers.
More information on SSL Search can be found here. Search
queries or information contained in the HTTP Referrer may be

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available via Google Analytics or an application programming
interface (API). In addition, advertisers may receive information
relating to the exact keywords that triggered an ad click.

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(Declaration of Randall W. Edwards, ¶ 2.)
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III.

THE PARTIES AGREED ON NON-SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES TO THE CLASS

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NOTICE TO REFLECT THE NEW LOCATION OF GOOGLE’S WEB HISTORY
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DISCLOSURES ON GOOGLE’S WEBSITE
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Also in April 2014, Google reorganized its website and changed the location of its Web
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History disclosures. Google no longer maintains a separate webpage titled “Privacy FAQ for
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Google Web History.” Accordingly, the disclosure language for Web History was moved to the
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webpage https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/54068?hl=en, titled “About Web History.”
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The content of the disclosure language is substantially the same as the disclosure language
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attached to the Settlement Agreement. (Edwards Decl. ¶ 3.)
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Accordingly, the Parties agreed to update the Class Notice to include the new Web History
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URL and reflect the organizational change of Google’s webpages. A copy of the revised Class
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Notice that was published by the Class Administrator is attached as Exhibit A to the Nassiri
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Declaration. These changes to the Class Notice are highlighted for the Court’s convenience. The
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settlement website also contains a direct link to Google’s Web History disclosure.
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(http://www.googlesearchsettlement.com/hc/en-us/articles/201921810-Where-can-I-get-more18
information-about-referrer-headers-and-or-how-Google-handles-your-search-queries- .)
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Respectfully submitted,
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NASSIRI & JUNG LLP

Dated: May 2, 2014

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/s/ Kassra P. Nassiri
Kassra P. Nassiri
Counsel for Plaintiffs Gaos & Italiano

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Dated: May 2, 2014

ASCHENBRENER LAW, P.C.

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/s/ Michael Aschenbrener
Michael Aschenbrener
Counsel for Plaintiffs Gaos & Italiano

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O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP

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/s/ Randall W. Edwards
Randall W. Edwards
Counsel for Defendant Google in Gaos

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Dated: May 2, 2014

MAYER BROWN LLP

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/s/ Edward D. Johnson
Edward D. Johnson
Counsel for Defendant Google in Priyev

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FILER’S ATTESTATION
Pursuant to General Order No. 45, Section X, Subparagraph B, the undersigned attests that

3 all parties have concurred in the filing of this Joint Status Report.
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5 Dated: May 2, 2014

NASSIRI & JUNG LLP

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/s/ Kassra P. Nassiri
Kassra P. Nassiri
Counsel for Plaintiffs Gaos & Italiano

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