In Re FACEBOOK INTERNET TRACKING LITIGATION

Filing 114

RESPONSE (re #110 MOTION to Compel DISCOVERY AND COMPLIANCE WITH PROTECTIVE ORDER ) Defendant Facebook, Inc.s Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion To Compel filed byFacebook Inc.. (Attachments: #1 Declaration of Natalie Naugle, #2 Declaration of Adam C. Trigg, #3 Exhibit 1 to Trigg Declaration)(Brown, Matthew) (Filed on 3/30/2016)

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COOLEY LLP
MICHAEL G. RHODES (116127)
([e-mail])
MATTHEW D. BROWN (196972)
([e-mail])
JEFFREY M. GUTKIN (216083)
([e-mail])
KYLE C. WONG (224021)
([e-mail])
101 California Street, 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-5800
Telephone:
[phone]
Facsimile:
[phone]

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Attorneys for Defendant FACEBOOK, INC.

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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: Facebook Internet Tracking Litigation

Case No. 12-md-02314 EJD
DECLARATION OF NATALIE NAUGLE IN
SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT FACEBOOK,
INC.’S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’
MOTION TO COMPEL

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DATE:
TIME:
COURTROOM:
JUDGE:

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April 28, 2016
9:00 a.m.
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Edward J. Davila

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I, Natalie Naugle, declare as follows:

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1.

I am Associate General Counsel for Litigation for Defendant Facebook, Inc.

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(“Facebook”). I submit this declaration in conjunction with Facebook’s Opposition to Plaintiffs’

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Motion to Compel. Except as otherwise noted, I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth

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below and, if called as a witness to testify, could and would testify competently thereto.

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COOLEY LLP
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SAN FRANCISCO

1.

NAUGLE DECL. I/S/O FACEBOOK’S OPPOSITION
TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL
CASE NO. 12-MD-02314 EJD

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2.

Redactions. I understand that Plaintiffs have challenged certain limited redactions

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that occur in a small portion of Facebook’s document production. These redactions concern code

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words and descriptions of extremely sensitive Facebook projects. The existence and the scope of

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these projects are so highly confidential that most Facebook employees are not even aware of

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their development or existence. If competitors became aware of these projects, they might seek to

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replicate them before such projects were publicly disclosed by Facebook or exploit the knowledge

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in other ways, thus substantially decreasing Facebook’s competitive advantage and causing

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potentially significant harm to the company. These projects do not concern any of the events or

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technology at issue in this lawsuit.

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3.

Confidentiality Designations. I understand that Plaintiffs have challenged the

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confidentiality designations of the documents Facebook has produced. I further understand that

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Plaintiffs have not identified any specific documents they believe have been improperly

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designated and am thus unable to describe with specificity the confidentiality designation as to

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any of the 13,000 documents I understand Facebook produced. Nevertheless, I am familiar with a

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number of the documents produced in this case and can comment generally on the sensitivity of

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the information they contain. I am informed that the vast majority of the documents produced in

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this case consist of certain categories of documents: 1) Facebook task troubleshooting emails, 2)

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“Phabricator emails” regarding technical revisions to Facebook’s website or other code, 3)

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weekly engineering team reports, 4) internal Facebook “wikis,” and 5) technical discussions

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between Facebook engineers.

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4.

Task Troubleshooting Emails. Facebook’s platform is a dynamic and complex

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system that involves constant development and maintenance. When technical issues on the

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platform arise, Facebook engineers often track their troubleshooting efforts through the use of

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internal task assignments. Each task may be assigned to a number of Facebook engineers, who

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will update the task with relevant details as they proceed to resolve the technical issue. As the

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task is updated, Facebook’s internal systems will generate email chains informing those assigned

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to the task of the update. These updates commonly include discussions of Facebook’s proprietary

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systems and code as well as what are called “trace logs,” which are records of information or data

COOLEY LLP
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SAN FRANCISCO

2.

NAUGLE DECL. I/S/O FACEBOOK’S OPPOSITION
TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL
CASE NO. 12-MD-02314 EJD

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generated during an application’s operation and used by Facebook engineers to study and solve

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technical issues with the application. The technical details provided by Facebook engineers in

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these task updates include descriptions of technical issues or bugs in the Facebook code and the

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techniques Facebook engineers employ to troubleshoot and resolve those bugs. Disclosure of the

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detailed technical issues or bugs that Facebook engineers are addressing, trace logs, and the steps

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Facebook engineers have taken to resolve those issues would cause potentially significant

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competitive harm to Facebook in a number of ways. For instance, disclosure of such information

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would allow Facebook competitors to learn about the technical and troubleshooting methods that

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Facebook employs and to copy Facebook’s technical strategies, gaining an unfair advantage

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against Facebook. Disclosure would also allow Facebook competitors to learn of technical issues

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or bugs in Facebook code and exploit them for their own competitive gain. To the extent the

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information concerns security features on Facebook’s platform, disclosure of that information

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could potentially lead to security breaches that would harm both Facebook and its users.

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5.

Phabricator Emails. Every time Facebook code substantively changes, Facebook

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engineers on a certain internal mailing list receive emails detailing the revision to Facebook code,

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as presented and described on an internal Facebook server called “Phabricator.” These emails

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contain technical details of code revisions that pertain to the provision of Facebook services both

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on and off its website. Facebook has spent significant time and resources developing its code,

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techniques, and strategies.

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competitive harm to Facebook by allowing its competitors access to potentially highly sensitive

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information, which they could use to gain an unfair advantage against Facebook.

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6.

Public disclosure of the identified information would cause

Weekly Engineering Team Reports.

Weekly engineering team reports are

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shared only within a specific engineering team and typically include technical descriptions of

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projects that Facebook has recently completed, as well as projects the team is planning for the

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future. These emails disclose the technical and often proprietary details of, among other things,

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how Facebook tracks performance, grows Facebook’s user base, and improves Facebook

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services. Facebook has spent significant time and resources developing the operation of its

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website and provision of services. Public disclosure of such information would cause competitive

COOLEY LLP
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SAN FRANCISCO

3.

NAUGLE DECL. I/S/O FACEBOOK’S OPPOSITION
TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL
CASE NO. 12-MD-02314 EJD

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harm to Facebook by allowing its competitors to learn about the technical and troubleshooting

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methods that Facebook employs and to copy Facebook technical strategies, gaining an unfair

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advantage against Facebook. Facebook competitors would also learn of technical issues or bugs

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in Facebook code and exploit them for their own competitive gain. To the extent the information

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is about security features on Facebook’s platform, disclosure of that information could potentially

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lead to security breaches that would harm both Facebook and its users.

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Internal Facebook “Wikis.” Facebook has internal webpages accessible to and

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editable by its employees that Facebook calls “wikis.” The wikis are categorized by subject,

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which allows Facebook employees to document Facebook’s projects and website functionality in

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one location that various employees can access. The wikis in Facebook’s production in this

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action contain discussions of Facebook’s cookies and website functionality that are highly

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sensitive. Public disclosure of that information would cause competitive harm to Facebook by

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allowing its competitors to understand Facebook’s technical and business strategies, gaining an

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unfair advantage against Facebook.

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8.

Technical Discussions Between Facebook Engineers. Nearly all of the rest of

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Facebook’s production consists of emails containing technical discussions between Facebook

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engineers. These emails include discussions about how Facebook code accesses and processes

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cookies and the function that each cookie serves in order to deliver, secure, and monitor products,

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services, and ads on Facebook’s website and with Facebook partners. Facebook has spent

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significant time and resources developing the operation of its website, including its use of

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cookies.

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Facebook by allowing its competitors access to sensitive information, which they could use to

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gain an unfair advantage against Facebook.

Public disclosure of the identified information would cause competitive harm to

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I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

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Executed on March 28, 2016 in Menlo Park, California.

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/s/ Natalie Naugle
Natalie Naugle

COOLEY LLP
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SAN FRANCISCO

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NAUGLE DECL. I/S/O FACEBOOK’S OPPOSITION
TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL
CASE NO. 12-MD-02314 EJD

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ATTESTATION PURSUANT TO CIV. L.R. 5-1(i)(3)
In accordance with Northern District of California Civil Local Rule 5-1(i)(3), I hereby

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attest that I have obtained concurrence in the filing of this document from each of the other

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signatories.

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/s/ Matthew D. Brown
Matthew D. Brown

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COOLEY LLP
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SAN FRANCISCO

5.

NAUGLE DECL. I/S/O FACEBOOK’S OPPOSITION
TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL
CASE NO. 12-MD-02314 EJD