Campbell et al v. Facebook Inc.
Filing
199
NOTICE by Facebook Inc. Joint Notice of Refiling of Documents Accompanying Class Certification Briefs and Evidentiary Objections (Attachments: # 1 Ex. 1 - Replacement for Dkt. 178-1, # 2 Ex. 2 - Replacement for Dkt. 183-4, # 3 Ex. 3 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-1, # 4 Ex. 4 - Replacement for Dkt. 184-3, # 5 Ex. 5 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-2, # 6 Ex. 6 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-3, # 7 Ex. 7 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-4, # 8 Ex. 8 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-5, # 9 Ex. 9 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-6, # 10 Ex. 10 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-7, # 11 Ex. 11 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-10, # 12 Ex. 12 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-11, # 13 Ex. 13 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-12, # 14 Ex. 14 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-13, # 15 Ex. 15 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-14, # 16 Ex. 16 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-15, # 17 Ex. 17 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-16, # 18 Ex. 18 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-17, # 19 Ex. 19 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-18, # 20 Ex. 20 - Replacement for Dkt. 179-20, # 21 Ex. 21 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-2, # 22 Ex. 22 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-3, # 23 Ex. 23 - Replacement for Dkt. 184-9, # 24 Ex. 24 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-7, # 25 Ex. 25 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-9, # 26 Ex. 26 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-12, # 27 Ex. 27 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-17, # 28 Ex. 28 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-18, # 29 Ex. 29 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-19, # 30 Ex. 30 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-20, # 31 Ex. 31 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-21, # 32 Ex. 32 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-22, # 33 Ex. 33 - Replacement for Dkt. 180-23, # 34 Ex. 34 - Replacement for Dkt. 178-5)(Chorba, Christopher) (Filed on 6/15/2016)
EXHIBIT 23
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY
1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
2
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
3
OAKLAND DIVISION
4
__________________________
5
MATTHEW CAMPBELL,
)Case No.
6
MICHAEL HURLEY, and
)C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)
7
DAVID SHADPOUR
)
8
Plaintiffs
)
9
vs.
)
10
FACEBOOK, INC.
)
11
Defendants
)
12
___________________________
13
14
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY
15
16
Videotaped Deposition of Jennifer Golbeck
17
Washington, D.C.
18
December 16, 2015
19
9:03 a.m.
20
21
Reported by:
Bonnie L. Russo
22
Job No. 2196773
23
24
25
PAGES 1 - 357
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2
you looking at or opining on?
A.
So I looked at two versions of this
3
guy's -- the fraudulent guy's Web sites -- he
4
had two Web sites -- and basically just said
5
the name of Equity Trust Company didn't appear
6
on those Web sites.
7
Q.
When you refer to the Internet
8
archive, is that the same as the Wayback
9
Machine?
10
A.
It is.
11
Q.
Okay.
12
13
14
15
16
17
Is that something you rely
upon in -- in your work?
A.
Pretty -- I use it pretty
frequently.
Q.
Is it pretty -- do you find it to be
fairly reliable?
A.
It's -- yeah, for what it is, right?
18
It's definitely not a complete archive of
19
everything that's out there, but the copies of
20
things that they do have are accurate.
21
And -- and I -- this is, again,
22
totally outside the area of my expertise
23
legally, but I think -- my understanding is
24
that they actually have said that legally it
25
can be assumed as true that, if something was
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archived on March 1st, that that absolutely was
2
there on March 1st.
3
in that way.
4
Q.
So it seems reliable to me
Other than the expert reports and
5
testimony we've talked about, is there any
6
other -- are there any other expert reports or
7
testimony that you've ever given?
8
A.
No.
There are other cases that I've
9
been invited to participate in, especially
10
patent cases, but ones that I've declined.
11
12
Q.
Have you ever served as a
nontestifying consultant in a -- in a lawsuit?
13
A.
So those --
14
Q.
Other than the E. Stephanie and --
15
you'll have to remind me of the name of the
16
other one.
17
A.
Yeah.
18
Q.
Sherry's Dance Studio.
19
A.
-- I think --
20
Q.
Yeah.
21
A.
-- is what that was.
22
23
24
25
Sherry's Dance Studio, I --
Those I would count in there.
Other
than those, I don't -- I don't think so.
Q.
If you -- in the instances when
you've declined to work in a patent case, why
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A.
Yes.
2
Q.
Have you observed people with
3
differing degrees of knowledge -- and here I'm
4
talking about social network users -- regarding
5
sort of the collection and processing of their
6
data by the social network?
7
8
A.
Yeah.
There's vastly different
understandings.
9
Q.
Why do you think that is?
10
A.
It's really complicated, you know.
11
It -- and I think it's hard even for people who
12
are trained in that space to -- to really
13
understand what's happening because its
14
relatively opaque.
15
I have been surprised at times on --
16
on what data is made available say to third
17
parties.
18
about that, right?
And I spend all my time learning
19
Q.
Uh-huh.
20
A.
That -- kind of how data gets out.
21
So I say in a lot of these talks, like if I
22
didn't know, like literally no one on earth can
23
be expected to know because it's my full-time
24
job, and I'm one of the experts on it.
25
So, you know, it's complicated.
And
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then there's people with varying degrees of how
2
interested they are in tracking this down --
3
Q.
Uh-huh.
4
A.
-- right?
I think it's analogous to
5
like terms of service, right?
6
Most people don't.
7
that gives you a big difference in what you
8
understand.
9
Q.
I read them.
And, you know, that's --
Would you agree with me that some
10
people understand that, when they are
11
interacting with a -- with a Web site, that
12
there are various electronic processes
13
happening in order to render the site and, you
14
know, basically make the site run, some people
15
are sort of aware of that, and others don't
16
have a clue?
17
18
MR. RUDOLPH:
Vague.
19
Objection.
Form.
Compound.
THE WITNESS:
I think that's true,
20
that there's varying levels of understanding
21
that people have on how that works.
22
23
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Have you observed differing degrees
24
of consent from users for collection and use of
25
their data?
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general is -- I find it's much more difficult
2
to use.
3
There are certainly more people with
4
public profiles on Facebook, but it's a lot
5
harder to find them in the way they can be
6
found on Twitter or Pinterest, for example.
7
8
Q.
11
So tell me briefly what the
thesis was of the -- of the TED talk.
9
10
Okay.
A.
Oh.
I've never thought of it that
Q.
Or maybe not -- "thesis" is the
way.
12
wrong word, but the -- the point you were
13
making.
14
A.
I think -- you know, talking about
15
what people know and what they don't, hardly
16
anyone who hasn't seen my TED talk knows that
17
these kind of person- -- private personal
18
attributes can be inferred about them from what
19
they're doing online.
20
And the purpose of the TED talk was
21
really to kind of explain the vary powerful
22
things that we can do with this technology and
23
get people thinking about the implications.
24
25
Q.
And one of the things, I think --
you know, forgive me if I'm getting this
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wrong -- but you discuss with homophily?
2
A.
Yes.
You got it right.
3
Q.
What is -- what -- you may have to
4
give the court reporter the spelling of that
5
one.
6
7
But what is -- what is that exactly?
A.
Yeah.
So homophily,
8
H-O-M-O-P-H-I-L-Y, is a concept from sociology
9
actually that basically birds of a father flock
10
together, that we tend to be friends with
11
people who share our traits more than people
12
randomly pulled from the general population
13
would share our traits.
14
So you're right; you're friends with
15
rich people.
16
friends tend to be poorly educated.
17
to race, sexual orientation, income, education,
18
kind of across the board.
19
If you're poorly educated, your
It applies
Not that all of your friends are
20
like that, but your traits are more common in
21
your friends than they are in the general
22
population.
23
Q.
And does this -- is this sort of --
24
is this the phenomenon that allows a researcher
25
like yourself to look at seemingly random data,
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like what kind of fries you like, and then make
2
some sort of -- and I'm phrasing this really
3
badly -- but draw an inference about it based
4
upon attributes that you wouldn't think would
5
correlate with that?
6
A.
Sometimes.
7
Q.
Not a good question.
8
A.
So in the curly fries example in the
9
talk, which you were just talking about --
10
Q.
Yeah.
11
A.
-- you know, I kind of hypothesize
12
that homophily was one of the things that play
13
there.
14
those algorithms --
Sometimes it's used very directly in
15
Q.
Uh-huh.
16
A.
-- where they're relying on that
17
basically as the entirety.
18
role in a lot of those algorithms, though
19
sometimes it's much less explicit.
20
21
22
Q.
I think it plays a
Is homophily at all relevant to the
organization of social networks?
A.
In -- so are you asking could a
23
social network organize around that principle,
24
or does it emerge in social networks?
25
Q.
I guess more the latter.
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A.
I think it's true.
I mean the
2
principle says these are the kinds of people we
3
tend to choose as friends, right?
4
liberal, I will tend to choose other liberal
5
people as my friends.
6
If I'm a
And so, in that case, it can
7
influence how a social network forms.
8
find out some guy is a ranging racist, I may
9
unfriend him on Facebook, and that affects the
10
If I
network.
11
So that -- that could be a way
12
homophily is considered, its play in
13
influencing the structure of the network.
14
Q.
15
graph.
16
17
Earlier you talked about social
Remind me what you meant by that?
A.
Social graph is just a -- a term to
18
refer to people and their connections to one
19
another.
20
21
22
23
Q.
And generally how is the data in a
social graph organized?
A.
Like from a computing perspective or
from a mathematical perspective?
24
Q.
I think a computing perspective.
25
A.
So there it really depends.
So from
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the mathematical perspective, it tends to be
2
represented in a graph structure, which is a
3
mathematical concept --
4
Q.
Okay.
5
A.
-- and to tease into their
6
connections to one another.
7
Q.
Uh-huh.
8
A.
Com- -- computationally, you could
9
store that in a relational database.
There's
10
also graph-based databases that -- that are
11
network-based instead of relational.
12
really depends on the implementation.
13
14
15
16
17
Q.
Uh-huh.
So it
Do you know if Facebook has
a social graph?
A.
I mean they certainly have people
connected to other people.
Q.
Uh-huh.
And is that something -- do
18
you know if there are other things that go into
19
their social graph?
20
A.
Well, I would just want to be
21
careful about terminology here, because
22
Facebook has a thing that they call "the social
23
graph" --
24
Q.
Right.
25
A.
-- which is different from the kind
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of generic way I'm using the term.
2
Q.
Okay.
3
A.
So Facebook's certainly has more
4
information about people and their connections
5
than simply the fact that Alice and Bob are
6
connected as friends.
7
that.
8
9
Q.
They have more data than
What kind of -- what kind of data do
you -- I mean when you said Facebook has a --
10
has something they call "the social graph,"
11
what is your understanding of what that is in
12
the context of Facebook?
13
A.
So Facebook's social graph, my
14
understanding is it's how they refer to
15
basically the way that they store all of the
16
kind of network-structured data within their
17
systems.
18
So it would include -- I believe it
19
includes the profile information about people,
20
all the data about people, information about
21
their connections to other people.
22
But I think the social graph --
23
Facebook social graph also includes data about
24
connections between other entities within
25
Facebook.
So, for example, pages that I
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like --
2
Q.
Right.
3
A.
-- would be part of Facebook's
4
5
6
social graph.
Q.
Do you think the Facebook social
graph is valuable?
7
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
8
THE WITNESS:
What do you mean by
9
"valuable"?
10
11
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
12
13
Vague.
Well, does it have monetary value?
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Lacks
foundation.
14
THE WITNESS:
I've --
15
MR. RUDOLPH:
Vague.
16
THE WITNESS:
I've got like no
17
expertise in the monetary value of these
18
things.
19
BY MR. JESSEN:
20
Q.
Understood.
21
A.
So I'm not quite sure how to answer.
22
Q.
Okay.
Just more like in the
23
abstract, talking about social graphs, like --
24
well, I guess if you were -- strike that.
25
Do you know where the data in
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Facebook's social graph is stored?
2
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
3
THE WITNESS:
What do you mean by
4
"where"?
5
6
7
Vague.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Like in a database or a particular
computer science structure?
8
A.
I know --
9
Q.
A system.
10
A.
Yeah.
11
Q.
Go ahead.
12
A.
I know they have a system called
13
TAO --
14
Q.
Uh-huh.
15
A.
-- which I believe stands for "The
Sorry.
16
Objects and Associations," which is one
17
abstraction that they use to store that data.
18
There are databases that back that.
19
Q.
20
T-A-O?
21
A.
What's your understanding of TAO,
I think I basically just gave you
22
the bulk of it.
23
blog post that kind of describes TAO, which
24
I've read a number of times.
25
There's a Facebook engineering
So I have that kind of high-level
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understanding of the fact that it stores data
2
with that structure that the abstraction
3
presumably allows them to compute with it in a
4
more efficient manner.
5
Q.
Is it your understanding that
6
everything stored in TAO is the social graph --
7
the Facebook social graph?
8
9
A.
Do you mean that, if it's not in
TAO, it's not part of the social graph?
10
This is a -- it's a hard question to
11
answer because where you draw the line is
12
fuzzy.
13
Q.
Okay.
14
A.
Right?
15
Q.
Okay.
16
A.
Yeah.
17
18
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
I'm sorry.
We
should probably switch the...
19
MR. JESSEN:
Okay.
20
break, and we'll let him...
21
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
Let's take a
22
Off the record at
11:13.
23
This is the end of Media Unit No. 1.
24
(A short recess was taken.)
25
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
On the record at
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11:31.
2
3
This is the beginning of Media Unit
2 in the deposition of Dr. Jennifer Golbeck.
4
BY MR. JESSEN:
5
6
Q.
Dr. Golbeck, are you familiar with
object-oriented programming?
7
A.
I am.
8
Q.
What is that?
9
A.
It's a category of programming
10
languages that have the ability and I would say
11
are centered around the ability to create
12
objects.
13
Q.
14
those?
15
A.
Oh, I don't think I could list them
17
Q.
Well, let me --
18
A.
Java is a big one.
19
Q.
Yeah.
20
A.
Cplusplus.
21
Q.
What about PHP?
22
A.
I would call PHP scripting language,
16
23
What programming languages are
all.
not a object-oriented programming language.
24
Q.
What's the difference?
25
A.
You probably can create objects in
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PHP, but it's not kind of the primacy of what
2
the language is built around.
3
4
Q.
Uh-huh.
What is the significance of
objects in object-oriented programming?
5
A.
They're very significant.
6
Q.
Okay.
7
A.
I'm sorry.
8
I'm not sure exactly
what you're asking.
9
Q.
10
they play?
11
A.
Yeah.
I mean -- well, what role do
It's a way of representing data.
12
It's basically a more complex data structure.
13
Object-oriented programming languages have
14
natural built-in support for working with those
15
that would be hard to develop yourself in a
16
non-object-oriented programming language.
17
Q.
Would it be possible to create a
18
program in an object-oriented language that
19
does not create objects?
20
A.
Depends on the language.
21
Q.
What about cplusplus?
22
A.
Cplusplus you can do it without
23
creating any objects.
24
Q.
Is that common?
25
A.
I don't feel like I'm expert enough
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on all the programming languages out there at
2
this point to be able to say.
3
4
5
6
Q.
Okay.
What about Java; could you do
it with Java?
A.
Java you have to create a class,
which is the representation of an object.
7
Q.
Can you use objects with PHP?
8
A.
I believe that there is a way that
9
10
you can use objects in PHP, yes.
Q.
You've reviewed some of -- and we're
11
going to get into this in more detail, but you
12
reviewed some of the Facebook source code --
13
A.
I did.
14
Q.
-- as part of your expert report.
15
Would you agree with me that the
16
code you reviewed was written in an
17
object-oriented language?
18
A.
So it was written in PHP, and there
19
are objects in it.
20
there are some kind of deep computer "sciencey"
21
things going on here that are -- that I just
22
don't know about from like the theory of
23
programming languages perspective.
24
25
My hesitation is just that
So I agree that it's in PHP.
And I
agree that there are objects in it.
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Q.
Uh-huh.
But you wouldn't consider
2
the PHP code that you reviewed of Facebook to
3
be object-oriented?
4
A.
I think it would be fair to call it
5
object-oriented.
6
know if a programming languages theorist in
7
computer science would say that PHP is an
8
object-oriented programming language.
9
don't know.
10
Q.
Okay.
My hesitation is that I don't
I just
Would you agree that, in a
11
software that is written in an object-oriented
12
programming language, essentially all data is
13
stored in objects?
14
A.
I don't know that I can agree with
15
that.
16
and how you have it written.
17
I think it depends on the implementation
Q.
Well, would you agree that software
18
written in an object-oriented language
19
typically stores data in objects?
20
A.
Probably.
I think the reasoning
21
that people might select an object-oriented
22
programming language is to store data in
23
objects.
24
25
Q.
And does that doing -- does that --
doing that have certain efficiencies?
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2
3
A.
Totally depends on the
implementation.
Q.
Okay.
Would you agree that, in
4
object-oriented programming, creating and
5
storing objects from data received is a
6
fundamental aspect of how that type of
7
programming operates?
8
9
10
A.
Can you just repeat that question,
please.
Q.
11
Yeah.
Sure.
Would you agree that, in
12
object-oriented programming, creating and
13
storing objects from data received is a
14
fundamental aspect of how that type of
15
programming operates?
16
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
17
THE WITNESS:
What do you mean by
18
"data received"?
19
20
21
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, what is -- I think you said
earlier objects represent things.
22
And so could some of those things be
23
data that the -- that the software is
24
receiving?
25
A.
Receiving from just -Page 113
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Q.
From the --
2
A.
-- anything?
3
Q.
Let's say for a user, for example.
4
A.
So we started talking about
5
something implemented online.
6
Q.
Sure.
We can in this --
7
A.
I think it wouldn't be uncommon, if
8
you're using an object-oriented programming
9
language, to store data in objects.
10
Q.
Okay.
Object-oriented programming
11
is a common practice; would you agree with
12
that?
13
A.
I think that's fair.
14
Q.
Okay.
So creating and storing
15
objects is not something unique or unusual in
16
the case of Facebook, is it?
17
18
MR. RUDOLPH:
THE WITNESS:
Like creating
objects -- like an object within the code in --
21
22
Vague.
Form.
19
20
Objection.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Yeah.
Using -- you know, for -- for
23
Facebook to create objects which represent
24
things on its Web site, that's not an unusual
25
practice for a Web site, is it?
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2
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
Form.
Vague.
3
So the
4
hesitation that I'm having is that there are
5
ways of storing data in objects, which is not
6
necessarily the same as the objects one would
7
create in a program that's running.
8
9
And Facebook does both of those
things.
So if we're talking about
10
object-oriented programming, I don't think
11
there's anything unusual that I've seen in the
12
code about the -- the code and the objects that
13
are created within it to operate on that data.
14
15
16
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
And you're talking about the
Facebook code that you've reviewed?
17
A.
Yes.
18
Q.
Okay.
19
What is
Facebook?
20
21
Very basic question:
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Vague.
THE WITNESS:
I'd say it's kind of
Overbroad.
22
23
vague.
It's a online social networking
24
platform.
25
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BY MR. JESSEN:
2
3
Q.
the service that Facebook provides?
4
5
And what is your understanding of
A.
I think Facebook provides a lot of
different services.
6
Q.
Such as?
7
A.
The ability to create an online
8
profile.
The ability to build connections to
9
friends and share posts with them.
10
gaming component of the platform.
11
for example.
12
now.
13
There's a
Farmville,
I guess Candy Crush is big there
I don't play games on Facebook.
Obviously they have a messaging
14
functionality.
15
which is a little bit different than the user
16
maintaining a profile.
17
profiles that people can like, and businesses
18
can distribute information that way.
19
They have a business platform,
Businesses can create
They have an advertising
20
functionality, external social plug-ins.
21
don't know how much they're still using it, but
22
there's the Facebook Connect kind of Universal
23
log-in functionality.
24
25
I
And, you know, there's overlap
between some of these, but a lot of them are
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quite distinct functions centered around having
2
a Facebook account.
3
4
Q.
Okay.
And you -- you are -- you are
a Facebook user, correct?
5
A.
I am.
6
Q.
How many Facebook accounts do you
7
have?
8
9
A.
I mean I have one kind of account
for myself.
10
I have a professional author page.
Q.
Sorry.
12
A.
No.
13
Q.
The account for -- when you say you
11
I didn't mean to interrupt
you.
Go ahead.
14
have a -- "I have an account for myself," like
15
a personal account.
16
A.
Right.
17
Q.
Jen Golbeck's?
18
A.
It is.
19
Q.
Okay.
20
21
All right.
And then you also
have a professional account, you said?
A.
Well, so it's -- it's connected to
22
my personal account, but I have a professional
23
page -- I think it's an author page -- that
24
people can like that I don't have to be friends
25
with.
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So my personal account is kept very
2
private.
3
of professional public communications.
4
Q.
That author page is where I do kind
Yeah.
Do you know what e-mail addresses
5
you have associated with your Facebook
6
accounts?
7
8
A.
My main -- the account I use is
golbeck@gmail.com.
9
How many accounts have I created
10
over time and what e-mails?
I don't know.
I
11
probably have one associated with my UMD
12
account, my UMD e-mail address.
13
if I ever log in there.
14
account for my fictional guy in my
15
investigations book, Malcolm Conroy Smith, who
16
is not an actual person.
17
Facebook doesn't shut his account down or like
18
ask for his passport.
19
over the place, and I maintain that.
I don't know
And then there's
I'd appreciate it if
He's got accounts all
20
Q.
Okay.
21
A.
He also has his own Gmail account.
22
Q.
What was his name, Malcolm Conroy
23
Smith?
24
A.
Yes.
25
Q.
And tell me what his function is
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again.
2
A.
In my book "Social Media
3
Investigation," I wanted to have a kind of
4
account that people reading the book could go
5
kind of cyber stalk basically.
6
So he posts all kind of stuff on all
7
kinds of social media platforms, same profile
8
picture and user name so they can kind of
9
practice some of the techniques without
10
11
stalking any real people.
Q.
12
13
Understood.
You have -- are you an active Gmail
user?
14
A.
An active Gmail user?
15
Q.
Yeah.
16
A.
Yes.
17
Q.
You mentioned Gmail.
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
Golbeck@gmail.com.
20
And have you been for a long time?
21
A.
22
users.
23
Q.
What year would that have been?
24
A.
2003 or '4 maybe.
25
I was one of the very first Gmail
I got an invite
from Google when they launched.
And, you know,
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you could invite two other people.
And people
2
were selling the invites on E-Bay for hundreds
3
of dollars.
It was like very technocool --
4
Q.
Okay.
5
A.
-- at the time.
6
Q.
Nice.
7
Do you also have a Yahoo account?
8
A.
Probably, yeah.
9
Q.
Is that something you use as well?
10
A.
I think the only time I use it is
11
connected to my Flickr account, I think.
12
definitely don't use Yahoo e-mail, but I
13
probably get spam there.
14
one or two services I use where I occasionally
15
have to log in with that.
16
only one that I can think of.
17
Q.
I
I feel like there's
But Flickr is the
Are you aware that there have been
18
lawsuits against Google and Yahoo that are
19
comparable to the lawsuit against Facebook?
20
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Vague.
Lacks foundation.
22
THE WITNESS:
23
Gmail one.
24
I do know about the
Yahoo.
25
I didn't know there was one against
BY MR. JESSEN:
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Q.
There's also one against Twitter.
2
A.
Interesting.
3
Q.
That's a newer one.
4
5
6
What was your understanding of the
lawsuit against Google?
A.
That -- so my understanding is that
7
there was a class action lawsuit alleging --
8
basically around Google showing targeted ads
9
based on the contents of people's Gmail
10
accounts.
11
that.
12
Q.
That's -- that's how I understood
Is that something that you
13
understood when you were using -- when you used
14
Gmail, that they actually do, Google?
15
MR. RUDOLPH:
I'm going to object to
16
this line of questioning as being beyond the
17
scope of Dr. "Golberg's" expert testimony.
18
You can answer.
19
BY MR. JESSEN:
20
Q.
You can answer.
21
A.
Okay.
Did I understand that Gmail
22
was analyzing the contents of my messages to do
23
advertising?
24
Q.
Yes.
25
A.
I did.
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Q.
Since 2004 you understood that or...
2
A.
Oh.
No.
I -- I don't know when I
3
first thought about that.
4
lawsuit -- when I read about that lawsuit, I
5
knew that they were doing that.
6
7
Q.
Uh-huh.
But when that
And did you keep using --
you kept using Gmail?
8
A.
I did.
9
Q.
Did this alleged practices against
10
11
Google bother you?
A.
Yeah.
12
MR. RUDOLPH:
13
BY MR. JESSEN:
14
15
16
17
Q.
Vague.
So why did you keep -- why did you
keep using the -- the Gmail account?
A.
The -- again, there's a seven-hour
answer here.
18
19
Objection.
I'll try to keep it short.
Yeah.
I mean I -- I consider part
of my work, you know -- well, not consider.
20
A lot of my work is focused around
21
privacy.
And I have a kind of dystopian view
22
of where we're going in terms of privacy in the
23
online space.
24
The problem that I see is that there
25
are not a ton of great alternatives, and we're
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not given a lot of options, right?
2
switch to another e-mail provider who, even if
3
their terms of service now says they won't do
4
that, they could start doing it later.
5
So I could
If I pay for one, which I would
6
absolutely be willing to do, there's no
7
guarantee they're going to stay in business.
8
And that probably was my biggest motivation for
9
sticking with Gmail.
10
I have two Gmail accounts, a
11
professional and a personal one.
12
whole life since 2004 or '5 is in both of
13
those.
14
and to potentially having to switch again is
15
higher than my level of "upsetness" with the
16
privacy issues.
17
18
Q.
And like my
It would be -- the cost of switching
Understood.
So you're willing to trade some of
19
your privacy in return for the convenience of
20
continuing to use your Gmail account.
21
22
23
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Mischaracterizes prior thyme testimony.
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
24
don't think that's quite right.
25
I -- I mean I
Like I would
love to have the option.
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BY MR. JESSEN:
2
Q.
Right.
3
A.
Like I'd pay Gmail for the privacy.
4
If they let me, I would pay lots of services.
5
Like you can go tell Facebook, if they let me
6
pay for my account and didn't show me ads, like
7
I would totally pay them like way more a month
8
than they get on advertising.
9
It's not an option.
So I don't know
10
that I'm willing to trade privacy for
11
convenience.
12
trade-off.
13
willing to continue using Gmail.
14
15
16
17
Q.
I don't see it as that kind of
But I -- it's true that I was
Do you use any kind of like ad
blocking software?
A.
I use like ten kinds of ad blocking
software.
18
Q.
Do -- do they work?
19
A.
Yes.
20
Q.
So do you actually -- like going to
21
Facebook, do you see ads when you visit
22
Facebook or...
23
A.
That's a good question.
I don't see
24
the regular Facebook ads that appear on the
25
side.
I think I do see some sponsored posts.
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I think that's right.
2
3
Q.
I think I see some.
When did you first sign up for a
Facebook account?
4
A.
August of 2005, I believe.
5
Q.
That was pretty early too.
6
A.
Sure was.
7
Q.
Why did you do that?
8
Why did you
sign up?
9
A.
I had accounts on every social
10
network that existed in 2005 except the adults
11
ones.
12
Q.
Okay.
What -- what -- what prompted
13
you to set up a Facebook account in August of
14
2005?
15
A.
So part of my dissertation is --
16
there was a whole chapter on kind of the state
17
of social networks.
18
Q.
Uh-huh.
19
A.
I had a list of all the social
20
networks that existed.
21
particular set of features that I was
22
interested in seeing if those had, which were
23
relevant to my work but not really relevant
24
now.
25
And there's a
So I had accounts on all of those
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networks first to go in and see if those
2
features were there and also just to kind of be
3
aware of the state of things.
4
It was a -- a new enough phenomenon
5
in 2004, 2005 that there weren't a lot of
6
people who were just experts on what existed.
7
So part of my becoming a doctor was becoming
8
one of those experts.
9
10
Q.
And you've continued to use Facebook
to the present day?
11
A.
Yes.
12
Q.
How -- how often do you use
13
Facebook?
14
A.
Every day.
15
Q.
Okay.
16
How long every day, on
average?
17
A.
It's hard to add up because I do a
18
lot of it like at red lights maybe, checking my
19
Facebook account.
20
Q.
A very bad practice.
21
A.
I know.
22
23
day.
Probably a couple hours a
Maybe -- maybe one hour a day total.
Q.
And how much of that is for your
24
like personal Facebook use as opposed to
25
research you might be doing?
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A.
It's hard for me to draw that line.
2
If I didn't have a professional need to kind of
3
know what's going on, I may have closed my
4
Facebook account.
5
You know, I'm in my 30s.
And it's a
6
lot of my friends posting pictures of their
7
babies, which all kind of look the same after a
8
while.
9
So, you know, on one hand it's
10
mostly personal stuff that I'm looking at,
11
things that my friends have posted.
12
post all that much, but occasionally it -- it's
13
for them.
14
I don't
At the same time, I -- I -- the
15
reason I have the account, I -- I would say is
16
80 percent professional just so I kind of know
17
the features that are there, know what's going
18
on, know the memes, that kind of thing.
19
20
21
Q.
You normally access Facebook from a
computer or mobile device?
A.
It's probably half and half.
I
22
prefer to use my computer when i have it, but
23
there's a lot of times I'm walking around, use
24
the phone.
25
Q.
What browser or browsers do you use
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to access Facebook?
2
A.
On my phone I use Safari pretty much
3
exclusively -- or I use -- actually use the
4
Facebook app.
5
Safari, but I usually use the app.
6
computer, primarily through Firefox, though I
7
do use Chrome and Safari on my computer.
8
9
Q.
I do sometimes access it with
On my
Do you have JavaScript enabled on
all those browsers?
10
A.
I do.
11
Q.
Has that always been the case?
12
A.
I occasionally turn it off, but
13
generally its always enabled.
14
Q.
Why do you occasionally turn it off?
15
A.
It really slows things down.
16
Sometimes, you know, there will be sites that
17
have scripts that just kind of crank and will
18
-- especially my Firefox because it's very
19
customized.
20
it.
21
JavaScript will sometimes crash
Some days, if I'm just feeling
22
particularly privacy paranoid, I'll also turn
23
it off.
24
25
Q.
Why would you turn it off if you're
feeling privacy paranoid?
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A.
So a lot of the technology that --
2
for example, key logging technology, as you're
3
typing, what you're typing is being
4
transmitted, is done with a technology called
5
AJAX.
6
if you turn JavaScript off, the actions that
7
you're taking on your computer can't be
8
transmitted until you submit them.
9
10
And the J in AJAX is for JavaScript.
Q.
So
Have you used the Facebook Messages
product?
11
A.
The app or just the --
12
Q.
Either one.
13
first start with the -- the Web site itself.
14
15
Either -- well, let's
Are you aware of the messaging
functionality?
16
A.
I do use that on Facebook.
17
Q.
How long have you used that feature?
18
A.
Probably since it's been there.
19
Q.
Do you also do it on the -- in the
20
21
Facebook app for Messenger app?
A.
Yeah.
Well, you can't send messages
22
in the Facebook app.
23
Messenger app.
24
app for privacy concerns.
25
It has to be in the
I won't download the Messenger
So if I'm on the mobile and I have
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to do messaging, I'll do it by accessing
2
Facebook through the browser on my device.
3
Q.
Okay.
I assume that you have both
4
sent and received messages through the Facebook
5
Messages product.
6
A.
That's right.
7
Q.
Can you give me an estimate of how
8
many messages you've sent through Facebook
9
Messages product?
10
A.
I have no idea.
You could probably
11
have them counted for me.
I mean I can't even
12
give you an order of magnitude.
13
told me it was a thousand, I'd believe you.
14
you told me it was a hundred thousand, I'd
15
believe you too.
Like if you
If
16
Q.
It sounds like it's a lot.
17
A.
There's a few people that I do a lot
18
of -- the equivalent of texting, right, with
19
them through the Messages app.
20
21
Q.
You've also received a lot of
messages through Messages product?
22
A.
I have.
23
Q.
Okay.
Can you provide an estimate
24
as to how many Facebook users you've exchanged
25
messages with through the Facebook Messages
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product?
2
MR. RUDOLPH:
Just going to -- I'm
3
going to object to this line of questioning as
4
being beyond the scope of Dr. "Golberg's"
5
expert report -- Golbeck.
6
Sorry.
7
MR. JESSEN:
8
MS. MAUTE:
9
THE WITNESS:
10
MR. JESSEN:
Goldberg's my expert.
I've been doing that.
Yeah.
It is kind of funny
11
that they're so close.
12
MR. RUDOLPH:
It's going to happen.
13
THE WITNESS:
Not the only time it
14
happens to me.
15
Probably 30-ish.
16
BY MR. JESSEN:
17
18
19
Q.
Okay.
Have you sent Facebook
Messages containing URLs?
A.
I have.
20
MR. RUDOLPH:
21
BY MR. JESSEN:
22
Q.
Same objection.
How many?
23
MR. RUDOLPH:
Same objection.
24
THE WITNESS:
How many messages?
25
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2
3
4
5
6
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, now I'm focused specifically
on messages containing URLs.
A.
It's very hard for me to gauge.
A
hundred, a few hundred.
Q.
Okay.
From the time you first
7
started using the Messages product to the
8
current day?
9
10
A.
I think so.
I mean it's really hard
for me to estimate that.
11
Q.
I understand.
12
A.
Yeah.
13
14
But yeah, I mean that's just
considering all the time I've used it.
Q.
Were the messages that you've sent
15
on -- using the Facebook Messages product that
16
contained URLs, were they accompanied by the
17
URL preview?
18
19
20
A.
Some of them definitely were.
I
don't know if they all were.
Q.
We're going to get into this when
21
we -- when we get into your report, but you
22
have a general understanding -- well, when you
23
sent those messages containing preview, you had
24
a general understanding of sort of how the
25
preview had been generated; is that fair to
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2
say?
A.
You know, it depends on what you
3
mean by "how."
But I -- I had a general
4
understanding of how the Facebook Open Graph
5
tags worked and that that was feeding the
6
preview.
7
Q.
What do you mean by Open Graph tags?
8
A.
So Facebook has a ontology, a schema
9
that allows third-party Web site owners to put
10
Meta tags in the head of their HTML
11
documents --
12
Q.
Uh-huh.
13
A.
-- that have information that
14
Facebook can use to build that preview in
15
Messages or otherwise.
16
and an image and a description.
17
some other ones.
18
They include a title
And there's
So that's a technology that -- that
19
I was aware of.
20
launched, but I remember reading about it when
21
it was launched.
22
I have no idea when it was
And so I understood that -- that
23
that data that was in the third-party sites was
24
what was being displayed as the preview box
25
when I pasted in the URL.
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Q.
Were there ever instances where you
2
pasted in the URL, a preview was generated, and
3
then you X'd out the preview before sending the
4
message?
5
A.
Yes.
6
Q.
But I gather there were instances
7
when you left the preview in tact --
8
A.
Yes.
9
Q.
-- before you hit "send."
10
A.
Yes.
11
Q.
Would it be accurate to say that,
12
during the time you've used the Facebook
13
Messages product, you've also received Facebook
14
Messages containing URLs?
15
A.
I would guess that I have.
I can't
16
think of any specific instances off the top of
17
my head, but it would surprise me if there
18
weren't any.
19
20
21
Q.
Okay.
You understand that, for a
period of time -- well, strike that.
For the URLs that you've sent
22
through the Facebook Messages product, do you
23
have an understanding as to how many of
24
those -- the Web sites associated with the URLs
25
had a Like -- Facebook Like button social
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plug-in on their site?
2
A.
3
Sorry.
4
Q.
5
Oh.
I have absolutely no idea.
That's okay.
And you probably also have no idea,
6
for those Web sites that may have had a Like
7
button social plug-in, whether or not that
8
plug-in had a counter next to it that totaled
9
the number of likes?
10
A.
Yeah, I -- I don't know.
11
Q.
Okay.
I also assume you have no
12
idea that -- whether or not, if you sent a URL
13
in a message -- a Facebook message, that, if
14
the Web site associated that message had a Like
15
button social plug-in, and if the Like button
16
social plug-in had a counter next to it, you
17
can't tell me whether or not your sharing of
18
that URL in a message incremented that counter.
19
Would that be accurate?
20
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Compound.
21
And again, this is beyond the scope of her
22
testimony -- expert testimony.
23
THE WITNESS:
Knowing what I know
24
from having reviewed all the Facebook code now,
25
I know that it would have gone up.
But I
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didn't observe it going up.
2
3
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Is it your understanding that, any
4
time a Facebook user includes an URL in a
5
message, that if the URL -- strike that.
6
Is it -- is it your understanding
7
that, any time a Facebook user includes a URL
8
in a message, and the URL linked to that --
9
sorry -- the Web site linked to that URL has a
10
Like button social plug-in, that every time
11
that URL was sent in a -- in a private message,
12
the counter next to that URL, if it existed,
13
was incremented?
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
15
THE WITNESS:
For that to happen,
16
the URL -- there would have to be a URL preview
17
attachment on the message.
18
X'd out that attachment, my understanding is
19
that it would not have incremented the Like
20
button; but if the attachment was there and
21
everything operated the way it should, that
22
that Like button would have gone up in the time
23
period that we're talking about here.
24
25
So if -- if I had
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Prior to the end of -- well, at some
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point in 2010, prior to the end of 2012?
2
Does that sound right to you?
3
We'll in your report in more detail,
4
but...
5
A.
So there's a date where Facebook
6
changed the number that was being displayed in
7
that Like counter.
8
Q.
Yep.
9
A.
Prior to that date, from looking at
10
the code, my understanding is, if there was a
11
private message with a URL preview attachment
12
and everything operated right, once that was
13
sent, the counter would be incremented.
14
15
Q.
that when we walk through your report.
16
17
And we'll get into more detail on
Do you ever let anyone else use your
Facebook account?
18
A.
No.
19
Q.
Has anyone else ever sent a Facebook
20
21
message on your behalf?
A.
I hope not.
I mean it theoretically
22
could have happened if I walked away from my
23
computer in a meeting or something.
24
don't think that's ever happened.
25
Q.
But I
When was the last time you sent a
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message on Facebook -- or through the Facebook
2
Messages product that included the URL?
3
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection again.
I
4
mean these questions going to Dr. "Golberg's"
5
personal use of Facebook are beyond the scope
6
of her expert testimony.
7
Golbeck.
8
Can you just correct that
9
Sorry.
automatically in the transcript, please.
10
THE WITNESS:
11
BY MR. JESSEN:
12
13
Q.
Probably last week.
Do you remember if it had a URL
preview attached --
14
A.
I --
15
Q.
-- to it?
16
A.
Well, it did because now I pay
17
really close attention to that, right?
18
Q.
Okay.
19
A.
This case is kind of in the
20
21
forefront of my mind right now.
Q.
Right.
22
So preview -- last week you -- you
23
included the URL in a message, a preview was
24
generated, you left the preview intact and sent
25
the message.
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A.
I did.
2
Q.
Okay.
And is it -- is it safe to
3
say that you've probably done that quite a bit
4
this year, sent messages with URLs that had
5
previews on them?
6
A.
I think that's fair.
7
Q.
Earlier we talked a little bit about
8
the first time you reached out to plaintiffs'
9
counsel.
10
A.
Yes.
11
Q.
Which I think you said was
12
approximately November 2014.
13
New York Times article that you read.
14
15
You referenced a
Was that the first time you became
aware of this lawsuit?
16
A.
It was.
17
Q.
Okay.
What is your understanding of
18
what the plaintiffs in this case are alleging
19
that Facebook did wrong?
20
A.
On like a high level?
21
Q.
Sure.
22
A.
That Facebook intercepted the
23
private messages and did things with them that
24
violated these laws that we talked about
25
before.
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Q.
Okay.
Now let's -- I see you
2
already have it in front of you, but I'm going
3
to -- we're going to talk about your report a
4
little bit, which has been marked Exhibit 3.
5
6
And you -- do you recognize the
document marked as Exhibit 3?
7
A.
I do.
8
Q.
What is it?
9
A.
Looks like my report.
10
Q.
Okay.
If you turn to Page 33 of the
11
document, there's a date, and then there's a
12
signature.
13
Is that your signature?
14
A.
It is.
15
Q.
Okay.
16
You executed this on -- the
report on November 13th, 2015?
17
A.
That sounds right.
18
Q.
Is it correct that you did not sign
19
20
21
22
this document under penalty of perjury?
A.
I don't quite understand the
question.
Q.
Well, you referenced earlier in --
23
in some of your cases where you -- I think you
24
weren't an actual expert, but you were a -- you
25
submitted the declaration or an affidavit.
And
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normally that kind of document is submitted
2
under oath --
3
A.
Yes.
4
Q.
-- under penalty of perjury.
"I
5
declare that all the foregoing is true and
6
correct under the -- under the laws of the
7
U.S.," something like that.
8
just noticed that that was not -- that language
9
isn't anywhere in here.
10
11
And I'm just -- I
And I'm just wondering is that
correct; and if so --
12
A.
Oh.
13
Q.
-- why is that?
14
A.
I have no idea.
This is in the
15
space of like legal things that do or don't go
16
into this that I don't understand.
So --
17
Q.
Sure.
18
A.
-- if it should have been there,
19
there was no intentional reason to leave it
20
off.
21
22
Q.
Okay.
Do you believe that this --
your report is accurate --
23
A.
I do.
24
Q.
-- as you sit here today?
25
A.
Yes.
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2
Q.
Are there any changes you would want
to make to it?
3
A.
I don't think so.
4
Q.
Who prepared the report?
5
A.
I did.
6
Q.
How exact- -- tell me at a high
7
level first sort of how it -- how this document
8
came into existence.
9
A.
I wrote the whole thing.
10
in this nice format by counsel.
11
It got put
of came about in, you know, pieces.
12
13
14
15
Q.
Yeah.
It kind
When you say "pieces," what do you
mean?
A.
a time.
I drafted, you know, sections one at
So --
16
Q.
Uh-huh.
17
A.
-- the first section on my
18
qualifications, which was pretty easy --
19
Q.
Sure.
20
A.
-- for me the write.
21
Q.
Of course?
22
A.
So, you know, I worked separately on
23
each of the different main sections here and
24
then --
25
Q.
Uh-huh.
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A.
-- put it all together.
2
Q.
You drafted every line of this
3
4
report?
A.
I did.
I had help from counsel on
5
my understanding of the legal concepts.
6
know, they did some copy editing.
7
draft the whole thing myself.
8
9
10
Q.
You
But I did
When you say "copy editing," what do
you mean by that?
A.
Looking for typos.
They helped
11
check a bunch of like the section references,
12
the Bates numbers.
13
proofed a lot of the quotes and things.
14
15
Q.
I'm sure they probably
Were there different drafts that
were -- that were prepared?
16
A.
I did have a lot of drafts.
17
Q.
And how many total drafts do you
18
think you had?
19
A.
Maybe 15.
20
Q.
Did each of those drafts -- did you
21
show each of those drafts to counsel?
22
A.
I don't think they saw all of them.
23
Q.
Did they -- how many did they see?
24
A.
You know, it depends where you draw
25
the line between one draft and another.
I tend
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to renumber every single time I get a document
2
back, even if there's not many changes or just
3
comments in it.
4
5
They probably saw the last five or
six, I would guess.
6
7
Q.
And did they -- you would send them
-- you would send -- e-mail them a draft?
8
A.
Yes.
9
Q.
And then would they revise it in any
A.
They would note if there were typos,
10
11
way?
12
that kind of thing.
13
sometimes with questions, asking for
14
clarification on certain points that I had put
15
in there.
16
They would send it back
Other than the, you know,
17
formatting, which they put it into this
18
format --
19
Q.
Uh-huh.
20
A.
-- for me, I don't recall them
21
22
really revising anything.
Q.
So is it your testimony that there
23
are not parts of this report that were drafted
24
by counsel?
25
A.
I think that's right.
Like I said,
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I relied on them for the legal understanding.
2
And so they worked close- -- closely with me on
3
the language there since it has to be so
4
precise.
5
6
7
8
Q.
What sections are you talking about
in particular?
A.
Let me take a look and go through
here.
9
So on Page 29, Section 8, "In the
10
ordinary course of business" -- oh, no.
11
just -- I'm sorry.
12
That's
That's citing this case.
So like at the end of that page --
13
Q.
Page 29?
14
A.
-- Page 29, I'm sure they supplied
15
me with this quote in reference to the Gmail
16
litigation.
17
Q.
Okay.
18
A.
And then on Page 32, in Section 9,
19
there's a discussion of a couple cases there in
20
Paragraph 116.
21
drafted this.
I'm sure they provided me with
22
the citation.
We've talked about that Carrier
23
IQ case before, so I haven't read it myself.
Just reading this, I definitely
24
So that's a section where they --
25
where I would have worked with them to make
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sure that I represented the law correctly.
2
Q.
Okay.
3
A.
Looking through here, that looks
4
5
Anything else?
like it covers it.
Q.
There is a section of this report,
6
as long as we're on this subject, starting at
7
Page 85 -- I'm sorry -- Paragraph 85 --
8
A.
Paragraph...
9
Q.
-- Page 24.
10
And we -- we'll go
through this in more detail.
11
But you have a description of sort
12
of what Facebook did internally after this Wall
13
Street Journal article was published in October
14
of 2012, a reporting on -- you know, that
15
sending a URL in a message might increment Like
16
counter by two.
17
18
Was this also a section that you -you drafted?
19
A.
I did.
20
Q.
Okay.
21
22
Okay.
And again, we'll go
through it in a little bit more detail.
Directing your attention to
23
Paragraph 12, you say:
"In preparing this
24
report, I have employed methods and analyses of
25
the type reasonably relied upon by experts in
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my field in forming opinions or inferences on
2
the subject.
3
upon a reasonable degree of computer science
4
certainty."
5
The opinions expressed are based
You see that?
6
A.
I do.
7
Q.
Is that true of every opinion
8
offered in this report?
9
A.
Which part of it?
10
Q.
Well, each one.
11
We can break it
out.
12
Like -- so let's start with the
13
first sentence in Paragraph 12.
14
employed methods and analyses of a type
15
reasonably relied upon by experts in my field
16
in forming opinions or references on the
17
subject.
18
19
You say you've
Is that sentence true for every
opinion you've offered in this report?
20
A.
I believe that's true.
21
Q.
And what about the second sentence,
22
for every opinion in this report, that your
23
opinion is based upon a reasonable degree of
24
computer science certainty?
25
A.
Certainly all the computer science
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opinions that I offer are based on a reasonable
2
degree of computer science certainty.
3
trying to think if there's anything else in
4
there.
5
6
I'm just
I think overall that's fair to say.
Q.
So you say certainly the computer
7
science opinions you offer are based upon a
8
reasonable degree of computer science
9
certainty.
10
Are there opinions in this report
11
that you would consider to not be computer
12
science opinions?
13
A.
Yeah.
14
Q.
Sure.
15
A.
-- to just think if there's anything
16
in there that wouldn't fall into that space.
17
18
19
20
21
That's why I was pausing --
As far as I consider it, I think
everything in here is computer science based.
Q.
When you say "computer science
based," what do you mean by that?
A.
That it falls within the scope of
22
things that we've discussed in the field of
23
computer science.
24
25
Q.
What does it mean to say that an
opinion is based on a reasonable degree of
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2
computer science certainty?
A.
So -- so, for example, if we talk
3
about the code, the Facebook code is the most
4
complex code system that I have ever looked at
5
by at least an order of magnitude.
6
it's crazy what's going on in that code.
7
It's --
So there are -- are conclusions that
8
I have to make as one who doesn't have the
9
entire code base in my head, which I don't
10
think anyone on earth has, including the
11
Facebook engineers.
12
So, for example, there are comments
13
in the code that describe what's going on or
14
things are named in a certain way that I rely
15
on to kind of guide my understanding that I
16
think any other computer scientist would do.
17
It could be the case that there's
18
some crazy Facebook engineer who gave
19
everything names that has nothing to do with
20
what it actually does and led me down a path
21
that kind of made sense but does something
22
different.
23
of that happening.
24
25
I think there's basically no chance
But I relied on some of these kinds
of things, which I think any computer scientist
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would do, you know, looking at comments,
2
looking at the names in the code that I think
3
gives a high degree of computer science
4
certainty, yeah.
5
Q.
To have a high degree of computer
6
science certainty, would you -- would you
7
actually have to -- have to look at the code
8
for a specific opinion in order to say, "Yeah,
9
I have a reasonable degree of computer science
10
certainty that this -- what I'm saying is" --
11
"is accurate"?
12
A.
I think it depends on the opinion
13
and, you know, what other evidence there is to
14
support it.
15
16
Q.
Okay.
If you could turn your
attention to Exhibit B to your report.
17
A.
It's at the very back, right?
18
Q.
Yes.
19
See that?
20
A.
I do.
21
Q.
Okay.
Is this the list of materials
22
that you relied on in forming your opinions in
23
your report?
24
A.
It is.
25
Q.
Is it a -- is it a complete list?
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A.
It looks like a complete list.
2
Q.
Did you consider or rely upon any
3
other documents in forming your opinions in
4
this case?
5
A.
I certainly read more documents that
6
Facebook produced than are listed here.
7
these are all the ones that I cite as evidence
8
for my opinions.
9
Q.
But
Well, are there any documents that
10
you read but don't cite in your report that
11
support your opinions in the report?
12
13
A.
So is the question are there other
documents that would support my opinions?
14
Q.
Well --
15
A.
Or have I left --
16
Q.
Not --
17
A.
-- some out --
18
Q.
Not exactly --
19
A.
-- that I've relied on?
20
Q.
Yeah.
21
A.
I don't think so.
22
Q.
Okay.
More the second one.
You tried to be comprehensive
23
when -- when documenting the conclusions you
24
reached in this report?
25
A.
I did.
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Q.
Okay.
The documents listed in
2
Exhibit B, did you review all of these -- all
3
of these documents before you signed the report
4
on November 13th?
5
A.
I believe I did, yes.
6
Q.
Okay.
Now, towards the top of
7
Exhibit B, you list two depositions, deposition
8
of Ray He, spelled H-E, on September 25th,
9
2015; and the deposition of Michael Adkins,
10
October 28, 2015.
11
You see that?
12
A.
I do.
13
Q.
Did you read the transcripts for
14
both of those depositions or -- sorry.
15
ahead.
16
A.
Go
So I did read the transcripts, but I
17
also virtually -- I believe I virtually
18
attended both of those depositions as well.
19
Q.
You were on a --
20
A.
Like a video thing so I could watch
21
and listen, but I -- I --
22
Q.
Right?
23
A.
-- couldn't speak.
24
Q.
Could you -- when you were doing
25
that, could you see the witnesses?
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A.
I definitely could see Ray He.
2
don't remember if I had the video on for
3
Michael Adkins.
4
doing some of that "mobilely" and was just
5
listening.
6
Q.
I
7
I think I might have been like
Understood.
So you both -- you -- you listened
8
to these or watched these depositions while
9
they were happening, but then you also reviewed
10
the -- the depo transcripts?
11
A.
That's right.
12
Q.
Did you review the deposition
13
14
transcripts in full?
A.
I probably skipped over some of --
15
especially the opening kind of foundational
16
sections.
17
Q.
Okay.
You also list Exhibit --
18
again, in the documents you reviewed, Exhibit F
19
to the declaration of Alex Himel on behalf of
20
Defendant Facebook, Inc.
21
You see that?
22
A.
Yes.
23
Q.
Did you review the entire
24
declaration of Alex Himel and all exhibits or
25
just Exhibit F?
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A.
I reviewed the entire declaration.
2
Q.
But I guess you're -- but you're
3
just relying upon Exhibit F to the declaration
4
in support of your opinions?
5
A.
I think that's right.
I cite --
6
there's specific pieces of code in discussions
7
with Facebook engineers that I'm pretty sure I
8
cite in here.
9
in the actually declaration that I used to
10
11
I don't think there was anything
support my opinions.
Q.
Did you consider the other parts of
12
that declaration in forming any of your other
13
opinions?
14
A.
What do you mean by that?
15
Q.
Like did you -- so it's a lengthy
16
declaration with lots of other exhibits.
17
And I guess I'm just wondering,
18
other than Exhibit F, which clearly you
19
considered and you relied on in reaching your
20
conclusions, did you consider or not whether
21
the other parts of the Himel declaration were
22
relevant to your analysis?
23
A.
I did.
And this is why I always
24
sort of struggle with these materials relied on
25
in forming my opinions, right?
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You know, as we discussed at the
2
beginning, there are cases that I've turned
3
down because, you know, I don't believe in the
4
merits of them.
5
this is not the most fun way for me to spend my
6
time, getting deposed, right?
7
I keep that in mind.
Like
So I -- I really won't do it unless
8
I think a case is legitimate.
9
actively look for things that I think are
10
So I -- I
contrary to what I think is true.
11
So, you know, like Alex Himel had a
12
lot to say in that declaration.
13
read it.
14
I considered it.
You know, I
I looked at it.
Here this is -- you know, the
15
exhibits are what I cited to support the
16
opinions in my report.
17
considered that and a lot of other documents
18
that aren't cited here in kind of generally
19
forming my opinions about the case.
20
Q.
But I certainly
Exhibit B also has a list of
21
documents that are -- have production numbers
22
that start with FB.
23
24
25
Do you have a general recollection
of what those documents are, just in general?
A.
So some of them I believe are
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printed copies of the source code.
2
are documents that came from Face- -- Facebook
3
production.
4
Other ones
So some I know are discussions
5
between engineers about code changes.
I
6
think -- I think that's actually a lot of the
7
ones that aren't source code.
8
there's a few other kind of internal Facebook
9
documentation kind of files in there.
And I think
10
Q.
Are there some e-mails included?
11
A.
Yeah.
So when I say conversations
12
between engineers, I think they actually take
13
place in the Facebook messaging system.
14
They're not allowed to e-mail each other.
15
have to use Facebook Messenger.
16
Q.
They
Did you rely on any of those written
17
communications between and among Facebook
18
engineers to draw conclusions about the
19
functionality of Facebook's source code?
20
A.
It certainly pointed me to and
21
explained what some of the source code would
22
do.
23
that mattered, I looked at the code myself as
24
well.
25
But I think, in any of the cases where
Q.
Did you make any attempt -- well, if
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a particular e-mail was discussing a certain
2
functionality, did you make any attempt to
3
determine the time period during which any such
4
functionality would have been operational?
5
A.
I did.
6
Q.
How did you do that?
7
A.
So those Facebook engineer
8
discussions all had dates on them.
9
pretty easy to see when that was functional.
10
So it was
If they were talking about a feature
11
that was active in say 2009 -- I know some of
12
the e-mails were from then -- I looked at other
13
versions of the source code, because we could
14
look at it across time in what we had
15
available, and looked at that as well.
16
Q.
Okay.
Now, at the bottom of Exhibit
17
B, at least the bottom of the first page, you
18
do list "Source Code Produced By Facebook."
19
A.
Yes.
20
Q.
What are you referring to there
21
22
specifically?
A.
So, as I mentioned in the -- the
23
Bates numbers that are above, some of those are
24
to specific source code files.
25
you've seen in the report, I have actual
And as I'm sure
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excerpts of code pasted in there.
2
So I cite to the particular files
3
that we printed when I cite particular bits of
4
code.
5
ridiculously complex.
6
of what's going on in the code is not just
7
from, you know, the three lines that I pasted
8
in but from a lot of time spent reading and
9
understanding the code and how it fits
10
But as I mentioned, the code is
And so my understanding
together.
11
I couldn't possibly cite all of
12
those lines and connections because it -- it
13
would almost be just giving you the source code
14
back.
15
So I definitely used information
16
from my review of the source code to understand
17
the individual lines that I've cited there.
18
19
Q.
have a section called "Other Materials."
20
21
And then finally on Exhibit B you
What are those, generally?
A.
External Web sites.
So some of
22
them -- there's a couple Internet archive
23
pages.
24
published on the Web.
25
Journal article that you're familiar with.
Some are Facebook documents that were
There's a Wall Street
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Q.
Uh-huh.
2
A.
And I believe those last two
3
links -- the last one is definitely Michael
4
Hurley's Facebook profile.
5
above that may be his, too, just indexed by his
6
user ID instead of his screen name.
7
Q.
I believe the one
I see one of the items you missed.
8
Appears to be some developer guidance from
9
Facebook.
10
A.
Maybe the fourth line down.
Yeah.
I -- I'm sorry.
I would
11
count that as an internal Facebook document
12
published on the Web.
13
Q.
What do you mean by "internal"?
14
A.
Something that Facebook created.
15
So -- so I don't mean it internal as just for
16
Facebook employees, but not just something that
17
some guy posted on Facebook.
18
actually posted by Facebook itself.
19
Q.
20
21
Like it was
Right.
And it's -- it is or was available
on the World Wide Web to --
22
A.
To anyone, yes.
23
Q.
Okay.
Did you consult the developer
24
pages for all of the functionality you discuss
25
in your report?
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A.
I mean a lot of the functionality in
2
the report wasn't necessarily described on the
3
developer pages.
4
looked for as much of it as I could, right,
5
because those are great things to use to
6
understand what's going on in the code.
7
A lot of it I just didn't see
8
So I think I looked for -- I
described in the developer documentation.
9
Q.
Did you review the developer
10
guidance that was in effect in 2011 and 2012
11
regarding what specific things went into the
12
counter next to a Like button social plug-in?
13
A.
Yeah.
I think we -- this is testing
14
my memory a little bit.
15
up on the Internet archive just to see it.
16
I think we also received it -- Facebook
17
produced a document that had some of that in
18
it.
19
20
21
I'm sure I looked it
But
I believe that's the case.
Q.
But you didn't rely on that?
Because I don't see it listed here.
A.
Yeah.
I -- again, we can probably
22
go through this, and I'll see it.
But I think
23
-- I think, in an initial draft of this, I had
24
-- I may even have included some of that
25
developer documentation, and then it just kind
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of didn't fit in -- it -- it felt like it was
2
kind of going off on a tangent, so I dropped it
3
and would have dropped the citation then.
4
Q.
Okay.
Let's touch base -- what I
5
thought we would do, although we could take a
6
break now if you want, but maybe go till 1:00
7
and then do lunch, and then I think we'll be
8
like halfway through at that point.
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
Okay.
10
MR. JESSEN:
11
THE WITNESS:
12
MR. JESSEN:
13
BY MR. JESSEN:
14
15
Q.
Okay.
Roughly.
Fine.
Does that work for you?
What -- you -- so you
reviewed source code in this case.
16
A.
I did.
17
Q.
Facebook source code.
18
19
20
21
What time period does the source
code that you reviewed cover?
A.
I just want to look in here because
I think the actual dates are in here, and I --
22
Q.
Sure.
Go ahead.
23
A.
-- just always forget that.
24
Q.
Of course.
25
A.
So looking at Paragraph 14 on Page
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3, I've noted here that that source code goes
2
from 2009 to December of 2012.
3
4
5
Q.
Do you know why the source code does
not go past 2012?
A.
So I -- I don't know exactly.
I've
6
been told that that's the period that Facebook
7
said was relevant.
8
9
10
Q.
agreed to the code that was actually produced,
including the time period?
11
12
MR. RUDOLPH:
THE WITNESS:
17
Lacks
I don't think I know
anything about that.
15
16
Objection.
foundation.
13
14
You understand that Plaintiffs'
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
You don't have any reason to think
they didn't agree to that, do you?
18
MR. RUDOLPH:
Same objection.
19
THE WITNESS:
I mean this is like
20
legal world stuff.
21
operate.
22
23
24
25
I have no idea how you guys
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Understood.
You haven't seen any Facebook code
after December 2012, correct?
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A.
Not in this case, no.
2
Q.
Okay.
3
4
Did you see some in the
Rembrandt case?
A.
Actually, I don't remember the --
5
the date when that stuff ended.
6
look at JavaScript code from Facebook, which is
7
sent to the browser, since then.
8
back-end code, which is what they provide, you
9
know, on the computer in the locked room, I
10
You know, I've
But the
don't recall seeing anything since 2012.
11
And, yeah, I think -- just thinking
12
through it, I think the Rembrandt case was --
13
was like 2009.
14
older code that they were looking at, so I
15
don't think I saw anything newer.
16
Q.
Okay.
Like there was -- it was much
And I -- you're not rely --
17
your opinions in this case, you're not relying
18
upon any of the code you saw in the Rembrandt
19
case for your opinions here, correct?
20
21
22
A.
That's right.
I mean there's no
overlap between anything in that case and this.
Q.
So how many times -- you understand
23
there's a -- there's a source code review room
24
at a law office in Palo Alto --
25
A.
Yes.
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2
Q.
-- where the -- where the code --
the relevant code is hosted.
3
4
How many times have you been there
to review the code?
5
A.
Twice.
6
Q.
Okay.
7
And was the first time on
August 4 of this year?
8
A.
That sounds right.
9
Q.
Who -- did anyone go with you to
10
review the code?
11
A.
12
that time.
13
Q.
14
Like the lawyers weren't with you
or...
15
16
I think I was there just by myself
A.
Oh, no.
I'm sorry.
I've done a lot
of source code review over the summer too.
17
Q.
Understood?
18
A.
Yeah.
19
Q.
Because of your other case too?
20
A.
Because of the other case.
21
Q.
Okay.
22
A.
I'm just trying to separate them
23
out.
Yeah, there were lawyers there.
24
remember who they were.
25
were a couple of lawyers there.
I'm sorry.
I don't
But there
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THE WITNESS:
I don't know --
2
MR. RUDOLPH:
That's okay.
3
THE WITNESS:
-- if you were there
4
or not.
5
6
They were -- most of the time they
weren't in the room with me.
7
I think --
BY MR. JESSEN:
8
Q.
Right.
9
A.
-- you know, I maybe talked to them
10
in the room with the code for the last half
11
hour.
12
13
Q.
And other than you and the
attorneys, was anyone else there that day?
14
A.
No.
15
Q.
What was the purpose of going to
16
17
18
look at the code on or about August 4, 2015?
A.
That was to start looking for
code --
19
Q.
Uh-huh.
20
A.
-- that was relevant to the
21
conclusions that are here in this report,
22
looking for how these things were handled.
23
24
25
Q.
You were looking for code that
supported the conclusions in your report?
A.
I was looking for code relevant to
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the things that I discuss in the report,
2
proving it or disproving it.
3
4
Q.
How long did you review the code
that day?
5
A.
Seven or eight hours, I would guess.
6
Q.
And then when was the second time
7
you reviewed the code actually at the -- at the
8
Palo Alto office?
9
10
A.
I think it was in October of this
year.
11
Q.
October 14th, 2015?
12
A.
That sounds good.
13
Q.
Could that -- could it be that?
14
A.
Ah, that's exactly when it was, yes.
15
Q.
That date sticks out in your mind
16
17
18
Could that --
for a particular reason?
A.
I ran a marathon the day before I
flew out there.
So --
19
Q.
Okay.
20
A.
-- it was a little complicated
21
travel thing, yes.
22
Q.
Which marathon?
23
A.
Chicago.
24
Q.
Nice.
25
Was it -- were attorneys there with
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2
you that day as well?
A.
David Rudolph came at the very end
3
of the day, I think the last half hour I was
4
there.
5
rest of the day.
But there were no lawyers there the
6
Q.
Was anyone else there?
7
A.
No one was in the room with me.
8
Q.
How many hours did you review the
9
10
11
12
code for that day?
A.
I'd guess it probably was the same,
seven or eight hours.
Q.
Okay.
And was the purpose of that
13
review the sort of same as the first review, to
14
look for code that was relevant to the issues
15
you were going to be opining on?
16
A.
It was.
I had a more specific set
17
of things that I was looking for.
18
mean all of it was just kind of looking at how
19
-- understanding how specific systems within
20
Facebook operated.
21
22
Q.
But yeah, I
What were the more specific things
you were looking for?
23
A.
So in particular I was looking at
24
Taste.
25
that visit.
I know I looked for code on Taste in
And then I think there were -- so
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I had identified a number of files on my first
2
visit that I thought were interesting, and I
3
think there were a few additional ones that I
4
wanted to make sure that I looked at and kind
5
of traced the related functionality around with
6
on that second visit, just with respect to the
7
messaging procedures in general.
8
9
10
11
Q.
So other than those two days of
reviewing the Facebook code, what other review
of the code have you done in this case?
A.
So there's a code reviewer still
12
there looking at the code who's been there for
13
months, it seems like.
14
direction.
15
He's working at my
So I -- the first time I went out
16
there -- remember you said that was August -- I
17
was the first one to look toot code.
18
Q.
Uh-huh.
19
A.
I -- as I mentioned before, none of
20
this code is -- at all overlaps with what was
21
in the Rembrandt case, but I did have a general
22
understanding of how it was structured, like
23
what kind of directories there were.
24
25
So I, you know, looked for the
messaging directories and identified the major
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2
files that I thought were associated with that.
In addition, I think on that first
3
visit I also identified the files that were in
4
Alex Himel's declaration.
5
in the declaration he sent.
6
the -- those specific files.
7
They were redacted
So I looked for
Based on that, I developed a --
8
actually a pretty good understanding of what
9
was going on.
But as I keep saying, it's super
10
complicated code.
11
reviewer has been doing is following the paths
12
that I wanted a kind of deeper verification on.
13
Because it can take hours and hours to trace
14
down those particular connections in the code.
15
So a lot of what the code
So that's -- between my first visit
16
and my second, that's mostly what he was doing,
17
really just verifying the things that I found
18
in my first visit.
19
On the second visit, there are a
20
couple of files that he had mentioned he
21
thought were relevant that I looked at.
22
And then I started looking at Taste,
23
which the code reviewer hadn't looked at, did
24
the same kind of thing.
25
understood that it worked, I looked through the
Based on how I kind of
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files there.
I identified the ones that kind
2
of, on a high level, looked like they were
3
relevant.
4
And I've been directing him to kind
5
of look at particular connections in the code
6
to verify that it works the way I thought it
7
did and -- to just flush out that
8
understanding.
9
In addition to that, I had pretty
10
extensive notes from my visits there.
11
spent some time just kind of putting that
12
together.
13
just jot down some notes to figure -- and then
14
figure out how it all fits together."
15
So I
Because there was a lot of, "Let's
I also have printouts of the source
16
code.
17
on my two visits there, which are the ones
18
cited here in Bates numbers.
19
Almost all of that is files that I found
I think there's one file that the
20
code reviewer found that I hadn't seen myself.
21
And -- and that's one where I reviewed the code
22
in printout form instead of on the computer at
23
the Cooley office.
24
Q.
The reviewer is David Cartt?
25
A.
That's right.
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Q.
Are you relying on Mr. Cart's
2
representations at all about the functionality
3
of the code?
4
A.
I'm not.
5
Q.
Are you relying on his
6
representations about the actual code that he
7
reviewed?
8
9
10
A.
I -- I don't understand what that
question means.
Q.
Well, if he tells you he -- he -- "I
11
look at these ten files," I mean is that -- I
12
assume you rely on that.
13
14
A.
So I believe him that he said he
looked at them.
15
Q.
Right?
16
A.
I can't really form any opinions
17
18
19
20
based on the fact that he looked.
Q.
When you say he's working at your
direction, what do you mean by that?
A.
So we have calls frequently where
21
he'll kind of say, "Here's what I looked at
22
today.
23
Here's what seems to be happening."
And I'll ask him to spend his time
24
the next day looking at -- you know, chase down
25
this feature.
Or see how these things connect.
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Or don't bother looking at that anymore.
2
look at this other thing.
3
Q.
Who's paying Mr. Cartt?
4
A.
I don't know.
5
Q.
Not you?
6
A.
Not me.
7
Q.
Okay.
Let's
8
What is he still looking for
in Facebook's code?
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
I'm going to instruct
10
the witness not to answer.
11
communications between the expert and counsel.
12
This goes to
BY MR. JESSEN:
13
Q.
Are you going to follow your --
14
A.
I'll -- I'll do what he says.
15
Q.
-- attorney's instruction?
16
Well, let me ask it like this:
17
Without divulging the substance, is Mr. Cartt
18
looking for source code to confirm opinions
19
you've already reached, or is he looking for
20
code to -- that would inform new opinions?
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
22
BY MR. JESSEN:
23
24
25
Q.
Same instruction.
Are you going follow your counsel's
instruction?
A.
I am.
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Q.
Okay.
2
A.
Does anybody ever not?
3
Q.
I haven't seen it.
4
Okay.
It's not beyond
the realm of possibility.
5
6
Yes?
How much longer do you think
Mr. Cartt's going to be looking at the code?
7
MR. RUDOLPH:
Same instruction.
8
THE WITNESS:
I'll do what he says.
9
MR. JESSEN:
10
for the substance of the conversation.
11
12
Well, I'm not asking
MR. RUDOLPH:
If you know the answer
to that question, you can -- you can answer.
13
THE WITNESS:
14
really know.
15
So I don't -- I don't
won't be held to?
16
Can I give you an answer that I
BY MR. JESSEN:
17
Q.
Yeah.
I'm not going to hold you to
18
it.
I'm just trying to get a sense of how much
19
longer he's going to be looking at it.
20
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
THE WITNESS:
I would totally
have to speculate.
24
25
Oh.
speculate.
22
23
Don't -- don't
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
How much more time do you think you
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need him to look at the code?
2
You can give me a -- I don't want
3
you to guess, but you can give me your best
4
estimate.
5
MR. RUDOLPH:
Don't -- don't guess.
6
THE WITNESS:
Let me give you some
7
qualifications maybe.
8
have to guess even if -- even if I give you
9
some qualifications.
10
No.
I would totally
BY MR. JESSEN:
11
Q.
Okay.
All right.
12
A.
One answer that a Facebook engineer
13
gave in a 30(b)(6) deposition, he was asked a
14
question about how many -- "How many times have
15
you been deposed before?"
16
And he said, "More than two and less
17
than 10,000," which I thought was a little
18
snarky.
19
But I would say, in terms of days,
20
that's probably true for how long Mr. Cartt
21
will be reviewing the code.
22
23
24
25
Q.
I don't think it was less than
10,000, but...
The -- okay.
You're aware that
Facebook employees have given 30(b)(6)
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deposition testimony?
2
A.
Yes.
3
Q.
That included a discussion of the
4
source code functionality?
5
A.
Yes.
6
Q.
Okay.
And you were present either
7
telephonically or virtually for the deposition
8
of Michael Adkins on October 28, 2015?
9
10
A.
that deposition, yes.
11
12
I believe I was there for most of
Q.
And you read that deposition
transcript?
13
A.
Yes.
14
Q.
Did you request any source code
15
printouts based on information about source
16
code files that Mr. Adkins testified about?
17
A.
I understand the question and -- so
18
I don't -- I don't think he simply mentioned
19
something and I said, "Print that code out for
20
me."
21
You know, not having it in -- in
22
front of me, you know, just going on my best
23
recollection, most of what he went through
24
there was code I was already familiar with.
25
had either looked at it or reviewed it myself.
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I'm sure he looked at some other
2
files that just didn't seem to have anything
3
relevant.
4
If there was anything that he
5
mentioned that I didn't know about, I would
6
have asked David Cartt to take a look at it and
7
print it out for me if I had to.
8
9
10
11
But I don't recall, off the top of
my head, anything specific from his deposition
that I hadn't already looked at.
Q.
Are you aware that Mr. He, Ray He,
12
which is the same as Ray He I mentioned
13
earlier, H-E, was als- -- also gave 30(b)(6)
14
deposition testimony on source code
15
functionality that same day, October 28, 2015?
16
A.
I -- I don't know that I knew that.
17
Q.
Okay.
You're not -- you didn't
18
review any testimony from Mr. He given on
19
October 28, 2015, correct?
20
A.
Not that I recall.
21
Q.
And you weren't there -- you didn't
22
appear for that deposition telephonically or
23
through the computer.
24
A.
That's right.
25
Q.
You know why -- you know why you
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have a -- you're not aware of that or...
2
3
A.
I don't know why
I don't know.
4
5
I -- I don't know.
Q.
Okay.
Did you review the deposition
transcript of Jiakai Liu?
6
A.
I think I've seen parts of that.
I
7
don't remember if I've read the whole thing or
8
not.
9
know I've seen parts of that, but I -- I just
I do know that he was deposed.
And I
10
don't remember if I got the whole transcript or
11
not.
12
13
Q.
What about the deposition transcript
of Mike Vernal?
14
A.
That I don't --
15
Q.
He's --
16
A.
-- believe I've seen.
17
Q.
Okay.
How much total the time do
18
you think Mr. Cartt has spent reviewing the
19
source code?
20
A.
It's hard for me to tell because
21
I -- I know part of the time he's there
22
part-time, and he works on some other cases.
23
Probably a couple hundred hours, I would guess.
24
Q.
25
Who is -- do you know a Gary
Stringham?
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A.
I do.
2
Q.
Who is he?
3
A.
He's another code reviewer.
4
Q.
And was he -- was he also reviewing
5
the Facebook code at some point in this case at
6
your direction?
7
A.
He was.
8
Q.
But at some point he stopped doing
9
the code, and the code review went to
10
Mr. Cartt?
11
A.
Yes.
12
Q.
What was the reason for the switch
13
from Mr. Stringham to Mr. Cartt?
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
I'm going to instruct
15
the witness not to answer that.
16
MR. JESSEN:
17
MR. RUDOLPH:
On what grounds?
It goes to
18
communications between attorneys and Dr.
19
Golbeck.
20
21
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Do you have an understanding,
22
separate an apart from any communication you've
23
had with plaintiffs' counsel, regarding why
24
Mr. Stringham stopped doing the code review?
25
A.
No.
I think it's all stuff that
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2
we've talked about.
Q.
Do you know how long Mr. Stringham
3
reviewed the source code -- Facebook source
4
code?
5
A.
I think it was a few weeks that he
6
was out there looking at it, but I don't really
7
remember beyond that.
8
Q.
And I forgot to mention this
9
earlier, but when he instructed you not to
10
answer earlier, you're going to follow his
11
instruction?
12
A.
I am.
13
MR. JESSEN:
Okay.
14
we're at a good stopping point.
15
THE WITNESS:
16
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
17
Okay.
I think
Great.
Off the record at
12:54.
18
This is the end of Media Unit No. 2.
19
(A lunch recess was taken.)
20
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
21
On the record at
1:50.
22
This is the beginning of Media Unit
23
No. 3 in the deposition of Dr. Jennifer
24
Golbeck.
25
BY MR. JESSEN:
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Q.
Okay.
Welcome back, Dr. Golbeck.
2
A.
Thanks.
3
Q.
If you could direct your attention
4
to Paragraph 16 of your report, which is
5
Exhibit 3, starting on Page -- the bottom of
6
Page 3.
7
A.
Yep.
8
Q.
Paragraph 16 of your report lists
9
10
the issues you have been asked to opine on; is
that correct?
11
A.
That's correct.
12
Q.
All right.
Let's just briefly walk
13
through these.
14
"The structure and function of Facebook's
15
messaging system."
16
You -- number -- or Letter A:
Do you see that?
17
A.
Uh-huh.
18
Q.
That's one --
19
A.
Yes.
20
Q.
-- issue you've been asked to opine
22
A.
It is.
23
Q.
During what period of time have you
21
on?
24
been asked to opine on the structure and
25
function of Facebook's messaging system?
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A.
So I've -- I've looked at it really
2
throughout the -- the time that the code and
3
the documents covered, which I believe
4
basically go back to 2009.
5
Q.
Okay.
6
A.
So I've provided opinions on that
7
whole period but obviously focused on the class
8
period, which I believe starts in2000 -- end of
9
-- very end of 2011.
10
Q.
Okay.
So you're starting -- you've
11
-- I understand you've looked at documents and
12
code going back to 2009.
13
14
But how far in the -- in the future
then from 2009 are you going --
15
A.
Oh.
16
Q.
-- specifically with respect to your
17
opinion on the structure and function of
18
Facebook's messaging system?
19
A.
So I have a few documents from post
20
2012 that I've considered, but I think the bulk
21
of the material I have, including the source
22
code, only goes up to December of 2012.
23
Q.
Okay.
Would you feel comfortable
24
opining on the structure and function of
25
Facebook's messaging system after 2012?
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A.
So it depends on the questions that
2
you have for me.
3
that I think I'd be very comfortable with.
4
others, depending on how detailed the question
5
is --
6
Q.
There are some things that -And
You're not assuming that the code
7
that exists now is the same as it was in 2012,
8
are you?
9
A.
I'm sure the code has changed.
The
10
-- my -- my understanding -- and again, this is
11
getting into legal details -- is that the code
12
that is -- that we were provided, which goes up
13
I think to December 30th, 2012, is the code
14
that Facebook thought was relevant.
15
what I have to go on.
16
Q.
So that's
Right.
17
But again, my question is you're not
18
assuming the code in existence now is the same
19
it was -- as it was in 2012.
20
that assumption.
21
Or are you?
22
23
A.
No.
I'm -- I'm certain that there
have been changes to the code since 2012.
24
25
You're not making
Q.
You don't know what those changes
are?
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A.
No.
2
Q.
Okay.
B on Page 4, the second topic
3
you've been asked to opine on is:
4
interception of private message content."
5
"Facebook's
You see that?
6
A.
I do.
7
Q.
What do you mean by the word
8
9
"interception"?
A.
So my understanding, as it applies
10
here, is essentially that it's the redirection
11
of the private message content to be used by
12
code that's -- that's not related to or
13
necessary for the delivery of the private
14
message.
15
16
17
Q.
What do you mean by redirection of
the private message content?
A.
That the content of the message --
18
I'm just trying to think how to rephrase that
19
because it makes sense to me.
20
The content of the message is sent
21
to code that is -- that performs some other
22
purpose than delivering the message.
23
24
25
Q.
Content of the message is sent to
Facebook code?
A.
In this case, we're talking about
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Facebook code.
2
if it were third party code, too, depending.
3
Q.
I think my analysis would apply
But you're not claiming that
4
Facebook is redirecting the content of private
5
messages to third parties, are you?
6
7
8
9
A.
That's correct.
I'm not claiming
that.
Q.
Okay.
So when you talk about an
interception, you're talking about the
10
redirection of private message content within
11
another part of Facebook for purposes that you
12
think are necessary to deliver the message?
13
A.
That's a fair summary, yes.
14
Q.
Okay.
15
What do you mean when you --
when -- by "private message content"?
16
A.
What's unclear about that?
17
Q.
I'm not saying it's unclear.
I'm
18
just trying to figure out what you're --
19
what -- what specifically you're talking about.
20
A.
Oh.
I'm not trying to be snarky,
21
but I would say it's the content of private
22
messages.
23
detail --
24
25
Q.
I -- I -- I'm just not sure what
So everything that I type into -- if
I send you a message, everything that I type
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into the text box --
2
A.
Would be content.
3
Q.
That's the contents?
4
A.
Yeah.
5
Q.
Okay.
6
A.
-- discussing before, we were
7
As we were --
talking about the URL attachments, which are --
8
Q.
Right.
9
A.
-- obviously core at issue here.
10
would consider those part of the message
11
I
content.
12
Q.
13
Okay.
That's what I'm getting at.
So that's -- you think -- your view
14
is an attachment of a URL preview is also
15
content.
16
A.
That is, yes.
17
Q.
Okay.
Were you asked to assume that
18
there would have been a, to use your term,
19
interception?
20
A.
No.
21
Q.
Okay.
22
You reached that conclusion
on your own?
23
A.
I did.
24
Q.
Going back to Paragraph 16, you have
25
a sub-bullet point -- or not a bullet point -Page 185
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but a sub Roman numeral.
It says:
"Whether in
2
what devices Facebook employs to intercept
3
message content."
4
A.
Yes.
5
Q.
What do you mean by "devices"?
6
A.
So in this case, code that, as I
7
said before, is not code used to deliver the
8
message.
9
10
Q.
It's basically separate code.
You've also been asked to opine on
whether the interceptions occurred in transit?
11
A.
Yes.
12
Q.
What do you mean by "in transit"?
13
A.
So whether that redirection of the
14
content to that code --
15
Q.
Yeah.
16
A.
-- took place when the message was
17
not in storage.
18
that message would send and it was delivered to
19
the recipient, that -- that would be the
20
transit period if it was done when the message
21
was between those phases and not in storage.
22
Q.
Uh-huh.
So basically between the point
What -- what do you mean
23
when you say "in storage"?
24
storage are you talking about?
25
A.
What kind of
So in this case, I would be talking
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about, you know, stored in a database, some
2
type of permanent storage where the message
3
kind of sits and is held and can be accessed
4
later.
5
Q.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
You were also asked
6
to opine on whether the interception of private
7
message content was necessary for Facebook to
8
deliver private messages?
9
A.
Yes.
10
Q.
What do you mean by "necessary"?
11
A.
Since these are messages going
12
through Facebook, right, I type it in the
13
Facebook Messenger.
14
by Facebook to another user.
15
I send it.
It's deliver
Facebook obviously has to have that
16
message in order to deliver it, right?
17
fact that Facebook had and delivered the
18
message doesn't mean that it was an
19
interception that -- that would cause any
20
problems under the issues that are at stake
21
here.
22
So the
So I was really looking at if the
23
content of the message was passed to code and
24
the code was not a necessary part of that
25
delivery process.
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Q.
Is it your understanding that that's
2
a -- that whether or not the code was val- --
3
was necessary for the delivery process, is it
4
your understanding that that's -- that's a --
5
somehow important to the -- to the lawsuit?
6
7
8
A.
important to the lawsuit.
Q.
9
10
It's my understanding that that is
In what way?
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
11
BY MR. JESSEN:
12
Q.
You can answer.
13
A.
Okay.
So yeah.
I -- I don't want
14
to give too much of a legal opinion.
My
15
understanding of the law is that, if Facebook
16
took the message content and, say, put it
17
through a spam filter, which is one issue that
18
we've talked about --
19
Q.
Uh-huh.
20
A.
-- that that wouldn't necessarily
21
22
constitute a legal problem here.
I haven't really analyzed the spam
23
filters in particular, but there are processes
24
which could be necessary towards the
25
functioning of the messaging system and others
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that aren't.
2
And this -- whether or not it's
3
necessary, my understanding, is important for
4
whether or not these laws were violated.
5
Q.
So your understanding is that, if a
6
message is processed for a reason that's not
7
necessary to the delivering of the message,
8
that the two laws at issue in this case are
9
violated?
10
11
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
12
THE WITNESS:
I feel like there's a
13
lot of subtlety not captured in what you just
14
said.
15
16
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, I'm just trying to -- I'm
17
trying to understand why you think it's
18
important whether or not a specific
19
functionality was necessary for the delivery to
20
the -- delivery of the message.
21
you said that you thought that was like an
22
important issue in the case.
23
And I think
And so I'm just asking you like is
24
it your -- are you under the impression -- I'm
25
not trying to put words in your mouth -- that,
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if a process -- an electronic process takes
2
place on a message -- on a Facebook message
3
that's not necessary to delivering the message,
4
that that violates the statutes at issue in
5
this case?
6
7
MR. RUDOLPH:
legal conclusion.
8
9
Objection.
Calls for
Asked and answered.
THE WITNESS:
So if I can rephrase
that maybe to better reflect my understanding.
10
BY MR. JESSEN:
11
Q.
Sure.
12
A.
It's that, if the message is
13
intercepted and processed by some code, and
14
that code is necessary for the delivery, it's
15
my understanding that the lawsuit at issue in
16
this case would not be violated.
17
of flipping around what you said.
18
So it's kind
I -- from the way that you phrased
19
it, if it's intercepted by code that's not
20
necessary, I think other things have to be true
21
for the laws to be violated.
22
Q.
What other things?
23
A.
For example, bullet point B2 there,
24
25
that it has to occur in transit.
Q.
So your understanding is, if there
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is some electronic process that occurs in
2
transit that's not necessary to delivering the
3
message, then that would violate these laws.
4
5
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
6
THE WITNESS:
7
pushing my legal education here.
8
9
Yeah.
You're really
So I think those things need to be
true.
My understanding of the law is that
10
there also has to be a device that does that
11
interception.
12
13
14
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Is it necessary to filter messages
for spam in order to deliver them?
15
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
16
THE WITNESS:
What do you mean by
17
"necessary"?
18
19
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, you're talking in your report
20
about things that are necessary.
And so I'm
21
using it in the same way you're using it.
22
Can I -- can Facebook
23
technologically deliver private messages
24
without filtering them for spam?
25
A.
So to that question, can Facebook
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technologically deliver messages --
2
Q.
Uh-huh.
3
A.
-- without filtering them for spam,
4
5
they can.
Q.
Okay.
But you're not of the view, I
6
gather, that filtering messages for spam
7
violates these laws, are you?
8
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Calls for legal conclusion.
10
THE WITNESS:
I haven't formed an --
11
I haven't stated an opinion on that either way
12
here.
13
implemented, whether or not it would violate
14
these laws.
15
I suppose it could depend on how it's
I haven't thought deeply about it.
I could see it going either way.
16
It's not the basis of my conclusions here
17
though.
18
19
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
20
Understood.
Okay.
Going down to the next
21
subpoint, C, Facebook's subsequent use of that
22
private message content, that's something else
23
you've been asked to opine on.
24
25
What do you mean by "use"?
A.
What Facebook does with the content
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2
3
4
that is intercepted from the private messages.
Q.
And what content are you referring
to specifically?
A.
So most of -- I think most of what I
5
address in here is the information about the
6
URLs that are attached in those messages.
7
Q.
So the -- the URL attachment.
8
A.
Yes.
9
Q.
What's the difference, in your mind,
10
11
between an interception and subsequent use?
A.
That the interception is actually
12
collecting the content and using it as
13
deploying it in some way.
14
15
Q.
What do you mean by "collecting the
content"?
16
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
Can you read
17
back to me what I -- what my answer just was?
18
Because I was trying to phrase that, and then
19
it all just went out of my head.
20
MR. JESSEN:
I --
Maybe the court
21
reporter would read it back, her answer
22
beginning with "That the interception."
23
Or if -- you know, I can do it.
24
BY MR. JESSEN:
25
Q.
So I asked you:
"What's the
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difference, in your mind, between an
2
interception and subsequent use?"
3
And your answer was:
"That the
4
interception is actually collecting the content
5
and using it" -- "using it as deploying it in
6
some way."
7
A.
8
Yeah.
That's not the most artful
answer there.
9
So the quest- -- just -- just so I'm
10
clear in my head, the question is the
11
difference between intercepting and using?
12
Q.
Correct.
13
A.
So maybe I can address it the way
14
that I have in the report, and we'll see if
15
that answers your question.
16
Q.
Sure.
17
A.
So -- actually, let me do it this
18
way.
Give me one second.
19
Q.
Of course.
20
A.
So the way that I presented it
21
here -- because I've separated them out into
22
two different sections.
23
interception.
24
hopefully that -- this will clarify what I see
25
as the difference.
Section 3 is on the
Section 4 is on the use.
So
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What I've addressed in Section 3 on
2
the interception is basically collecting,
3
logging, storing information about the private
4
message content.
5
specific things if you want, but that's a
6
general answer.
And we can talk about the
7
Q.
Uh-huh.
8
A.
In Section 4 where I'm talking about
9
the use, I'm talking about, once that "dorta"
10
-- once -- once that data was stored, what did
11
Facebook use it for elsewhere in the system.
12
And I talk specifically about how
13
it's used for recommendations and then the
14
social plug-ins.
15
is stored and collected, what do they do with
16
it.
17
Q.
So basically, after the data
And when -- in that answer when you
18
talk about once the data is stored, you're
19
referring there to persistent storage?
20
A.
So it is persistent storage that I'm
21
talking about there.
22
different than the storage question we were
23
discussing before.
24
25
Q.
That's a little bit
Right.
I'm just -- I just want to
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understand, when you say -- when you talk about
2
uses of private message content, what you mean
3
by that.
4
And this is -- tell me if I'm wrong,
5
but the distinction you're drawing between the
6
interception and the use is uses refer to
7
things that are done with the private message
8
content after that information is in permanent
9
or persistent storage.
10
A.
Which information?
11
Q.
The private message content which
12
13
14
you're saying is intercepted.
A.
I -- I don't think -- I'm not sure
that we're talking about the same thing.
15
Q.
Okay.
16
A.
So -- so I'm not talking about the
17
Help me.
message being in permanent storage.
18
Q.
Okay.
19
A.
Right?
I'm talking about, in this
20
case, the message is intercepted -- and I don't
21
know.
22
we're talking about content -- information
23
about that message is logged or otherwise
24
recorded.
25
Q.
Maybe to get into specifics to help,
So not the message itself.
Uh-huh.
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A.
But --
2
Q.
Okay.
3
A.
-- in this case, information about
4
the URLs.
5
Q.
Uh-huh.
6
A.
The use -- when I'm talking about
7
the use of that information, I'm talking about
8
the use of the data produced from the
9
interception, basically.
10
Q.
Uh-huh.
11
A.
And that is in storage, the logs
12
that came from the sharing of the messages, the
13
other data that's recorded there.
14
So I don't know if that --
15
Q.
Yeah.
16
A.
Okay.
17
Q.
I understand.
18
19
No.
And that's -- that's in persistent
storage?
20
A.
I believe that's true, yes.
21
Q.
Okay.
22
worry.
23
a little more detail.
24
25
Okay.
Yeah.
And don't
We'll -- we'll delve into this in -- in
Going back to Paragraph 16.
A.
Uh-huh.
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Q.
One other issue that you have been
2
asked to opine on is whether the class members
3
can be readily determined based on Facebook's
4
own records?
5
A.
Yes.
6
Q.
Who do you understand to be the
7
8
9
proposed class members?
A.
So my understanding is that it's
people since the start of the class period who
10
have sent private message on -- private
11
messages on Facebook with URL attachments.
12
13
Q.
And the start of the class period is
December 30th, 2011?
14
A.
That's my understand.
15
Q.
Two years before the lawsuit was
16
filed?
17
A.
Right.
18
Q.
To -- do you know when it end --
19
20
21
22
when the class ends, the proposed class?
A.
I'm not exactly sure, and it may go
up to the present.
Q.
You also have an understanding that
23
it's not just people who have sent private
24
Facebook Messages but also recipients of those
25
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A.
Oh, yeah.
I --
2
Q.
-- with URLs?
3
A.
I believe that's the case, yes.
4
Q.
Okay.
Then finally you've been
5
asked to opine on whether the Face- -- whether
6
Facebook's unifor- -- whether Facebook
7
uniformly processed private messages during the
8
relevant period.
9
And what do you mean -- when you
10
talk about the relevant period there, what is
11
that period?
12
A.
The class period.
13
Q.
Okay.
14
So December 30th, 2011, up to
the present day, potentially?
15
A.
Potentially.
16
Q.
And I know we talked a little bit
17
about this earlier, but do you feel competent
18
to give opinions about Facebook's messaging
19
system after December 2012 to a reasonable
20
degree of computer science certainty?
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
22
THE WITNESS:
I understand the
23
24
25
question.
Form.
I'm -- just give me a second.
So I've looked at the code certainly
from the beginning of the class period up
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through the end of the time the source code was
2
provided.
3
period.
4
So I can speak solidly on that
I'm left with basically what I've
5
been told, which is that Facebook said that was
6
the code that was relevant for the class
7
period.
8
If that's the case, then -- and --
9
and here we're getting into kind of how I've
10
been informed about the process of this case
11
going, right?
12
So if it's the case that Facebook
13
says the code that's relevant is -- is this
14
code, and it goes through December 30th, 2012,
15
that makes me believe that Facebook thinks
16
there were no relevant changes since that
17
period or else I would have seen that code.
18
I would love to see that code, for
19
what it's worth.
20
assertions beyond what I've been able to look
21
at.
22
Q.
But I can't make any certain
So it sounds like that's a long way
23
of saying no, which -- which to go back to my
24
question, do you feel competent to give
25
opinions about Facebook's messaging system
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after December 2012 to a reasonable degree of
2
computer science certainty?
3
4
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Misstates prior testimony.
5
THE WITNESS:
6
BY MR. JESSEN:
7
Q.
So --
And I -- I -- because we're limited
8
on time, I mean I -- I understand what you've
9
said about what you've been informed and
10
whatnot.
11
I just want to know can -- do you
12
feel comfortable or competent to give me
13
opinions on the messaging system after December
14
2012 to a reasonable degree of computer science
15
certainty?
16
17
MR. RUDOLPH:
Object to form.
Asked
and answered.
18
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
I mean it's --
19
I would like a stronger answer on this
20
question.
21
didn't produce any code after 2012 because they
22
don't think there's any relevant code there,
23
then I would be very certain about this.
24
Facebook doesn't think there's anything
25
interesting for me to see since that point.
Like if it's the case that Facebook
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If there's some other reason that
2
Facebook hasn't produced code since 2012, then
3
I'm kind of left in the dark.
4
5
So it depends on the answer to this
question --
6
BY MR. JESSEN:
7
Q.
So --
8
A.
-- right?
9
So I've been informed
that that's the case, that Facebook said this
10
is all the relevant code.
And if that's the
11
case, then I can make that determination.
12
But I feel like there's legal things
13
going on that are -- are different from what I
14
might want to have access to.
15
so based on what I've been told, I'll make that
16
conclusion.
17
that I don't know about, then -- then I could
18
see there being, you know, a different
19
conclusion potentially to draw starting in
20
2013.
21
And -- you know,
If there's other things going on
I'm -- I really want to answer your
22
question, but I feel like this is -- you know,
23
there's not just science happening in this
24
space in terms of what I've been given access
25
to.
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Q.
2
Right.
So you feel comfortable giving
3
opinions about the operation of Facebook's
4
messaging system after December 2012 only on
5
the assumption that there have not been any
6
material changes since that time; is that fair?
7
A.
That's definitely fair.
8
Q.
But otherwise, if that weren't
9
10
correct, then you probably wouldn't feel
comfortable doing that.
11
12
MR. RUDOLPH:
prior testimony.
13
14
Objection.
Misstates
Asked and answered.
THE WITNESS:
I would certainly want
to see something from 2013 on.
15
BY MR. JESSEN:
16
Q.
Uh-huh.
17
A.
If -- if I were informed that the
18
Facebook code had substantial changes in the
19
messaging architecture since then, I would like
20
to see the code.
21
documentation that might stand in place of the
22
code, but I would want more of that information
23
than I have now.
24
25
Q.
I could potentially see other
Let me ask you this question:
There
are a number of practices -- and we're going to
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get into them -- which you describe in your
2
report and -- and say at one point have
3
happened at Facebook.
4
Can you tell me, to a reasonable
5
degree of computer science certainty, whether
6
those things are still happening today?
7
8
A.
So we're talking about the -- the
things in the section on use, for example.
9
Q.
Yeah.
10
A.
I -- I know we'll get into them
11
specifically, but in --
12
Q.
Yeah.
13
A.
-- Section 4.
14
Q.
We'll get into it in more detail,
15
16
Yeah, so --
but I just want to start at a high level.
A.
Yeah.
The answer's no.
So I was
17
able to verify, you know, for some of them,
18
2010, 2011, that those practices were
19
happening.
20
Q.
Right.
21
A.
Have not been able to find yet in
22
the code whether it's still happening or not.
23
And there's evidence that makes me believe it
24
is, but I haven't been able to verify that with
25
any degree of certainty.
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Q.
Okay.
Okay.
So now let's look at
2
Paragraph 17.
These are the opinions -- an
3
overview of the opinions that you're actually
4
offering, correct?
5
A.
That looks right.
6
Q.
Okay.
So we're going to get into A:
7
"The structure and function of Facebook's
8
messaging description is described in detail in
9
Section 3 below."
10
We'll go talk about that.
Your second conclusion, B, is:
11
"Facebook intercepted and redirected users'
12
private message content using various
13
code-based devices while the message was in
14
transit, and this interception was not
15
necessary for Facebook to deliver private
16
messages."
17
See that?
18
A.
I do.
19
Q.
There you -- you use the words both
20
"intercepted" and "redirected."
21
Were you drawing a distinction
22
between those two things, or are they -- are
23
you describing the same -- do they describe the
24
same thing?
25
A.
I think I'm describing the same
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2
thing there.
Q.
Part of the conclusion is that
3
Facebook intercepted and redirected users
4
private message content using various
5
code-based devices.
6
A.
Uh-huh.
7
Q.
What does that mean, "code-based
8
9
devices"?
A.
So we discussed devices back up in
10
Paragraph 16.
I was asked to give an opinion
11
if there was a device -- in B1 --
12
Q.
Uh-huh.
13
A.
-- whether and what devices --
14
Q.
Right.
15
A.
-- Facebook employs.
So this is the
16
code that intercepts the messages.
17
That's what
the code-based devices are.
18
Q.
The Facebook source code.
19
A.
Specific parts of the Facebook
20
21
22
source code.
Q.
Uh-huh.
Have you ever used the term
"code-based devices" in your academic career?
23
A.
I don't think so.
24
Q.
Why not?
25
A.
This is not the kind of thing I
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study.
2
don't think, yeah.
3
4
I don't write about code at all, I
Q.
Why are you using that terminology
here "various code-based devices"?
5
A.
I don't understand the question.
6
Q.
Well, I guess it makes sense -- if
7
you were saying -- if you were describing
8
something that the source code were -- was
9
doing, I could understand that.
10
But why are you referring to
11
portions of the source code, lines of source
12
code as devices?
13
A.
So I was asked to give an opinion on
14
whether there were devices that intercepted
15
messages.
16
Q.
Right.
17
A.
There are things that intercept
18
messages.
19
And my understanding of "device," as I was
20
asked to give an opinion on, is that these
21
particular lines of code would be that device
22
that's doing the interception.
23
Q.
That's these specific lines of code.
You were -- you were asked to assume
24
that lines of source code could be a device, or
25
you reached that conclusion independently?
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A.
I was not asked to assume anything.
2
I was asked to give an opinion on if Facebook
3
had a device that intercepted messages.
4
found lines of code that I believe intercept
5
the messages.
6
opinion on a device.
7
code is the device that does the interception.
8
9
10
Q.
I
And so I was asked to give an
Yeah, it seems like that
But you've never referred to source
code previously in your academic career as a
device, have you?
11
A.
That's correct.
12
Q.
What is a device?
13
A.
It's a thing that does a thing.
14
Q.
Okay.
Your conclusion C is:
15
"Facebook used the intercepted private message
16
content to provide recommendations to Facebook
17
users and to provide analytics to third-party
18
developers and Web sites as well as increment
19
the Like social plug-in counter."
20
You see that?
21
A.
Yes.
22
Q.
What do you mean by
23
"recommendations"?
24
A.
Suggesting content.
25
Q.
What kind of content specifically?
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A.
So I believe in this case we're
2
talking about suggesting URLs that other users
3
would be interested in seeing.
4
Q.
And by the way, is it fair to
5
assume -- and again, we'll get into it in more
6
detail.
7
But when you talk about the
8
intercepted private message content, you're
9
talking about the URL attachment?
10
A.
I think that's safe, yeah.
11
Q.
Okay.
You also talk about your
12
conclusion is that Facebook used this content
13
to provide analytics to third-party developers
14
and Web sites.
15
What do you mean by "analytics"?
16
A.
Let me just go to that section.
17
Q.
Sure.
18
A.
So I discuss this -- and I'm sure
19
we'll get there eventually --
20
Q.
Yes.
21
A.
-- in the section on in- -- the
22
"Insights in Developer API" that provides
23
information about how users are interacting
24
with particular URLs and potentially breakdowns
25
of demographic information based on that
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2
activity.
Q.
None of that information that you're
3
referring to when you talk about analytics is
4
personally identifiable information, is it?
5
A.
I don't believe it is.
6
Q.
Okay.
7
8
9
That would be sort of
aggregated, anonymous data?
A.
In general, I think that's right.
I -- you know, I can think of some edge cases
10
that may have ended up being personally
11
identifiable, but that's the exception and not
12
the rule.
13
Q.
Okay.
You talk about providing
14
analytics to the third-party developers and Web
15
sites.
16
A.
Uh-huh.
17
Q.
Are you drawing any kind of
18
distinction between third-party developers and
19
Web sites?
20
A.
Let me make sure before I --
21
Q.
Sure.
22
A.
-- answer that.
23
So I don't think I've drawn a
24
distinction here.
I think with that section,
25
flipping back through here, I'm -- I'm
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referring particularly to the API queries.
2
Q.
Okay.
3
A.
I -- I believe that's what I'm
4
5
6
referring to there.
Q.
And do you understand the API
queries to be different than the insights?
7
A.
Yes.
8
Q.
What's your understanding of the
9
10
difference between those two things?
A.
So insights was really a -- I think
11
of it as a dashboard, right?
12
go look at statistics.
13
at which you can write code to interact with
14
and make queries to Facebook.
15
A place you can
The API is just a point
I don't know that -- there's
16
certainly some overlap in the data that you can
17
get from either.
18
what the data is.
19
need the dashboard, and you -- you're writing
20
code with an API query.
21
Q.
I don't think it's the same,
But with the insights you
And you understand that, with the
22
insights, that was information that was
23
available to the owner of that particular
24
domain?
25
A.
That's my understanding of it, yes.
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Q.
Okay.
Okay.
And then your final
2
two conclusions, which I'm not going to get
3
into in detail now, but we'll -- we'll touch on
4
it a bit:
5
from Facebook's own records using various query
6
methods and through self-identification," and,
7
"Facebook source code operated consistently
8
during the relevant period," correct?
"Class members can be determined
9
A.
Yes.
10
Q.
Do you have any understanding as to
11
the relevance of your conclusions to
12
plaintiffs' motion for class certification?
13
14
A.
I'd I have a high-level
understanding.
15
Q.
What is it?
16
A.
That for class certification -- so
17
am I -- are you asking kind of in general for
18
all of these conclusions?
19
Q.
Sure.
20
A.
Okay.
So that last point, that the
21
class members can be determined, it's my
22
understanding that that speaks to
23
ascertainability, which is necessary for class
24
certification.
25
And the conclusions about
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intercepting the message with a device in
2
transit, I don't know that that has to do with
3
the class but has to do with whether Facebook
4
is doing what they're accused of doing.
5
I don't understand the -- like all
6
the in-depth legal issues, but I don't know if
7
they'd certify a ascertainable class if they
8
didn't think Facebook was doing anything wrong.
9
So it seems like the two go together.
10
Q.
Do you intend to offer any other
11
opinions or conclusions other than those listed
12
in your report?
13
A.
Like ever?
14
Q.
Well, in this case.
15
A.
Okay.
16
I meant that.
So my understanding is that
17
discovery is still open.
18
possibility that I may come across new
19
information.
20
Q.
So I think there's a
Do you have -- you have any other
21
opinions now that you're aware of that you are
22
planning to give that are not reflected in this
23
report?
24
A.
Not right now.
25
Q.
Okay.
I don't think so.
Since you finalized your
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report, have you conducted any additional
2
research or reviewed any additional documents
3
related to this matter?
4
5
A.
We're certainly still reviewing
source code, and I've --
6
Q.
Right.
7
A.
-- been talking to David Cartt --
8
Q.
Uh-huh.
9
A.
-- and guiding him through what to
10
look at there.
11
I don't believe I've looked at any
12
new documents from Facebook since submitting
13
the report.
14
been any.
15
Q.
And I don't know if there have
In the course of your review and
16
analysis in this case, have you seen any
17
evidence that Facebook ever -- Facebook ever
18
used URLs shared in private messages to deliver
19
user profiles?
20
MR. RUDOLPH:
21
BY MR. JESSEN:
22
23
24
25
Q.
Sorry.
Objection.
I meant develop.
Vague.
Develop
user profiles.
A.
Oh.
You know, it depends what you
mean by a user profile.
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2
3
Q.
Well, what do you -- what does that
mean to you?
A.
So I have seen evidence that there's
4
data recorded about specific users and the URLs
5
that they shared in a database.
6
In a way that it could be -- I mean
7
I could actually write the one line of code,
8
having seen the Facebook code, that would allow
9
me to pull up for a user a list of all the URLs
10
that they had shared.
11
legitimately could be called a user profile.
12
I think that
I haven't seen that query itself in
13
the Facebook code.
14
data is there makes me feel like there -- that
15
we're pretty close to having a user profile
16
from the record of those URL attachments.
17
Q.
But the fact that all that
Doesn't Facebook -- I mean Facebook
18
Messages are sitting on Facebook servers,
19
right?
20
A.
Yes.
21
Q.
So they have all the messages that
22
23
24
25
anyone on Facebook has ever sent, right?
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Lacks
foundation.
THE WITNESS:
It's my understanding
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that that's true.
2
3
4
5
6
7
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Do you consider that to be a user
profile as well?
A.
I would not nec- -- no.
I don't
think I'd consider that to be a user profile.
Q.
Do you have -- have you seen any
8
evidence that Facebook ever used URLs shared in
9
private messages to develop user profiles for
10
the purpose of deliver -- delivering targeted
11
advertising?
12
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
13
THE WITNESS:
Again, depends on your
14
definition of "targeted advertising."
15
16
Is there a particular kind that
you --
17
18
Vague.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, you've studied this.
You have
19
some -- what do you understand "targeting
20
advertising" to mean?
21
22
A.
Yeah.
I mean we define our own
things in research.
23
Q.
Right.
24
A.
So, you know, I'd say we have, for
25
example, Facebook recommending URLs to people
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based on data gathered from private message
2
shares.
3
of targeted advertising, that Facebook is
4
advertising these URLs to users.
I think that can be considered a form
5
Q.
But would --
6
A.
I'm not sure if that's what you're
7
8
asking.
Q.
Well, no.
9
I mean you actually think that that
10
was -- someone suggesting a URL was a form of
11
advertising?
12
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
13
THE WITNESS:
I mean academically we
14
Form.
totally would count that in the space of --
15
BY MR. JESSEN:
16
Q.
Okay.
17
A.
-- recommender systems.
I mean
18
because you think about it like Amazon
19
recommends you something.
20
advertising that thing to you.
21
22
23
Q.
It's totally
But they're -- they're recommending
something that you should buy.
A.
Yeah.
So if -- if you want to
24
restrict this to people buying things.
25
But
academically -Page 217
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Q.
Well --
2
A.
-- we don't make that distinction.
3
Q.
-- let's talk -- I mean earlier you
4
talked about a Web site that you developed when
5
you were doing your thesis, and you said there
6
was no advertising.
7
A.
Right.
8
Q.
But you also said it was making
9
recommendations and ratings.
10
A.
But it wasn't --
11
Q.
So --
12
A.
-- it wasn't doing the
13
recommendations in this way, which -- which I
14
mentioned, right?
15
16
You could go to a page, and it would
tell you how much it thought you would like it.
17
Q.
Uh-huh.
18
A.
But it wouldn't proactively suggest.
19
That active offering and proactive suggestion,
20
in the literature, the academic space I work
21
in --
22
Q.
Right.
23
A.
-- is very much the same thing as
24
targeted advertising.
So academically I would
25
link those things together.
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I could see a way that -- that
2
they're distinguished, but I'd want to know how
3
you're considering it.
4
Q.
Well, I mean but do you understand
5
advertising is something that's done in order
6
to generate revenue by the entity that's doing
7
the advertising?
8
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Lacks foundation.
10
THE WITNESS:
So I think that that's
11
a fine definition.
12
rules out recommended URLs on Facebook as a
13
form of targeted advertising since it's
14
Facebook doing the advertising.
15
16
17
18
I don't think that actually
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Have you -- Facebook's doing what
advertising?
A.
If Facebook's recommending URLs to
19
someone, then that's a form of targeted
20
advertising, and Facebook potentially can
21
profit from that by increased engagement.
22
If you have a specific question --
23
Q.
Well --
24
A.
-- that --
25
Q.
Well, I'm just -- you're -- you're
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starting to give opinions that aren't in your
2
report, which --
3
A.
Which I'd love not to do.
4
Q.
-- makes me wonder if -- that's part
5
of the reason I went over like are these all
6
your opinions earlier.
7
So let me ask it this way:
Do you
8
have any opinion given in this report regarding
9
whether or not Facebook has used URLs shared in
10
private messages to develop user profiles?
11
A.
So are you going to ask me that
12
question also about advertising?
Because I
13
want to flip through just to remind myself.
14
Q.
Yes.
I'm going to ask --
15
A.
And so I want to look --
16
Q.
Yes.
17
A.
-- at them both at the same time.
18
Q.
Of course.
19
A.
All right.
20
Q.
Sure.
21
A.
I'll do it as quick as I can.
22
Q.
Of course.
23
A.
So looking through here -- so if I
24
catch it that I've missed it later on, I'll say
25
so.
But I don't -Page 220
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Q.
Sure.
2
A.
-- believe that -- it doesn't look
3
like anywhere I've discussed explicitly user
4
profiles or targeted advertising.
5
Q.
Okay.
So you're not -- you're not
6
offering an opinion on -- you're not offering
7
any opinion on whether or not Facebook has used
8
private message content, to use your term, to
9
build user profiles or serve target
10
11
12
13
14
15
advertisements, correct?
A.
So I have no opinions that
explicitly use those terms here.
Q.
But do you have opinions that you
think fall under that umbrella?
A.
I mean it's the discussion that we
16
were just having.
So I wasn't -- I wasn't
17
asked to offer an opinion on specifically -- I
18
mean I don't think it says like, "Is there a
19
user profile created?
20
advertising" --
Is there targeted
21
Q.
Okay.
22
A.
-- "done?" right?
23
Q.
You weren't --
24
A.
So I --
25
Q.
-- asked to offer an opinion on
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that.
2
A.
I don't believe so.
3
Q.
Earlier you mentioned, when you were
4
talking about the different parts of
5
Facebook -- "What is Facebook?" I asked you,
6
and you said --
7
A.
Uh-huh.
8
Q.
-- there was a -- there was a part
9
10
of it that had a -- you said -- you mentioned
an advertising component.
11
And when I talk about targeted
12
advertising, that's really what I'm talking
13
about --
14
A.
Okay.
15
Q.
-- the advertising components of
16
17
Facebook as discussed by you earlier.
And I guess my question is do you
18
have any evidence that URLs shared in private
19
messages were ever used in connection with that
20
advertising component?
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
22
THE WITNESS:
So from what I've
Form.
23
seen, I don't have any evidence that -- that
24
those URL shares were used for that kind of
25
targeted advertising.
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2
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
3
You -- you -- okay.
You have information that some
4
shares were used for recommendations but not
5
for that kind of target advertising.
6
A.
That's right.
7
Q.
Okay.
Okay.
Let's look at
8
Paragraph 19.
And this is under the section of
9
your report titled "Facebook's Interception of
10
Private Message Content."
11
talk about Facebook's private message
12
architecture or functionality.
13
providing an overview of Facebook's private
14
message architecture.
15
And you initially
In here you're
Paragraph 19 you're -- and you're
16
describing sort of what happens when someone
17
types a URL into a private message.
18
You say:
"She types her text, and
19
if she types, pastes or otherwise enters a URL
20
into the body of the message, Facebook detects
21
the URL as she types.
22
extracts the URL from the message and sends it
23
to Facebook servers."
24
25
Once it sees a URL, it
See that?
A.
I do.
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Q.
Are you claiming that that process
2
is a -- an interception or redirection of
3
private message content?
4
A.
Yes.
I know I have a specific
5
statement about this in here that I just want
6
to look up.
Well, we'll probably get there.
7
Q.
Sure.
8
A.
Okay.
9
But no.
So I'm not claiming
that this particular part of the process,
10
basically putting that preview into the message
11
before I send it, I'm not claiming that that's
12
the interception.
13
Q.
Okay.
Why not?
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
15
THE WITNESS:
That's a really
16
complicated question.
17
18
Are you asking me to list why it
wouldn't count?
19
20
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, why don't -- I guess you're --
21
why don't you think that's an interception or
22
redirection?
23
A.
It potentially could be an
24
interception.
I -- so -- so this is an issue
25
that I've thought a little about.
But again,
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like it's getting into legal things that I
2
don't have a full grasp of.
3
Can there be a perfectly allowable
4
interception?
5
if it's like totally allowed under every law?
6
That's a kind of legal question, right?
7
like that's actually the nature of what you're
8
asking me.
9
Q.
We can move on.
10
A.
Okay.
11
Q.
And --
12
A.
-- trying to be difficult.
14
Q.
No, no, no.
15
A.
-- know that --
16
Q.
No.
17
A.
Okay.
18
Q.
Let's move on.
13
Does it count as an interception
I feel
Like --
I'm not --
I just
--
19
Okay.
I just -- it's okay.
Then you drop a footnote at
20
the end of Paragraph 19, Footnote 3, which
21
says:
22
which the Facebook system operates.
23
code and data, run the code, provide Web
24
content and manage back-end functionality.
25
Essentially every part of Facebook, other than
"Facebook servers are the computers on
They store
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the code that runs in the user's browser, is
2
running on Facebook servers, and those servers
3
provide every element of Facebook that a user
4
interacts with."
5
Did I read that correctly?
6
A.
That looks right.
7
Q.
You would agree with me that those
8
servers -- those Facebook servers are necessary
9
to the operation of Facebook's messaging
10
system?
11
A.
Yes.
12
Q.
You talk a little bit about
13
JavaScript in some of your paragraphs, and I'm
14
not going to get into too much detail, but one
15
of the points you make is that most -- a high
16
percentage of users -- Internet users have
17
JavaScript enabled?
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
Would you agree with me that, even
20
if the total percentage is only 1 to 2, which
21
some of the -- some of the things here -- you
22
cite in Paragraph 21 say, that that's still
23
millions and millions of people --
24
MR. RUDOLPH:
25
Objection.
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
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2
Q.
-- running browsers that don't have
JavaScript enabled?
3
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
4
THE WITNESS:
Are we talking in the
5
Form.
U.S. or worldwide?
6
BY MR. JESSEN:
7
Q.
In the U.S.
8
A.
It gets you to about a million, I
9
think, right, if we're doing 1 percent of like
10
how many computers are there.
11
person?
12
13
Q.
All right.
Is there one per
We can look at the
article, but I -- given the time constraint...
14
A.
Okay.
15
Q.
It's a lot of people.
16
A.
A lot.
17
Q.
Okay.
In Paragraph 22 you talk
18
about -- you say:
"The URL detection process
19
is also described by Ray He, an engineer at
20
Facebook.
21
deposition, Mr. He states, 'When the user types
22
in a URL, the client-side code -- well, this is
23
the JavaScript -- running on the user's
24
browser, would defect that the entered a URL
25
and will attempt to create an attachment for
In his September 25th, 2015
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them to sends.'"
2
Do you see that?
3
A.
I do.
4
Q.
And then in Paragraph 23 you say,
5
based upon your analysis of Facebook source
6
code, the process appears in certain files,
7
right?
8
A.
Yes.
9
Q.
And I just want to confirm -- this
10
tracks what we were saying earlier -- that
11
process there, you're not saying that's the
12
interception, correct?
13
A.
That's correct.
14
Q.
Paragraph 24 you say:
"After this
15
code detects that Alice has typed a URL in her
16
private message, a request is sent to Facebook
17
servers to retrieve information" to -- "related
18
to the URL.
19
this information is to create a URL preview
20
within the private message.
21
the preview as a," quote, "brief description of
22
the URL and, if available, a relevant image
23
from the Web," end quote.
24
25
One of the purposes of retrieving
Facebook describes
What did you mean in the second
sentence where you say one of the purposes of
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retrieving this information is to create a URL
2
preview?
3
A.
Like what are the other purposes?
4
Q.
Yeah.
5
A.
So if it's the first time that a
6
user has entered a URL, if Facebook has never
7
seen that URL before --
8
Q.
Right.
9
A.
They create other data -- they have
10
data structures in the back end -- about that
11
URL that has information beyond what's included
12
in the preview, for example.
13
14
15
Q.
Are you referring to the global
share object?
A.
The global share object.
Right.
16
But that gets created if a -- if Facebook sees
17
a URL for the first time.
18
information in that object beyond just what
19
appears in the preview.
And there's
20
Q.
Well, what other information?
21
A.
There's a lot.
It has -- so in --
22
are you asking me in general what's in those
23
global --
24
Q.
Yeah.
25
A.
-- shared objects.
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Q.
I mean if you know.
2
A.
Yeah.
I think they contain some
3
information about when that URL was crawled for
4
the first time.
5
user ID of the person who created -- who
6
initiated that call.
7
They can contain the Facebook
Some of them have lists of user IDs
8
of people who have shared that later on.
9
that obviously wouldn't be there on the first
10
time it's accessed.
11
So
that data structure.
12
But that is recorded in
But the -- if you print it out,
13
there's pages of information that's contained
14
there.
15
Q.
Uh-huh.
16
A.
Those are the kind of humanly
17
understandable ones that I remember off the top
18
of my head.
19
Q.
But do you understand that the
20
purpose of the global share object is to
21
generate a URL preview?
The primary purpose.
22
A.
I -- I don't understand that.
23
Q.
Okay.
24
25
Why not?
I mean do you disagree with that, or
do you just not have a basis for knowing one
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way or the other?
2
A.
I think the latter.
So I agree --
3
Q.
Okay.
4
A.
-- that it's used for that preview.
5
I just don't know if that's its primary purpose
6
within Facebook.
7
Q.
You go on to say in Paragraph 25:
8
"The process of detecting the URL within a
9
private message, executing code to find
10
information about the URL and then processing
11
that information analysis message window
12
employs what Facebook refers to as a share
13
scraper or scraper."
14
You see that?
15
A.
I do.
16
Q.
Are you familiar with the term
17
"share scraper" or "scraper"?
18
A.
I am.
19
Q.
You've heard those before?
20
Those --
you've heard those terms before?
21
A.
I have.
22
Q.
What do you understand them to mean?
23
A.
So within the Facebook context or
24
25
general?
Q.
Both.
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A.
So "scraper" is a term widely used
2
in -- in this kind of context on the Web where
3
you go out to a page, and you have code that
4
basically processes the content of that page to
5
extract some information.
6
scraping the page.
So we call that
7
Q.
Uh-huh.
8
A.
"Share scraper" I think is a term
9
I've only seen in the Facebook context
10
specifically.
11
describe this process.
12
Q.
And that's used in their code to
The term "scraper" or "scraping,"
13
that doesn't have a pernicious meaning, does
14
it?
15
16
MR. RUDOLPH:
Vague.
Form.
17
18
Objection.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
And what I mean by that is it's
19
describing a process of gathering information
20
from a Web site.
21
22
It's -- is there something sinister
about scraping?
23
24
25
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
Form.
Vague.
I would say, in
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general, no, that it's not generally considered
2
sinister.
3
BY MR. JESSEN:
4
Q.
Okay.
And then in Footnote 10 you
5
say:
"The share scraper is analogous to the
6
Web crawler referenced in Plaintiff's
7
consolidated amended complaint."
8
You see that?
9
A.
I do.
10
Q.
And there you're referring to the
11
Facebook share scraper when you say the, quote,
12
share scraper?
13
A.
Yes.
14
Q.
Okay.
15
A.
Basically the same thing.
What is a Web crawler?
It's a
16
piece of code that goes to a Web site and reads
17
the code for that page and extracts some
18
data --
19
Q.
Uh-huh.
20
A.
-- to be used.
21
Q.
And in this case, the share scraper
22
or the Web crawler is being used to generate a
23
preview -- a URL preview?
24
25
A.
Well, it's used to create that
global share object, which -Page 233
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Q.
Right.
2
A.
-- in turn, will create --
3
Q.
Got it.
4
A.
-- the preview.
5
Q.
The preview.
6
7
And this happens before the message
is sent, correct?
8
A.
That's correct.
9
Q.
You have any understanding about
10
whether this process of scraping is used across
11
Facebook's Web site?
12
For example, if I put a -- if I type
13
a URL into a post on my timeline or my wall,
14
you understand that the same processes are in
15
place to generate the URL preview?
16
A.
17
18
Yes.
MR. JESSEN:
Okay.
I think we've
been going a little over an hour.
19
Do you guys want to take a break?
20
THE WITNESS:
Great.
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
Okay.
22
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
23
Off the record at
2:53.
24
(A short recess was taken.)
25
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
On the record at
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3:15.
2
3
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Let's take a look at Paragraph 28 in
4
your report.
5
depiction of a preview in a message window.
6
Right above Paragraph 28 is a
Would you agree with that?
7
A.
Yes.
8
Q.
And in Paragraph 28 you say:
9
"However, this preview analysis message is not
10
the only result of the data structure created
11
by Facebook's code.
12
actually part of an attachment to the message
13
so that, while a preview is rendered visually
14
in Alice's message window, this attachment is
15
separate and distinct from the message itself."
16
The preview returned is
Did I read that correctly?
17
A.
Yes.
18
Q.
The first sentence, what do you mean
19
by that?
20
What do you mean when you say:
21
"This preview analysis message is not the only
22
result of the data structure created by
23
Facebook's code"?
24
25
A.
I think -- I think what I'm
referring to there is that, in addition to this
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preview, there's also that global share object
2
that we were talking about before --
3
Q.
Uh-huh.
4
A.
-- the break.
5
Q.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
So it's your
6
understanding that the URL attachment to the
7
message is separate and distinct from the
8
message itself, correct?
9
10
A.
I'm -- I'm sorry.
Can you just
repeat that?
11
Q.
Yeah.
12
A.
I was looking at that last sentence
13
there.
14
Q.
15
Sorry.
I was just reading from
that.
16
It's your understanding -- or the
17
report says the URL attachment to the message
18
is separate and distinct in the message itself?
19
A.
Let -- let me just review that.
20
Q.
Sure.
21
A.
The language is kind of flying out
22
of my head.
23
Q.
No worries.
24
A.
Right.
25
So I think that is referring
to -- there's the message itself.
I think
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that's referring to the text of the message
2
that I send, which can still have that URL in
3
it --
4
Q.
Uh-huh.
5
A.
-- but I don't think it has to.
6
Q.
Uh-huh.
7
A.
And then there's this distinct
8
9
attachment.
Q.
Okay.
Then in Paragraph 30, just
10
skipping ahead, that -- you say:
"When Alice
11
finishes the message and hits send, both the
12
text of her message and the URL attachment are
13
sent to Facebook's servers," right?
14
A.
I do.
15
Q.
Would the URL attachment always be
16
sent with the -- with the text of the message?
17
A.
If there is an attachment --
18
Q.
Yes.
19
A.
-- then, yeah, I believe, when Alice
20
hits send, both of them always get sent,
21
assuming everything functions the way it's
22
supposed to.
23
24
25
Q.
And assuming the user doesn't delete
the URL attachment?
A.
Well, right.
So if the attachment
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exists, it's sent.
2
then it's not there to be sent.
3
Q.
If the user deletes it,
Right.
4
Moving back up to Paragraph 29, you
5
say:
"As described in further detail below,
6
Facebook has pulled data related to this URL
7
from a global share object, which is a data
8
structure that Facebook uses to track its
9
users' interaction with URLs across the Web."
10
What is the basis for your statement
11
that a global share object is a data structure
12
that Facebook uses to track its users'
13
interactions with URLs across the Web?
14
A.
Which part of that?
15
Q.
Track its users' across -- track its
16
users' interactions with URLs across the -- the
17
-- the Web.
18
A.
So I've -- so I've looked at those
19
global share objects.
20
I've looked at outputs
of those.
21
Q.
Right.
22
A.
And, you know, also looked at code
23
dealing with them.
And they have, you know, a
24
number of fields that are used exactly for that
25
purpose, to track how Facebook users are
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interacting with the URL represented in that
2
object.
3
Q.
What field are you referring to?
4
A.
So as I mentioned when we were
5
talking about this before, you know, not having
6
it in front of me, I do recall that some of
7
those have a Facebook ID of the creator, and
8
some of those global share objects also had
9
lists of IDs of users who had shared the
10
object.
11
In addition to that, there are a
12
number of fields tracking how often the URL has
13
been shared, posted, clicked and liked.
14
There's a number of those aggregate scores.
15
Q.
Are you referring -- we're going to
16
get to this -- but to the field that's -- I
17
think it's called tracking into?
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
Okay.
20
understanding that's one field.
21
22
23
Now, it's -- it's my
But is that -A.
It's one field, but it has five
values within it that --
24
Q.
Sure.
25
A.
-- represent five different metrics
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that --
2
Q.
Right.
3
A.
-- were tracked.
4
Q.
Right.
5
You mentioned that the global share
6
object might have a list of IDs of users who
7
had shared it.
8
9
10
11
And would that include Facebook IDs
of users who had shared a URL in a private
message?
A.
So my impression is not.
I
12
haven't -- I don't believe I've tracked this in
13
the code.
14
of those global share objects.
15
I've actually looked at the output
And, you know, I don't have that
16
here in the reports.
17
just right at hand for me.
18
the case that that list is only people who have
19
posted it in a more public forum.
20
Q.
So the details aren't
But I believe it's
And again, with respect to Paragraph
21
29, you're talking about how the preview is
22
generated.
23
further" -- "further detail below, Facebook has
24
pulled data related to this URL from a global
25
share object."
You say:
"As described in
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Why is Facebook pulling data from
2
the global share object, based on your
3
understanding?
4
5
A.
Why did they go to the global share
object to create that preview?
6
Q.
Yes.
7
A.
So it -- so my understanding is that
8
it's both faster than rescraping the URL every
9
time and that it gives a consistent experience.
10
So for -- I think like for a while,
11
when a new URL comes in, a user's able to edit
12
the title or the description.
13
while, that ability goes away, so everybody
14
seeing that URL gets the same preview.
15
Q.
But after a
Would pulling -- would Facebook
16
pulling data to generate the preview from the
17
global share object also possibly help avoid
18
crashing certain Web sites by avoiding
19
requesting data from the -- from those sites
20
too many times?
21
22
MR. RUDOLPH:
Lacks foundation.
Objection.
Form.
Incomplete hypothetical.
23
THE WITNESS:
24
BY MR. JESSEN:
25
Q.
It's possible.
And is it your understanding that,
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if a user included a URL in a private message,
2
Facebook was always able to detect that URL and
3
create a URL preview to attach to the message?
4
5
6
A.
I'm sorry.
Repeat that question,
please.
Q.
7
Yeah.
Is it -- was it always the case --
8
or is it always the case that, if a user types
9
a URL into a private message, that Facebook is
10
able to detect the -- detect that URL and then
11
use that to create a URL preview?
12
A.
If the user has JavaScript enabled
13
and, you know, the network's all functioning
14
correctly, I think it's -- it's always the
15
case, yeah.
16
17
18
Q.
Do you know if -- what would happen
if that -- if the URL is on a URL blacklist?
A.
So I know Facebook will check
19
against some of those blacklists for malicious
20
URLs.
21
exactly what appears.
22
I don't remem- -- I don't remember
You know, I've looked at -- I've
23
seen that happen now.
24
story about that, and I tested it.
25
There was just a new
I think now what it does is say
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"Unable to create attachment," or something
2
like that.
3
Q.
Uh-huh.
4
A.
I didn't look into that going back.
5
MR. JESSEN:
And one thing I will
6
do -- I should have done this earlier -- we are
7
designating this transcript highly
8
confidential, attorneys' eyes only.
9
parts of it discuss source code as well.
I think
10
So that's for the court reporter.
11
BY MR. JESSEN:
12
13
Q.
Okay.
Okay.
Let's go ahead and
take a look at Paragraph 32.
14
And this is in the section of your
15
report "Facebook's Interception and Logging of
16
Private Message Content, Creation of Share
17
Objects."
18
In Paragraph 32 you say:
"Facebook
19
has large and complex data behind its site.
20
They store this in a data model called TAO, The
21
Associations and Objects.
22
suggests, there are two pieces in this model,
23
objects and associations."
24
25
As the name
Did I read that correctly?
A.
Yes.
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Q.
Is it your understanding that all
2
Facebook data objects and associations are
3
stored in TAO?
4
5
A.
That all objects and associations
are stored in TAO?
6
Q.
Sure.
7
A.
That's my understanding.
8
Q.
And what do you -- what's your basis
9
10
for that?
A.
Having read documents from Facebook
11
itself on -- on how they're storing that data,
12
which I have cited there.
13
code, there seems to be this connection between
14
TAO and the objects and associations that I've
15
looked at.
16
Q.
Also looking at the
Do you -- are there some objects --
17
I mean does -- is it possible Facebook creates
18
some objects that are not stored in TAO?
19
A.
I -- I think it's definitely the
20
case that there's some data that's not stored
21
in TAO.
22
data, what you call an object and not, like
23
that becomes a very kind of fuzzy space.
24
So there -- we've def- -- I've
25
You know, to -- when you're storing
definitely seen data that's not stored in TAO
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on Facebook.
2
Q.
Uh-huh.
3
A.
We can probe more deeply if it's an
4
5
object if you want.
Q.
6
Sure.
Paragraph 33 you say:
"Objects
7
represent things on Facebook, users' pages,
8
check-ins, comments, locations, et cetera.
9
Associations represent the relationships
10
between objects.
11
between users, a like that connects a user to a
12
page or a location that is tied to a user
13
check-in."
14
Those could be friendships
Do you see that?
15
A.
Uh-huh.
Yes.
16
Q.
And we talked a little bit earlier
17
about objects in the context of object-oriented
18
programming.
19
Do you --
20
A.
Yes.
21
Q.
-- remember that?
22
And creation of an object in
23
object-oriented programming is not something
24
that's unusual, is it?
25
A.
So these are not object-oriented -Page 245
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MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Vague.
THE WITNESS:
These are hot
Form.
3
4
object-oriented programming objects that we're
5
talking about here.
6
BY MR. JESSEN:
7
Q.
What's your basis for saying that?
8
A.
Well, object-oriented programming
9
objects are objects that exist in code as it's
10
being executed, not data that's stored
11
somewhere.
12
Q.
13
somewhere?
14
A.
TAO is a -- a data storage system.
15
Q.
Uh-huh.
16
A.
So it's -- TAO object is not an
17
18
So this is data being stored
object-oriented programming language object.
Q.
So this is a different -- when you
19
talk about these kind of objects, object
20
represent things, you would draw a distinction
21
between those kinds of objects and objects
22
that's are used in object-oriented programming?
23
A.
There's -- there's definitely a
24
difference.
25
Objects in both cases represent
things.
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Q.
Uh-huh.
2
A.
But objects in an object-oriented
3
programming context --
4
Q.
Yeah.
5
A.
-- are -- if we're going to get
6
technical on it, are instantiations of classes.
7
Q.
Right.
8
A.
And a class is something that you
9
define in your code.
It has a name.
It has
10
associated data points, attributes of that
11
class, and associated methods or functions.
12
So to -- to kind of give a simple
13
example, I could create a class in
14
object-oriented programming for a dog, right?
15
And the dog has a --
16
Q.
Uh-huh.
17
A.
-- a birthday and a name and a
18
color.
19
there's methods, things the dog can do.
20
could sleep, and it could eat, and it could
21
walk and whatever else.
22
Those are the attributes.
And then
It
So that's a -- a generic concept of
23
what an object would be.
And then you
24
instantiate that.
25
dog named Rex in object oriented programming.
So I'll make a particular
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And that's a -- just a different
2
thing than if a have a -- a data store
3
somewhere that also represents data as object.
4
They're just technically different concepts.
5
Q.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
In Paragraph 34 you
6
say:
"There are a number of objects that
7
Facebook creates in the process of scanning
8
private messages that include URLs."
9
You see that?
10
A.
I do.
11
Q.
What do you mean by the word
12
13
"scanning"?
A.
So I mean looking at what's in
14
private messages that include URLs.
15
this case we're looking at the URL attachment.
16
17
18
19
Q.
And in
So Facebook is looking in -- looking
in the URL attachment?
A.
Facebook code is looking at the URL
attachment, yes.
20
Q.
Is that unusual?
21
A.
Compared to what?
22
Q.
Anything.
23
Is it an unusual process for
24
Facebook code to be looking at an attachment
25
that is being sent with a -- with a message?
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2
MR. RUDOLPH:
Form.
THE WITNESS:
I mean Facebook does
Vague.
3
4
Objection.
it for all messages.
5
I don't think that's the question
6
you're asking, but I -- I don't understand what
7
you want me to compare this to.
8
9
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, I asked you what you meant by
10
the word "scanning," and you said that's
11
looking at what's in private messages that
12
included URLs.
13
at the URL attachment.
14
And in this case, we're looking
And I'm just trying to understand
15
what you were saying, what you meant by that.
16
I mean you said Facebook code is looking at the
17
URL attachment.
18
But is that different than
19
looking -- looking at the attachment -- or in
20
the attachment, rather?
21
22
A.
I don't think that there's a
substantive difference --
23
Q.
Okay.
24
A.
-- "at" or "in."
25
Q.
Earlier you said that an
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interception was -- involved collecting
2
content.
3
And you distinguished that from a
4
use, which I think you said -- might have said
5
was deploying that content.
6
those lines.
7
Something along
When you said an interception
8
involved collecting content, collecting it from
9
where?
10
A.
So in this case, it's -- so the
11
interception involves both collecting and
12
redirection.
13
about collecting information that's in that URL
14
attachment and then redirecting it to code that
15
then operates on it.
16
17
18
Q.
So in this case, we're talking
And by redirecting it to code, what
does that -- what does that mean?
A.
Taking the information about the
19
message and the URL attachment and directing
20
that to code that is not part of the message
21
delivery process.
22
Q.
Okay.
If part of the interception
23
is collecting the content, I guess -- sorry if
24
my question was inartful -- but from where is
25
Facebook collecting the content?
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A.
From the private message.
2
Q.
And where is the private message --
3
where is it residing when this happens?
4
5
MR. RUDOLPH:
THE WITNESS:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
I'm not quite sure
what you're asking.
8
9
Form.
Vague.
6
7
Objection.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Is it on a Facebook server?
Is it
somewhere else?
A.
It is -- it has been sent to the
Facebook server.
Q.
All right.
So it's actually on the
Facebook server when that happens.
A.
Right.
As opposed to on the user's
computer.
Q.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
You go on to say --
18
after you say there are a number of objects
19
that Facebook creates in the process of
20
scanning the private messages that include
21
URLs:
22
and global URL share objects.
23
share object contains details about the
24
specific user's interaction with the given URL;
25
while the global URL share object contains
"Two of these are user URL share objects
The user URL
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information related to all the interactions
2
between Facebook users and a given URL."
3
See that?
4
A.
I do.
5
Q.
Do you consider the creation of
6
these two objects -- these two share objects to
7
be unlawful?
8
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
10
THE WITNESS:
11
time with the -- yeah.
12
offering an opinion on whether it's legal or
13
not.
14
Yeah.
I have a hard
I have a hard time
BY MR. JESSEN:
15
Q.
Uh-huh.
Why is that?
16
A.
I am not an expert on this law at
17
all.
18
understanding of the law and what I've been
19
asked to opine on in a technical sense.
20
haven't read this law and definitely not an
21
expert on it.
22
You know, I -- I have a -- a basic
Q.
But I
Do you find it unusual or surprising
23
that Facebook is creating a share object once
24
the URL attachment reaches a Facebook server?
25
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
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Vague.
2
THE WITNESS:
3
a global share object?
4
5
A user share object or
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Just -- sorry.
When I say just -- I
6
think of it as global share object, which is
7
the canonical representation of the URL, and
8
then just a share object, which would be an
9
individual share.
10
A.
Okay.
11
Q.
So -- but -- I'm going to ask you
12
about both.
13
But is it unusual that they are
14
creating a -- you call it a user share
15
object -- but the share object that represents
16
that particular share of the URL attachment?
17
18
MR. RUDOLPH:
Form.
THE WITNESS:
And you're -- you're
Vague.
19
20
Objection.
talking about in a private message?
21
BY MR. JESSEN:
22
Q.
Yes.
23
A.
I was very surprised by that.
24
Q.
Why is that?
25
A.
You know, just like if I'm sending a
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-- if I'm posting something generally, it
2
doesn't surprise me if I'm sharing it publicly.
3
If I'm sending a private message, I think of
4
that much more like texting where Facebook is
5
just facilitating the delivery.
6
So I was very surprised at the fact
7
that they were creating metadata in a way
8
that's totally unnecessary for that message to
9
get delivered when I sent a private message.
10
11
Q.
object to be metadata?
12
13
Would you consider the user share
A.
This is another gray area, but I'd
say it definitely has metadata in it.
14
Q.
What about the creation of the
15
global share object; was that surprising to
16
you?
17
A.
The -- the actual creation of the
18
global share object, you know, which occurs
19
when I type in that URL the first time, not
20
actually on the send, that I didn't find
21
specifically surprising that there would be
22
a -- a canonical representation of a URL within
23
Facebook.
24
25
I was surprised at what was being
tracked there in the tracking info from private
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messages for largely the same reasons.
2
3
Q.
What do you mean by that, what was
being tracked there in the tracking into?
4
A.
That the fact that I had shared a
5
URL with someone over a private message was
6
aggregated into public information, displayed
7
as Likes about that URL.
8
very surprising.
9
10
Q.
I -- I found that
That it was part of an aggregate --
aggregated information?
11
A.
Yes.
12
Q.
You're not saying that it was -- in
13
the global share object, someone could tell
14
that you had shared a particular URL in a
15
private message, are you?
16
A.
That's correct.
17
Q.
You're just saying the counter went
19
A.
Yes.
20
Q.
And then for a period of time when
18
up.
21
the Like button social plug-in included
22
messages -- message shares, that that went up
23
as well.
24
A.
Right.
25
Q.
Okay.
So if I've got -- let me -Page 255
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let me see if I understand.
2
You're not saying the creation of a
3
global share object is an interception,
4
correct?
5
6
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Calls for legal conclusion.
7
THE WITNESS:
You know, when we --
8
we talked about this before, I have this sort
9
of struggling with my understanding of -- of
10
the law and if you can have a legal
11
interception.
12
13
It's certainly not the interception
that I'm talking about here.
14
15
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
16
Understood.
Are you saying, however, that the
17
creation of a user -- user share object
18
representing that particular share does
19
constitute an interception?
20
A.
I am.
21
Q.
Okay.
Would your answer be the same
22
for a share object created from a URL
23
attachment in a public post?
24
25
A.
I don't know.
I would just have to
think a lot more about all of the technical
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things surrounding that.
2
different context.
3
4
Q.
You understand that the technical
aspects of it, though, are the same, right?
5
6
It's just such a
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Lacks foundation.
7
THE WITNESS:
The technical aspects
8
of creating a user share object in a post for a
9
URL attachment?
10
BY MR. JESSEN:
11
Q.
Yes.
12
A.
Yeah.
13
14
My understanding is that
that's basically the same.
Q.
So you consider it to be an
15
interception in the context of private
16
messages, but you're not sure if it would be an
17
interception in the context of a post.
18
A.
Correct.
19
Q.
And you don't -- why?
20
21
22
Why -- why are the reasons for the
distinction?
A.
One is a direct message from one
23
person to another.
24
private.
25
It's intended to be
We call them private messages.
The other is a broadcast.
And so,
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you know, it gets, again, to the legal issues,
2
which, you know, I'm not an expert on.
3
Is it -- is it possible to have like
4
a wiretapped intercept of a broadcast post?
5
I -- I mean I haven't thought at all in depth
6
about what that would mean.
7
lots of questions about the legal issues
8
surrounding it.
9
Q.
I probably have
So I just don't know.
Well, earlier I think you said that
10
you considered an interception to be a -- and
11
I'm not trying to misstate your testimony.
12
correct me if I get it wrong -- an interception
13
to be a collection of message content that was
14
not necessary to facilitate delivery of the
15
message.
16
A.
I -- I think that's accurate.
17
Q.
So
So by that same -- is a -- is a
18
share object necessary to facilitate delivery
19
of a public post?
20
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
21
THE WITNESS:
I don't know.
22
25
I
haven't looked at depth of that issue.
23
24
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Do you understand that the -- that
the -- in the context of private messages, as
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well as public posts, that the share object is
2
necessary to render the URL attachment to the
3
recipient of the message?
4
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Vague.
5
THE WITNESS:
That depends what you
6
mean by -- actually -- so you're saying that
7
the UR -- the user URL share object, you're
8
asking if that is necessary to render preview
9
rather than the global share object?
10
11
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
I'm not drawing necessarily a
12
distinction between those two at the moment.
13
But I mean I think we discussed earlier and
14
your report discusses this, that the -- the --
15
the global share object is used to generate
16
that URL preview, which becomes an attachment
17
to the message and then is sent to a Facebook
18
server, at which point the user-specific share
19
object is created.
20
And so I'm really focused on that
21
user -- are you aware of the fact that a user
22
share object is necessary to render the
23
attachment to the recipient of the message?
24
25
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Lacks
foundation.
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2
THE WITNESS:
I don't believe that's
true.
3
BY MR. JESSEN:
4
Q.
Why do you say that?
5
A.
For so many reasons.
So one is that
6
-- so that preview basically has three
7
elements, that attachment preview that comes
8
up.
9
Q.
Uh-huh.
10
A.
Let's say four.
It has an image.
11
It has a title.
It has a description.
And it
12
has a link that you can click on it to go to
13
the Web site.
14
Q.
Okay.
15
A.
There's lots of ways that that
16
preview can be rendered.
17
you look at the Facebook messaging code on the
18
desktop as it exists now, for example, if you
19
look at what gets sent to Facebook from the
20
browser -- like if I start typing a message, it
21
has an attachment, I click send, it actually
22
sends a JSON object, J-S-O-N, from my browser
23
to Facebook that has all of that data
24
explicitly encoded in it already.
25
Q.
And, for example, if
Uh-huh.
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A.
It's not just a reference to the
2
global share object, though I think that's in
3
there.
4
description and the link in the data that's
5
sent from my browser back to Facebook.
It has the title and the photo and the
6
So Facebook receives that.
If I'm
7
sending a message to you, they can deliver that
8
message to you.
9
attachment already and could simply display
It has that JSON-encode
10
that information to you in the preview format,
11
which is actually how it's rendered in the
12
browser, requiring no intermediate interaction
13
with any objects between the sending and the
14
delivery.
15
Q.
So -- okay.
So you're saying --
16
you're saying there are or ways that you could
17
do it.
18
But do you know if the way that the
19
system is actually built, the Facebook
20
messaging system, that the way that it's set up
21
is the share object -- the user share object is
22
created to render the preview to the recipient?
23
A.
24
works.
25
Q.
That is not how I understand that it
Why do you say that?
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A.
So the rendering of the attachment
2
on the recipient side is -- so it's client-side
3
code running in the recipient's browser that
4
processes formatted data that Facebook sends
5
down to represent that attachment.
6
Those objects, necessary or not, are
7
never sent as, say, PHP objects to the client
8
side.
There's just data about them that's
9
sent.
So it's not necessary to have an object
10
for the client -- the recipient's client-side
11
system to render that preview, which is just a
12
little HTML object in the window.
13
Q.
But what about storing it -- on the
14
other part of it is coming back and being able
15
to access the preview -- if you go back to your
16
inbox, say, after you've done it for -- you've
17
been away from it for a week or two, go back,
18
and you can look, do you have an understanding
19
as to the role of a share -- the user-specific
20
share object place in allowing a person to do
21
that?
22
23
24
25
A.
Are you asking how is that used or
is it necessary?
Q.
How is it used in the actual
implementation of the Facebook messaging
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system?
2
Like does the -- does the
3
user-specific share object allow that to
4
happen?
5
6
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
Form.
Vague.
7
I'm not sure
8
how much detail I have on that in here.
9
me just a quick second --
10
Give
BY MR. JESSEN:
11
Q.
Sure.
12
A.
-- to flip it.
13
Yeah.
So I don't think I have
14
anything in here that's looking at the
15
rendering for the recipient of that preview.
16
Is it the case that Facebook
17
references that user share object?
18
Potentially.
19
20
Q.
Is it necessary?
Absolutely not.
Meaning -- meaning you could -- that
you could envision other implementations of it.
21
A.
Many.
22
Q.
Do you know if the user-specific
23
share object allows a Facebook user to go back
24
and into their messages folder and see the --
25
see the URL attachment in the future?
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2
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Asked and answered.
3
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
I -- so I have
4
nothing in the report about that.
5
top of my head, I don't remember look at the --
6
looking at the messaging code for how the
7
message was received.
8
9
And off the
I know that the rendering -- the
actual rendering in the client side just uses
10
data that's sent.
11
object.
12
use that user share object for rendering on the
13
recipient side.
14
15
It doesn't require the
But I'm unaware of how Facebook might
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Is it your position that the
16
creation of any kind of object in connection
17
with sending a message would constitute an
18
interception?
19
20
MR. RUDOLPH:
THE WITNESS:
25
Like an illegal
interception?
23
24
Calls for
legal conclusion.
21
22
Objection.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
I mean I -- that's what you're
opining on in your report, I assume.
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A.
That -- that's fine.
I just want to
make sure we're not --
3
Q.
Yeah.
4
A.
-- talking past each other where
5
you're --
6
Q.
Right.
7
A.
-- talking about something that I --
8
Q.
You talk about interceptions of
9
content in this.
10
And I'm wondering if the creation of
11
an object in connection with the transmission
12
of a message, any object, you would consider to
13
be an unlawful interception.
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
Same objection.
15
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
I think that's
16
maybe just too hypothetical for me to answer as
17
you've asked it.
18
BY MR. JESSEN:
19
Q.
Why is that?
20
A.
You know, I'm trying to come up with
21
examples either way, which I'm just kind of
22
making up.
23
24
25
So I think it probably -- my answer
to everything -Q.
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A.
-- is always it depends.
And I
2
think it probably does.
3
could be talked through an exhaustive and
4
convinced one way or the other.
5
that there's potentially a lot of variables to
6
consider.
7
Q.
But I don't know.
I
But I think
Well, let me give you an example.
8
So we produced in this case -- there are
9
objects that are created for each message
10
that's transmitted on the platform called ENT
11
messages.
12
13
Have you seen any of those?
A.
14
15
16
17
I may have seen some of those.
Were those for the -- the
plaintiffs?
Q.
They were for, yeah, like 19
messages.
18
A.
I did see those.
19
Q.
Some subset of that.
20
Is it your position that the
21
creation of those messages would be an unlawful
22
interception?
23
24
25
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
THE WITNESS:
You know, I didn't
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analyze them from that perspective.
2
can't say right now.
3
Q.
Okay.
So I just
What about -- we also
4
produced -- there are objects that may be
5
created when -- and they have -- there's a
6
thread in a message, thread objects.
7
8
Would those -- would the creation of
those objects be unlawful interceptions?
9
10
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
11
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
Again, I would
12
just -- I -- I haven't analyzed it from that
13
perspective.
14
jump to an answer now without taking the time
15
to give it some careful thought.
16
17
I wouldn't -- I wouldn't want to
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
So what is it that -- what is it
18
that makes creating a -- an object from a URL
19
attachment -- what is it that -- that -- that
20
specifically makes that an unlawful
21
interception?
22
MR. RUDOLPH:
23
legal conclusion.
24
Objection.
Calls for
testimony.
25
Mischaracterizes prior
THE WITNESS:
So my feelings on why
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that's an issue and why that was a much clearer
2
issue is that creating that object is not
3
necessary to the delivery of the message.
4
know, is it necessary to create an object for
5
the message itself for a thread?
6
don't know.
7
depth.
8
either way to me.
You
You know, I
I haven't thought through it in
But it's not as obvious either --
9
But creating an object for the URL
10
share is not necessarily -- not necessary for
11
delivery.
12
BY MR. JESSEN:
13
Q.
Well, you --
14
A.
And that's why I've addressed that
15
issue here.
16
Q.
You say in Paragraph 32 of your
17
report that objects represent things on
18
Facebook, right?
19
A.
On 30 -- Paragraph 33, yes.
20
Q.
I'm sorry.
21
33.
I'm sorry.
Paragraph
Objects represent things on Facebook.
22
So the -- so a user share object
23
represents a share of a URL attachment by a
24
user, right?
25
A.
That's right.
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2
Q.
It's -- it's an -- some -- it's an
object -- it's representing a thing, correct?
3
A.
Yes.
4
Q.
Okay.
5
And that's unlawful because
it's not necessary to deliver the message.
6
That is your opinion?
7
MR. RUDOLPH:
8
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
9
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
So I've
10
addressed it here because I believe, in the
11
context of all the other facts, that -- that
12
that becomes the issue.
13
That's right.
BY MR. JESSEN:
14
Q.
What other facts?
15
A.
That there's a device that -- the
16
code that does the intercepting and that it
17
happens in transit.
18
Q.
Well, by your definition of
19
"device," wouldn't any object be created by a
20
device?
21
22
23
Because you -- you've testified that
a device is lines of code.
So by definition, wouldn't any
24
object associated with a message be intercepted
25
by a device?
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A.
That could be true.
2
Q.
And according to you, if that
3
happens before the message has been delivered,
4
then that's in transit, right?
5
6
7
A.
From how I've analyzed the way that
these messages are processed, yes.
Q.
So any use of source code to
8
generate a mess- -- to generate an object while
9
a message -- before a message reaches a point
10
of persistent storage, in your view, that's
11
illegal.
12
13
MR. RUDOLPH:
legal conclusion.
14
Objection.
Calls for
Misstates prior testimony.
THE WITNESS:
That object would have
15
to be unnecessary to the delivery of the
16
message.
17
18
19
20
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
If it's unnecessary for the delivery
of the message, it's unlawful.
A.
And all --
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
Object --
22
THE WITNESS:
Sorry.
23
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
24
25
Calls for
legal conclusion.
THE WITNESS:
And all the other
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things.
2
3
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Right.
Which is what -- which --
4
which is what I was mentioning in my earlier
5
question.
6
A.
7
Right.
MR. JESSEN:
Let me -- okay.
I
8
think we've been going maybe -- actually, maybe
9
less than an hour.
I'm not sure.
10
Are we getting close.
11
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
12
minutes left.
13
14
We have about 12
MR. JESSEN:
Let's go to the end of
this tape.
15
BY MR. JESSEN:
16
Q.
Are you okay with that?
17
A.
Yes.
18
I just want -- I -- I maybe want to
19
add here, on these questions about what I
20
believe is unlawful or not --
21
Q.
Right.
22
A.
This is based on my understanding of
23
the law as it's been explained to me.
But I
24
just want to be clear that I'm not trying to
25
offer opinions on the law here, just offer
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2
opinions on what Facebook does and does not do.
Q.
Okay.
So if your -- if the law that
3
has been explained to you was inaccurate, then
4
some of your conclusions might be inaccurate as
5
well; is that fair to say?
6
A.
I think maybe the opposite, that I'm
7
-- I don't know if, you know opposite.
That --
8
that I'm making conclusions like Facebook
9
creates this thing.
10
Q.
Right.
11
A.
Or reads this or stores this here.
12
And the law could mean something else, but I
13
still think Facebook does that thing.
14
Q.
To your -- you think -- I mean tell
15
me if I'm wrong, but your -- you can give -- as
16
a computer scientist, you can give an opinion
17
on the operation of something, source code,
18
servers, something along those lines; but you
19
can't really give an opinion on whether or not
20
that conduct would -- would fall within the --
21
fall underneath these two statutes, the Wire
22
Tap Act and the California Invasion of Privacy
23
Act; is that accurate?
24
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
25
THE WITNESS:
I -- I think that's
Form.
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right.
2
asked to opine on.
3
So there were particular issues I was
BY MR. JESSEN:
4
Q.
Right.
5
A.
The law was explained on why those
6
were important.
7
Q.
Uh-huh.
8
A.
You know, and I certainly considered
9
10
my understanding of the law as I looked at
this.
11
But I'm not trying to offer an
12
opinion on did Facebook do an illegal thing or
13
not.
14
which I'm told would be illegal, but basically
15
did they do X, Y and Z.
I'm trying to say did they do X, Y and Z,
16
So if -- if the law -- if my
17
understanding of the law were wrong, so say it
18
actually -- like you're allowed to intercept
19
stuff in transit, you know, I'm still saying
20
that Facebook intercepts it in transit.
21
that doesn't matter.
22
Q.
Maybe
Well, you -- the only reason I'm
23
kind of getting into this is because you give
24
opinions sort of -- that talk about, you know,
25
Facebook's intercepting content while it's in
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transmission using devices.
2
And so that's sort of -- it seems
3
like you are giving a -- giving an opinion with
4
-- at least within a legal frame work.
5
But I mean would you sort of -- can
6
you really -- can you really give an opinion on
7
whether or not something constitutes an
8
interception?
9
there are these objects that are created from
10
URL attachments and leave it at that?
11
12
Like are you qualified to say, "And
that's an interception, in my opinion"?
13
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
Asked and answered.
15
16
Or instead can you just say
Objection.
Form.
Compound.
THE WITNESS:
Yes.
I understand
what you're asking.
17
So I think I'm -- I'm operating on
18
my understanding of what an interception is.
19
BY MR. JESSEN:
20
Q.
Right.
21
A.
So if it were the case that I
22
misunderstood or was wrongly informed what an
23
interception was, then potentially those
24
conclusions could be wrong.
25
But I'm -- yeah.
I'm not trying to
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offer an opinion on -- on the law and just much
2
more an opinion on here's what I observe being
3
done in the system and let you guys all sort
4
out what's legal and what isn't.
5
Q.
Okay.
You're familiar with the
6
article -- excuse me -- in the Wall Street
7
Journal "How Private Are Your Private
8
Messages?" by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and
9
Ashkan Soltani dated October 3rd, 2012?
10
A.
Yes.
11
Q.
When's the first time you became
12
13
aware of that article?
A.
I believe it's sometime after I
14
started working on this case.
15
having read it before.
16
17
Q.
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
THE WITNESS:
Like where in the
Vague.
20
21
When exactly does the -- when
is user-specific share object created?
18
19
Okay.
I don't remember
process?
22
BY MR. JESSEN:
23
Q.
Well, sure.
24
A.
I think I have -- well, let me --
25
Let's start with that.
let me try the easy answer first, and then -Page 275
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Q.
Okay.
2
A.
-- we'll see.
3
Q.
Sure.
4
A.
It's created relatively early in the
5
processing between when I hit send and when the
6
message is delivered to the recipient.
7
Q.
What does it mean -- what do you --
8
does the entire delivery process take -- how
9
long does it take?
10
A.
Less than a second.
11
Q.
So what does it mean to say its
12
created relatively early in a process that
13
takes less than a second?
14
A.
Well, there's a bunch of steps.
15
Q.
Right.
16
A.
And it's one of --
17
Q.
Yeah.
18
A.
-- the earlier steps in that
19
process.
20
21
MR. JESSEN:
tape now.
22
23
I think we can end this
I need a short break.
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
Off the record at
4:09.
24
This is the end of Media Unit No. 3.
25
(A short recess was taken.)
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2
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
4:44.
3
4
On the record at
This is the beginning of Media Unit
4 in the deposition of Dr. Jennifer Golbeck.
5
BY MR. JESSEN:
6
Q.
Welcome back, Dr. Golbeck.
7
On Paragraph 38 of your report, if
8
you could direct your attention to that, you
9
say:
"The ENT global share also contains a
10
number of tracking information fields,
11
including share count, post count, Like count,
12
comment count and click count.
13
each represent the number of times Facebook
14
users have engaged in the specific action
15
related to the URL at issue."
16
These counts
Did I read that correctly?
17
A.
Yes.
18
Q.
And do you have an understanding of
19
which of the counts reflects URL attachments
20
shared in messages?
21
A.
I believe that's share count.
22
Q.
Okay.
In 39 you go on to say:
23
"When the user sends a private message
24
containing a URL, whether it is new to Facebook
25
or not, the share count field of the ENT global
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share is incremented.
2
count that" -- "the count that indicates how
3
many times the URL has been shared goes up by
4
one."
5
In other words, the
See that?
6
A.
Yes.
7
Q.
Are you saying that that always
8
happened whenever a user sends a URL in a
9
message, that the share_count field is
10
11
12
13
incremented?
A.
If there's the URL attachment to
that message, I believe that's correct.
Q.
Are you aware of any circumstances
14
where, even if there is a URL attachment, the
15
count in the -- in the share_count field would
16
not increase?
17
18
19
20
A.
If the code works like it's supposed
to, it should always go up.
Q.
What about -- are you familiar with
race conditions?
21
A.
Yes.
22
Q.
And do you have an understanding
23
that race conditions in this context could
24
prevent the count from going up for any given
25
URL share in a message?
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2
3
4
A.
Yes.
I would count that as a type
of error.
Q.
Okay.
And database failures could
also cause that?
5
A.
Absolutely.
6
Q.
Okay.
Are you saying that
7
incrementing the share count field in the
8
global share -- I'm sorry -- the share count
9
value in the tracking info field of the global
10
share object, is that part of the intercepting
11
that you're claiming?
12
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
13
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
Form.
I believe
14
that's part of what I'm saying, is that part of
15
the interception.
16
17
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
If that -- if the field in that --
18
or if the counter in that field in the global
19
share object was not incremented, would that
20
mean that there was no -- would that mean that
21
there was not an interception?
22
A.
There are other ways that that --
23
that data from those URL attachments is
24
intercepted aside from this count.
25
Q.
For -- involving global -- involving
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2
3
4
share objects or...
A.
In -- do you mean involving the ENT
global share?
Q.
Yeah.
Or a -- or a user-specific
5
global share -- I'm sorry -- user-specific
6
share object.
7
A.
So if this value were not
8
incremented by one, and the other types of
9
interceptions still happened, then there would
10
11
12
13
still be an interception.
Q.
What are the other types of
interceptions you're referring to?
A.
There's the creation of user URL
14
share object.
15
which I get to in the next section.
16
Q.
Okay.
There's also a log of the share,
So -- so incrementing --
17
incrementing -- I'm trying to figure out what
18
is the interception.
19
Sounds like you're saying, if a
20
share object is created, that's -- if a
21
user-specific share object is created, that's
22
an interception, regardless of whether the
23
tracking info field is incremented; is that
24
correct?
25
A.
I believe that's correct, yes.
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Q.
Okay.
So you don't actually
2
consider the tracking info field, whether it's
3
incremented or not, to be part of the
4
interception, right?
5
A.
That's not what I said.
6
Q.
Okay.
7
A.
There are several interceptions that
8
9
So it is part of it.
take place.
Q.
Uh-huh.
And these are all things --
10
in your opinion, the several interceptions are
11
electronic processes taken place -- taking
12
place that aren't necessary to deliver the
13
message?
14
15
16
17
18
19
That's what makes them
interceptions?
A.
Are we going back to my legal
understanding?
Q.
Whatever you're opining on in this
case.
20
A.
Okay.
21
Q.
And I think you're giving -- you
22
seem to be -- you talk about interceptions,
23
so...
24
25
A.
Yes.
So there are three or four,
depending how you count ways -Page 281
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Q.
Uh-huh.
2
A.
-- that messages are intercepted by
3
Facebook where the contents of the message are
4
redirected to code that's not necessary for the
5
delivery of the message.
6
Q.
7
Right.
So any -- any -- any processing of a
8
message that is not necessary to deliver it you
9
would consider to be an interception.
10
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
11
THE WITNESS:
I'd have to see
12
specific examples.
13
14
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
I'm just trying to figure out where
15
you're drawing the line, because it seems kind
16
of like an arbitrary line.
17
18
19
20
21
22
A.
I'm not sure where your confusion
lies.
Q.
Okay.
So -- all right.
So the creation of the share object,
you consider that to be an interception.
Incrementing the share count value
23
in the tracking info field in the global share
24
object, you consider that -- is that a separate
25
interception?
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A.
Yes.
2
Q.
Okay.
3
Another type of interception.
I'm going to get to the
logging.
4
But are those the only two
5
interceptions that involve share objects,
6
either user-specific or global share objects?
7
8
9
A.
I -- I believe that's correct.
They're the only two that I've listed in here.
Q.
And I think we went over this
10
earlier, but you don't have a way -- if I gave
11
you a global share object for a particular URL,
12
and you looked at the tracking info field, and
13
you looked at the share count portion of that
14
field, and let's say it was a number that said
15
7,563, there's no way for you to tell me to
16
take that number and work backwards and figure
17
out which Facebook users shared that URL
18
attachment in a private message, correct?
19
20
21
A.
If all you're giving me is that in
global share with that number, that's correct.
Q.
Okay.
Is there other information,
22
if I gave you, that would allow you to figure
23
that out?
24
25
A.
The user-specific URL's share
objects have information that indicates that
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they are shares from private messages.
2
if I had access to that data and the URL, I
3
could trace it back.
4
5
Q.
And so
If you had -- if you had access to
the user specific share objects.
6
A.
Correct.
7
Q.
But you still wouldn't be able to
8
tell -- even if there was a user-specific share
9
object that was connected to the global share
10
object, you still wouldn't be able to tell if
11
that particular user-specific share object
12
incremented the tracking info field, right?
13
A.
I don't think that's correct.
14
Q.
Okay.
15
Well, I thought that's what
you said earlier.
16
Where -- where am I going wrong?
17
A.
So if a user URL share object is
18
created --
19
Q.
Right.
20
A.
It means that a user has sent a URL
21
attachment to their Facebook message.
And
22
short of errors in the code, that will always
23
increment the share count field in the ENT
24
global share object in addition to creating the
25
user URL share object.
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2
Q.
are there not, from time to time?
3
4
But there are errors in the code,
A.
There could be errors in the code
from time to time.
5
Q.
And so you couldn't tell me -- you
6
could make a guess, but you couldn't tell me
7
with reasonable certainty that yes, this
8
particular URL share -- URL share did increment
9
that counter, correct?
10
A.
I think that's unfair.
I think I
11
would have a high degree of certainty that the
12
counter was incremented.
13
Facebook code, I think it's quite rare that you
14
get database failures that prevent these sorts
15
of things from being recorded.
16
17
Q.
20
Are you aware of the testimony of
Mr. He that this counter was not very accurate?
18
19
Having looked at the
A.
I don't recall that testimony.
I'm
Q.
Are you aware of his testimony that
--
21
there -- at different times, due to database --
22
database failures and other related issues, the
23
information was lost, particular shares?
24
A.
I do recall that, yes.
25
Q.
Okay.
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A.
I still think --
2
Q.
-- you can't --
3
A.
-- I'd be making a reasonable
4
estimate.
5
Q.
6
right?
7
A.
8
9
You'd be making an estimate, though,
Yes.
There could be -- it could be
some digits off based on system errors.
Q.
And it could be -- okay.
Well, we
10
don't have to get into the other aspects.
11
Given the time, we won't.
12
So earlier we were talking about --
13
you were talking about that the user specific
14
share object is created early in the
15
transmission process.
16
Recall that testimony?
17
A.
I do.
18
Q.
And is that user-specific share
19
object created when the message has reached a
20
Facebook server and is in temporary storage?
21
22
A.
It has reached a Facebook server and
is not in temporary storage.
23
Q.
Why not?
24
A.
I -- I don't know how to answer that
25
question.
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Q.
Is it in memory?
2
A.
It is stored in memory.
3
Q.
What's the difference between memory
4
5
and temporary storage?
A.
Storage is -- so memory allows you
6
to operate on some data if it's in memory.
7
Storage, temporary or permanent, is a place
8
where information is stored that it can't be
9
operated on.
10
11
12
Q.
What do you mean "operate on"?
By
whom?
A.
You can use it in code, do some
13
operations with that data.
14
out of storage to be processed.
15
Q.
It has to be taken
So if a message or -- if a message
16
or a URL attachment is in temporary storage, it
17
can't be operated on?
18
A.
I think that's correct.
19
Q.
Are you aware of the fact that the
20
Facebook Messages product uses a so-called
21
store-and-forward model?
22
A.
Yes.
23
Q.
Okay.
24
A.
That the message is stored at
25
What does that mean to you?
different steps along the way and then
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2
3
4
forwarded on to following steps.
Q.
What are the various places where
it's stored along the way?
A.
Having looked at the Facebook code,
5
I don't see it very much stored along the way.
6
I see generally the sent messages received,
7
it's put through a series of steps that I
8
looked at, and it's delivered.
9
There may be additional steps in the
10
final delivery that I haven't looked at because
11
the interceptions that I've talked about here
12
take place early in the process.
13
14
Q.
Facebook messaging product than Michael Adkins?
15
16
Would you have more expertise on the
MR. RUDOLPH:
Vague.
Objection.
Calls for legal conclusion.
17
THE WITNESS:
18
MR. JESSEN:
19
Form.
So -I didn't think that
would be a hard question to answer.
20
BY MR. JESSEN:
21
Q.
Go ahead.
22
A.
So I don't think so.
My hesitation
23
is that, in some of the 30(b)(6) depositions,
24
we've heard Facebook employees say they don't
25
really know how specific parts of a system
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works, even though they worked on it.
2
don't remember if he's one of those.
3
Q.
4
And I
So I just want to understand.
Your testimony is that, when share
5
objects are created, they're not in -- they're
6
not in electronic storage?
7
testimony?
8
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
Is that your
Objection.
Form.
Asked and answered.
10
THE WITNESS:
We're talking about
11
the message being in storage, not the objects
12
being in storage?
13
14
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, when the -- you're saying that
15
the URL -- the U -- the creation of the share
16
object is an interception.
17
18
A.
Yes.
And The message is not in
storage at the point that that's created.
19
Q.
Is the URL attachment in storage?
20
A.
It is not.
21
Q.
It's not in any kind of storage?
22
Temporary?
Not in any kind of temporary
23
storage?
24
25
A.
I think that's right.
So there's a
-- there's potentially a separate object with
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that data that's stored.
2
message and the attachment, no.
3
memory.
4
5
6
Q.
But the actual
They're in
Isn't memory a -- a way to
temporarily store things?
A.
I think in the context we were
7
talking about message delivery here, and when
8
we're talking about processing, no.
9
Q.
10
11
12
13
14
But it is on a Facebook server.
All this stuff's on a Facebook
server, right?
A.
All -- yeah.
All this code's
executing on a Facebook server, yes.
Q.
In Paragraph 43, you talk about
15
logging of private message content.
16
"Once Facebook intercepts the URL content of a
17
user's private messages in the form of user URL
18
share objects and ENT shares, it logs that
19
content in numerous ways, including" it's --
20
"in various tables."
21
You say:
Do you see that?
22
A.
Yes.
23
Q.
Are you saying that the logging
24
occurs after the message has already been
25
intercepted?
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A.
That the -- the user URL share
2
object is created, and that is one of the
3
interceptions.
4
I believe it's the case that, in the process of
5
creating that, this logging occurs.
6
Q.
Just thinking back to the code,
So is it part of -- would you
7
consider that -- the logging to be part of the
8
interception?
9
A.
Yes.
10
Q.
What is logging?
11
12
13
14
We talked about
this a bit earlier, but refresh my memory.
A.
It's essentially recording -- gen-
-- generally recording something that happened.
Q.
Okay.
Is it unusual?
15
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
16
THE WITNESS:
Logging this kind of
17
thing or logging -- having logs in general?
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Vague.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Well, in -- first let's start in
general.
A.
In general, no.
Things like
accesses to Web pages are logged all the time.
Q.
Okay.
Is the kind of logging that
you're talking about here unusual?
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
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2
THE WITNESS:
I think this is.
I
was surprised that this was happening.
3
BY MR. JESSEN:
4
Q.
Why do you say that?
5
A.
Why was I surprised that it was
6
happening?
7
Q.
8
9
Yeah.
And why -- and why do you
think it's unusual?
A.
I -- I think it's unusual for
10
companies to look at -- you know, companies,
11
but certainly other places, to look at the
12
contents of messages and create records of the
13
activities of those contents that are outside
14
the scope of what's necessary to deliver the
15
message.
16
Q.
I find that unusual.
What sources did you consult to
17
understand whether and how Facebook logs URL
18
data from private messages?
19
A.
So I certainly looked at the code.
20
I -- looking at Paragraph 46 in here, I cite
21
some testimony from Xin Liu and from Ray He.
22
believe I also cite some Facebook documents
23
about the logging issue, both for
24
and for Nectar.
25
Q.
I think when you said testimony by
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Xin Liu, you're referring perhaps to an e-mail
2
from 2010.
3
A.
Yeah.
4
Q.
In Paragraph 45, you -- first of
5
all, what are --
I'm sorry.
You're right.
what's -- what -- what is
6
7
A.
So we call it
just for
8
short.
9
Q.
Okay.
10
A.
It's a table that has a record of
Fair enough.
11
the user ID, the fact that they have shared a
12
URL, the time that they've done it, I believe
13
it points to the global ENT share.
14
an indicator that that action was taken in a
15
private message or not.
16
Q.
And there's
You do discuss some of these things
17
in Paragraph 45.
18
table records the user ID, an action that user
19
has taken like a share or a Like, the time of
20
that action, and points pointers to data
21
structures that have more information about the
22
URL, in this case sent through a private
23
message."
24
25
You say:
"The
You don't actually cite anything in
support of that.
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, you're referring perhaps to an e-mail
2
from 2010.
3
A.
Yeah.
4
Q.
In Paragraph 45, you -- first of
5
all, what are --
I'm sorry.
You're right.
what's -- what -- what is
6
7
A.
So we call it
just for
8
short.
9
Q.
Okay.
10
A.
It's a table that has a record of
Fair enough.
11
the user ID, the fact that they have shared a
12
URL, the time that they've done it, I believe
13
it points to the global ENT share.
14
an indicator that that action was taken in a
15
private message or not.
16
Q.
And there's
You do discuss some of these things
17
in Paragraph 45.
18
table records the user ID, an action that user
19
has taken like a share or a Like, the time of
20
that action, and points pointers to data
21
structures that have more information about the
22
URL, in this case sent through a private
23
message."
24
25
You say:
"The
You don't actually cite anything in
support of that.
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2
3
What are you basing that statement
on?
A.
That actually is in the
4
file, which I do cite at least
5
in Paragraph 49.
6
of the fields in
7
That has a full description
I believe I cite it somewhere else
8
in the report that I'd be happy to look through
9
if you want me to find it.
10
11
MR. JESSEN:
document.
12
13
16
This will be Exhibit 4.
(Deposition Exhibit 4 was marked for
identification.)
14
15
Let me mark another
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Okay.
So I've handed you several
printout -- source code printouts.
17
A.
Uh-huh.
18
Q.
And I believe the -- you
19
referenced -- well, Paragraph 49 of your
20
report, I think.
21
A.
Correct.
22
Q.
And so -- and then you have a
23
footnote to paragraph -- I'm sorry -- footnote
24
to 28 referencing Page 14183.
25
Is this what you're sort of relying
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upon?
2
A.
Yes.
3
Q.
And which parts specifically are you
4
relying on for your -- the first sentence in
5
Paragraph 45?
6
A.
So in Paragraph 45 I list that this
7
looks at a record of the user ID, I believe
8
that's on line 16; the action the user has
9
taken, which is line 15, the time of the action
10
on line 13; the pointer to data structures,
11
which I believe is on both 17 and 18; and then
12
is posted on line 20 is an indicator of whether
13
it was publicly posted or not, which would
14
indicate its in a private message.
15
16
17
Q.
Based on your analysis of the code,
when did this logging in
A.
start?
I don't know that I actually saw
18
when it started.
19
It certainly started before
the class period.
20
Q.
Okay.
21
A.
2010 there were issues with the
22
23
24
25
table that were corrected.
Q.
Do you know if the logging and share
stats continue past December 2012?
A.
I believe it did, but I don't have
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access to the code after that point.
2
Q.
Why do you believe it did?
3
A.
All of the code up until that point
4
that operates with the
5
operated up till that point in the same way.
6
So it could be that, on January 1st, 2013, all
7
of the code was changed.
8
unlikely to me.
9
10
Q.
table
That seems highly
You said there was a -- a fix in
2010?
11
A.
Correct.
12
Q.
What was that?
13
A.
They weren't properly marking that
14
messages were -- that these shares were taking
15
place in private messages.
16
URL share data was being exposed publicly, and
17
there were a few attempts to update what was in
18
the table to hide the fact that those private
19
message shares were being recorded.
So private message
20
Q.
What do you mean "hide"?
21
A.
Well, they -- I mean one fix for the
22
fact that private messages were being logged
23
and exposed would be to stop logging private
24
messages, which isn't what they did.
25
put in a flag to say hide these pieces of data
They just
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2
from people who are publicly looking.
Q.
3
4
MR. RUDOLPH:
speculation.
5
6
Why did they do that?
Objection.
Calls for
Lacks foundation.
THE WITNESS:
Why did they make the
change?
7
BY MR. JESSEN:
8
Q.
Correct.
9
A.
So there's a few places that I cite
10
in here.
11
Just give me one second.
Yeah.
So I think the main fix for
12
excluding this -- I don't recall, and I don't
13
see it listed here, what their motivation was
14
for making that change.
15
Q.
But are you -- are you -- is it
16
possible that -- I mean you said that they
17
were -- private messages were being exposed.
18
Do you -- do you think they didn't
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
want those private messages exposed?
Could that -- could that have been
the motivation to make the change?
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
speculation.
THE WITNESS:
I -- from all of the
documents that I've looked at, Facebook is
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concerned about people being concerned about
2
their privacy but not necessarily concerned
3
about stopping the things that people are upset
4
about.
5
from seeing that.
6
They are concerned with stopping people
So it could be the case that they
7
were concerned about privacy.
8
the case that they were concerned that people
9
would be upset about it.
10
BY MR. JESSEN:
11
Q.
Or it could be
Is there a distinction between a
12
social network logging information and keeping
13
records internally and exposing that
14
information to the entire world?
15
16
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Vague.
17
THE WITNESS:
18
Yes.
BY MR. JESSEN:
19
Q.
Okay.
20
A.
One is kept internally, and one's
21
22
23
What's the distinction?
exposed to the world.
Q.
It sounds like, in your mind,
they're both equally bad.
24
A.
I think they're both bad.
25
Q.
Equally bad?
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A.
They're --
2
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
3
THE WITNESS:
They're both privacy
4
violating.
5
but I think it's privacy violating either way.
6
7
8
9
I think it's worse to expose it,
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
What do you mean by "privacy
violating"?
A.
I mean if the post office started
10
opening my mail, scanning it and posting it
11
online, I'd be really upset.
12
that was to stop posting it online but to keep
13
opening it and scanning it and reading it, that
14
would still be an invasion of my privacy.
15
Q.
If their fixed to
You think it's an invasion of
16
privacy for Facebook to keep track of
17
aggregated data regarding the kind of URLs that
18
are shared on its Web site?
19
A.
Sent in private messages or sent
20
generally?
21
Q.
Both.
22
A.
I think it is a violation of privacy
23
to scan the contents of private messages even
24
to create aggregated data.
25
Q.
Why is that?
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A.
Because they're private.
2
Q.
Then how is that an invasion of a --
3
of privacy if it's aggregated data,
4
nonpersonally identifiable?
5
A.
So I don't know how philosophical
6
you want to get on this.
7
established in the psychological community, is
8
the ability for one person to control what they
9
disclose to whom and when.
10
But privacy, well
So it's not simply that sharing
11
information violates privacy.
12
made a choice to share it; and in the case
13
where I'm sending a private message, that
14
message is intended for the person that I'm
15
sending it to.
16
with Facebook, the contents of that message,
17
then Facebook going in there without my consent
18
or understanding violates my privacy in that I
19
have not made a conscience choice to share that
20
data with Facebook at that time.
21
22
23
24
25
Q.
It's that I've
If I don't intend to share that
Is -- is Facebook, in your view,
scanning every message that contains a URL?
A.
Every -- well, what do you mean by
"scanning"?
Q.
You -- that was your -- you used the
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word.
2
A.
At what point in the process?
3
Q.
Any point.
4
A.
So --
5
Q.
From the time the message is -- from
6
the time the message is -- you press send until
7
delivery.
8
9
A.
If that message has a URO
attachment, I believe --
10
Q.
Okay.
11
A.
-- they're, short of code errors,
12
13
looking at all of them, yes.
Q.
And if -- they're not looking at it
14
if it's just got -- if it doesn't have an
15
attachment.
16
A.
17
18
MR. RUDOLPH:
THE WITNESS:
23
24
25
Form.
I haven't looked at
all of that yet in the code.
21
22
Objection.
Vague.
19
20
I haven't --
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
But you don't know that they're
doing that now.
I mean you don't have and opinion
that they're scanning messages that just
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contain a URL and don't have a URL attachment,
2
right?
3
A.
4
Right.
5
Q.
6
7
8
9
10
I don't offer any opinions on here.
But you -- and you don't have any
reason to think they are doing that, do you?
A.
I -- I just don't know.
I haven't
looked.
Q.
Do you have a reason to think
they're doing it?
11
A.
I have no reason either way.
12
Q.
Okay.
So for some reason they're
13
just looking at the ones that have the
14
attachments.
15
16
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Argumentative.
17
THE WITNESS:
18
Is that a question?
BY MR. JESSEN:
19
Q.
Yeah.
20
A.
What --
21
Q.
That --
22
A.
What are you asking?
23
Q.
That's what they're doing.
24
25
Your view is they're just scanning
the ones -- they're scanning the ones that have
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3
4
5
attachments.
A.
They are scanning the ones that have
attachments.
Q.
Because of the -- because the
preview was created.
6
Coincidently, those just happen to
7
be the ones they're scanning if there's a
8
preview; is that -- that's your testimony.
9
10
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Misstates prior testimony.
11
THE WITNESS:
Form.
Argumentative.
I'm not sure I totally
12
understand the question.
13
attachments of messages with URLs that have the
14
preview attachment.
15
They are scanning the
BY MR. JESSEN:
16
Q.
But not the others.
17
A.
I don't know if they're doing the
18
19
others.
Q.
Okay.
Well, why -- why -- why are
20
they doing one and not the other, in your
21
opinion?
22
23
24
25
MR. RUDOLPH:
Lacks foundation.
Objection.
Form.
Calls for speculation.
THE WITNESS:
So I don't know that
they're not doing the other.
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2
3
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
But you don't have any information
that they are.
4
A.
I haven't looked either way, right?
5
There's --
6
Q.
You haven't looked?
7
A.
I have not -- that's right.
I have
8
not looked in the code about scanning of the
9
message content itself yet.
10
Q.
Okay.
11
A.
So I don't know if that answers your
12
13
question.
Q.
14
15
Let's move on to your discussion of
Nectar.
16
17
18
19
Right.
What is Nectar?
A.
Nectar is another platform for
logging on Facebook.
Q.
And what do you base -- what's
20
your -- what's your understanding of Nectar
21
based upon?
22
A.
I've seen it used in the code.
And
23
then also, as you can see here in this section
24
starting at Paragraph 52, there are a number of
25
references to Nectar in Facebook documents
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that -- that describes things being logged
2
there.
3
Q.
What gets logged in Nectar?
4
A.
Just give me one second to review --
5
Q.
Sure.
6
A.
-- what I have here.
7
So if you look in Paragraph 52, this
8
Facebook document that I've cited says that in
9
Nectar they are logging relevant actions that
10
create relationships or show clickable links,
11
including things from the inbox.
12
That same document that goes on to
13
say:
14
Nectar platform and Nectar content action."
15
And then I'm referring to code in
16
"The places that we log the data are in
Paragraph 54.
17
Q.
Uh-huh.
18
A.
I've quickly flipped through here --
19
20
I could look deeper if you want -- to this
e
e
r
that
21
refers to Nectar and the way that they're
22
logging details there.
23
Q.
So is it safe -- I mean the e-mail
24
you cited from July 2010, is it -- is it -- is
25
it -- can you say, to a reasonable degree of
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computer scientific certainty, that what's
2
described in an e-mail is how the system is
3
operating?
4
A.
Like do I think the Facebook
5
engineers are lying to each other about what
6
they're recording where?
7
Q.
No.
8
Can you -- can you read an e-mail --
9
rand an unfortunately we don't have time to --
10
to do it.
11
But can you -- can you look at an
12
e-mail and discern from an e-mail that discuss
13
many different types of data and many different
14
types of information what's going on in the
15
code?
16
A.
Ah --
17
Q.
And in -- in -- in -- go ahead.
18
A.
So I think you can draw a lot of
19
conclusions from things that engineers discuss
20
in e-mail.
21
No.
22
events in Nectar.
23
Could I reproduce the code from it?
But I do cite to code here also that logs
Q.
You say that, when a URL -- in
24
Paragraph 54:
"When a URL is scraped or"
25
prescraped -- "or a prescraped URL is accessed,
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Facebook logs the event in Nectar."
2
3
What -- what do you mean by
"scraped" or "a prescraped URL is accessed"?
4
A.
I believe that's referring to an
5
access to an ENT global share object.
6
want to look at that code to make sure if you
7
want me to go in -- in depth to that.
8
9
Q.
But I'd
When a global share object is
accessed by what?
10
A.
I believe the share scraper code.
11
Q.
So before the message is sent?
12
A.
I believe that's right.
13
Q.
Is it possible that the logging in
14
Nectar was only being done on a sample --
15
sample basis?
16
A.
It seems unlikely, given how I've
17
seen it used in the code, but I suppose it
18
could be possible.
19
20
Q.
cut through some of this.
21
22
I'm just -- and again, I'm trying to
But there's a reference in the code
to a
.
23
A.
Where is --
24
Q.
And --
25
A.
-- that in the code.
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2
Q.
It's -- so if you go to the Bates
No. FB 14195 in Exhibit 4.
3
A.
Okay.
4
Q.
And -- yeah.
5
column,
So on the left-hand
, it references a
.
6
A.
It does.
7
Q.
So does that affect your conclusion
8
at all or...
9
A.
That line does not, no.
10
Q.
Why not?
11
A.
So that's pulling something called a
12
share scrape log rate.
13
the sampling were being done here, you would
14
see that sampling rate actually used to adjust
15
whether or not a function was called.
16
doesn't happen.
17
But it actually -- if
And that
It's just a variable that's passed
18
in to the creation of the event variable.
19
There's nothing in this line that says how
20
that's used -- nothing in this function.
21
Q.
22
in Nectar?
23
A.
Other besides what?
24
Q.
Scraped or prescraped URLs being
25
What other kinds of data are logged
accessed.
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A.
So again, going back to Paragraph 52
2
and 53, in reference to that e-mail, they talk
3
about logging actions that create relationships
4
or show clickable links.
5
6
Q.
And so your testimony is that that
information is also contained in Nectar?
7
A.
Yes.
8
Q.
Have you seen that in the code?
9
A.
I don't recall if I have or not.
10
I've looked at a lot --
11
Q.
Because what --
12
A.
-- of code.
13
Q.
-- you're citing here is an e-mail
14
from July of 2010.
15
And can you tell me, to a reasonable
16
degree of computer science certainty, that this
17
information discussed in that e-mail in
18
Paragraph 52 is reflected in the Nectar log --
19
or in -- excuse me -- in Nectar?
20
A.
I think it's reasonable to draw a
21
conclusion from an e-mail between Facebook
22
engineers that say, "We're doing X," that they
23
were, in fact, doing X.
24
25
Q.
The e-mail doesn't exactly say what
you're saying it says, which is the issue.
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MR. RUDOLPH:
2
BY MR. JESSEN:
3
Q.
4
Hold --
But -- but that wasn't my question.
The question was can you tell me,
5
based upon a reasonable degree of computer
6
science certainty, that that information is
7
reflected in Nectar?
8
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
Argumentative.
10
Objection.
Form.
Asked and answered.
THE WITNESS:
I -- I think my
11
answer's the same.
12
conclude from an -- an e-mail between Facebook
13
engineers that what they say is happening is
14
happening.
15
16
17
I think it's reasonable to
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Assuming you -- assuming you've
interpreted the e-mail correctly, right?
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
Okay.
Let's talk a little bit about
20
the various uses of what you refer to as
21
intercepted private message data.
22
Is it fair to say that all the uses
23
you are discussing involve the use of
24
aggregated nonpersonally identifiable
25
information?
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MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
2
THE WITNESS:
So I think, when we --
3
Form.
we briefly touched on this before --
4
BY MR. JESSEN:
5
Q.
Yeah.
6
A.
-- that the activity feed presents
7
an edge case where there could be personally
8
identifiable information exposed.
9
The other cases all use aggregated
10
data that reasonably seems to be not personally
11
identifiable.
12
Q.
When you referred earlier -- I think
13
you said that some private message content had
14
been -- I don't want to misquote you, but It
15
think you said exposed?
16
A.
Yes.
17
Q.
Was that a reference to the activity
18
plug-in or something --
19
A.
The activity --
20
Q.
-- else?
21
A.
-- feed plug-in, yes.
22
It was a
reference --
23
Q.
And --
24
A.
-- to that.
25
Q.
And what were you referring to there
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2
specifically?
A.
There's an issue where -- that
3
popped up that I really didn't -- with an ex-
4
-- an exter- -- a person external to Facebook
5
identified that, if I sent you a private
6
message with a URL in it, that the URL that I
7
sent to you could appear in the activity feed
8
of my friends as a URL they might want to check
9
out; which, if it's something like New York
10
Times, is not personally identifiable; if it's
11
a link to the draft version of my personal Web
12
site or, you know, pictures of me that I don't
13
want exposed to the public, suddenly that
14
becomes visible and is potentially identifiable
15
with me.
16
17
Q.
And so when that was happening,
wouldn't -- I mean tell me if I'm wrong.
18
But is your understanding that it
19
wouldn't say "Jen Golbeck," you know, "shared
20
this link."
21
recommend that link or the -- it would say
22
"Someone shared this" in the activity feed.
23
It would just -- that -- it would
I mean is that your understanding?
24
A.
25
I believe the latter is correct.
Right.
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Q.
Okay.
But you're saying, depending
2
on the URL, a URL could -- some URLs could be
3
personally identifiable depending on sort of
4
what it is.
5
A.
Right.
6
Q.
Is it your understanding that that
7
was a -- that was a bug back in the 2010, 2011
8
time period?
9
A.
You know, I don't know if I'd call
10
it a bug.
11
consequence of how it was implemented.
12
13
Q.
But it could be an un- -- unintended
And do you have an understanding
that Facebook ultimately resolved that issue?
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
15
THE WITNESS:
I do, yes.
My
16
understanding is that they changed that.
17
BY MR. JESSEN:
18
Q.
You don't think that that was
19
intentional functionality on their part, do
20
you?
21
22
23
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
speculation.
THE WITNESS:
I don't think that
24
they set out with the intention of saying, "We
25
will take private message shares that could be
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sensitive and show them to other people."
2
3
I think they probably didn't care,
and that's why it happened.
4
BY MR. JESSEN:
5
Q.
Why do you think they didn't care?
6
A.
This would be a really simple thing
7
to prevent from happening if that kind of
8
privacy concern were at the forefront in your
9
development.
10
11
Q.
Would the -- do you know what year
this issue...
12
A.
I believe 2010.
13
Q.
Okay.
14
15
16
And do you know when they --
when they fixed that?
A.
2011.
So actually, I think 2011 is
the only year I know.
17
Q.
Okay.
18
A.
Yeah.
I'm not...
19
20
21
I'm not sure if 2010 was when
the activity feed was introduced.
Q.
Okay.
And that was before the class
period started in this case, right?
22
A.
That's correct.
23
Q.
Okay.
24
25
You talk a little bit about
recommendations.
What's your understanding of
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recommendations -- the recommendations widget?
2
A.
What about it?
3
Q.
Like what was it?
4
5
6
7
8
9
What was the
recommendations functionality?
A.
It recommended links to people that
Facebook thought they might be interested in.
Q.
And were those recommendations made
on Facebook.com or on that particular Web site?
A.
I believe they were external.
It
10
was a third-party plug-in for use on other Web
11
sites.
12
Q.
And what's your understanding of
13
how -- how certain URLs were recommended on
14
those Web sites?
15
A.
That there was a Facebook plug-in
16
widget that would display those recommended
17
links.
18
window and would display those recommended
19
links in it.
20
21
22
Q.
It sorted of had its own separate
And what determined what links were
recommended?
A.
It's a pretty complex process,
23
actually, generating those recommendations.
24
don't know that I have a full handle on --
25
Q.
I
Uh-huh.
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A.
-- all of the code for the entire
2
process.
3
the data that we're talking about here that I
4
cite in the report.
5
Q.
There's some specific files that use
Was -- is it fair to say that, for a
6
period of time, the URLs shared in Messages --
7
URL attachments -- because they incremented one
8
of the -- one of the values in the tracking
9
info field in this global share object,
10
which -- that influenced, among many other
11
things, how popular that particular URL was,
12
and thus, you know, how likely it was to be
13
recommended on a third-party Web site?
14
A.
That's a fair characterization.
15
Q.
Okay.
And at -- other kinds of URL
16
shares went into that calculation as well, such
17
as public posts, comments on URLs, so on and so
18
forth.
19
A.
Right.
20
Q.
Okay.
And is it your understanding
21
that at some point Facebook stopped including
22
URLs -- URL attachments in private messages in
23
that calculation?
24
25
A.
I'm actually just unsure.
The code
has changed since the initial file that
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identified and cited here.
2
looking to try to see one way or another if
3
those values are being used now.
4
Q.
Okay.
And I'm still
So in Paragraph 60 when you
5
say in the last sentence -- and you're
6
referring to recommendation -- "This use proves
7
that private message content was used to affect
8
these external recommendations made to other
9
users," you're referring to the URL attachment
10
which led to the creation of a user-specific
11
share object which incremented the tracking
12
info field in the global share object, which
13
informed the recommendations.
14
A.
I think that -- that's a fair
15
description of the process.
16
that incrementing of the field in the global
17
share object necessarily follows exactly like
18
you said from the creation of the user share
19
object.
20
Q.
I'm not sure if
But the -- the essence of i tis right.
There could be variability regarding
21
whether or not a user share object incremented
22
the tracking info field?
23
A.
I would just want to look at the
24
code to see if that's a single unified process
25
or separate process.
That's the only thing I'm
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2
3
catching on there.
Q.
Okay.
You have a section called
"Insights Developer API."
4
And let's talk a little bit about --
5
what are you referring to in this section
6
specifically?
7
the -- the use of this private -- this
8
intercepted private message content that you're
9
referencing here?
10
A.
What sort of a gravamen of
This provided demographic
11
information about people who had interacted
12
with URLs of external Web sites, in this case
13
shared those URLs in a private message.
14
Q.
And you do cite a lot of -- well,
15
what -- in -- in -- in reaching -- you cite a
16
lot of e-mails and sort of other documents in
17
this section.
18
Were you able to observe in the code
19
itself the -- the phenomena that you're
20
discussing?
21
22
23
A.
I haven't been able to track it down
in the code yet.
Q.
Okay.
Do you know if, throughout
24
the entire class period, URL attachments shared
25
in messages were reflected in the Insights
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dashboard?
2
A.
3
4
I don't know if they were reflected
there for the whole class period.
Q.
And similarly, do you know if, to
5
the extent they were reflected in
6
Domain Insights, they would have been reflected
7
in the demographic information?
8
9
10
11
A.
Can you rephrase that
question for me?
Q.
Yeah.
Sorry.
That was a poorly
worded question.
12
13
I'm sorry.
So for the duration of the class
period, do you know -- well, strike that.
14
The -- earlier I think you testified
15
you haven't been able to track down in the code
16
whether, throughout the entire class period,
17
URL attachments shared in messages were
18
reflected on the Insights dashboard.
19
Would you say the same thing about
20
specifically demographic information from URL
21
attachments and messages?
22
that was reflected of the insights dashboard?
You don't know if
23
A.
For the entire class period?
24
Q.
Correct.
25
A.
That's correct.
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Q.
Do you -- do you know that it was
2
implemented for -- for some part of the class
3
period?
4
A.
So I have this cited in Paragraph
5
74, experiments that Ashkan Soltani ran that
6
suggest that they were included in there.
7
8
I have not tracked down the code
related to that yet.
9
Q.
Uh-huh.
10
A.
Be the same as the other code we
11
were talking about.
12
strongly suggest that it was included there.
13
Q.
But his experiments
And so that would be things like
14
gender, age range, language, country, that sort
15
of -- sort of broad demographic data?
16
A.
Correct.
17
Q.
Okay.
And -- and we discussed this
18
briefly earlier, but Domain Insights allowed
19
the owner of a domain to go in an access
20
certain kinds of analytics about people's
21
interactions with his or her Web site?
22
A.
Right.
23
Q.
Okay.
Do you know, for any given
24
Web site, whether the Insights dashboard was
25
actually viewed by the domain owner?
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A.
I'm sorry.
2
Q.
Yeah.
3
Can you repeat that?
Sorry.
Do you know, for any given Web site,
4
whether or not the insights dashboard for
5
that -- reflecting information for that site
6
was actually viewed by or accessed by the
7
domain owner?
8
9
10
A.
I'm certain that information exists
at Facebook, but I haven't seen any of it.
Q.
But I'm -- I'm asking like would the
11
owner of the domain -- is there way -- a way to
12
tell if the -- do you know if the owner of the
13
domain ever actually went and looked at it?
14
A.
The answer's the same.
I'm sure
15
that information exists at Facebook.
16
That's
just not information I have.
17
Q.
Okay.
18
A.
So you could tell, for any given
19
domain --
20
Q.
Oh, I see what --
21
A.
-- if someone --
22
Q.
-- you're saying.
23
A.
-- had accessed it and -- and looked
24
at it.
25
Q.
I see what you're saying.
Okay.
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What's your understanding regarding
2
the relationship between external node
3
recommendations --I'm sorry -- external node
4
recommenders and Taste?
5
6
A.
My understanding -- let me just go
back to that.
7
My understanding is that Taste
8
replaced functionality of the external node
9
recommender.
10
Q.
Uh-huh.
And do you know, for -- for
11
the duration of the class period, if Taste has
12
used information from URLs shared in messages?
13
A.
I don't know.
14
Q.
Okay.
Regarding Paragraph No. 79,
15
"API Queries," we talked, again, about this a
16
bit earlier, but what are your -- your
17
conclusions with respect to API queries is
18
that you could -- you could -- you could query
19
the API for a given Web site and get sort of
20
general analytics data about interactions with
21
the site?
22
A.
Right.
You could get the counts of
23
how many people had shared the URL, which
24
included --
25
Q.
Uh-huh.
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A.
-- shares through private messages.
2
Q.
Uh-huh.
Were the shares from
3
private messages broken out separately from --
4
from broader shares, or were they included with
5
another category?
6
7
8
A.
I believe all the -- all the shares,
public and private, were grouped together.
Q.
Okay.
Do you know if this
9
information -- if URL -- URLs shared in private
10
messages are still reflected in the information
11
accessible through API queries?
12
A.
I believe they are not.
13
Q.
Okay.
14
Do you know when that
stopped?
15
A.
I don't know.
16
Q.
Okay.
You talk a little bit about
17
incrementing the Like counter in -- starting on
18
Page 23 of your report.
19
A.
Quite a bit about it.
20
Q.
Yeah.
21
That's true.
You're aware that, for a period of
22
time, there was what you describe as double
23
counting?
24
A.
Yes.
25
Q.
You discuss that on Paragraph 83.
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2
Do you think that was an intentional
thing Facebook did --
3
A.
I don't --
4
Q.
-- or do you think it was a bug?
5
A.
I don't --
6
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
7
THE WITNESS:
I don't know if I'd
8
put it in either category.
I certainly don't
9
think they set out with the intent of counting
10
twice.
11
about it in their internal messages.
12
But they didn't seem super concerned
BY MR. JESSEN:
13
Q.
About counting twice?
14
A.
Yeah.
They -- they wanted to fix
15
it, but they were not unhappy with the high
16
Like counts, was my reading of those messages.
17
Q.
Okay.
Do you know, during the time
18
that -- that the -- the Like counts were being
19
incremented by two, do you know if the
20
information in the tracking info field in the
21
global share object was also being incremented
22
by two?
23
24
25
A.
I understand your question.
I'm
just thinking about how the code connects this.
I believe that's correct, looking at
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2
the code that I have here.
Q.
And really in -- in Paragraphs 85 --
3
we're running short on time -- but 85 through
4
93, you really discuss -- actually, strike
5
that.
Let's move on.
6
Are you of the view, Dr. Golbeck,
7
that keeping a count of the times that a URL is
8
shared across a Web site, including in private
9
messages, is unlawful?
10
MR. RUDOLPH:
11
THE WITNESS:
Yeah.
It's a really
legal question.
14
15
Calls for
legal conclusion.
12
13
Objection.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Should it be unlawful?
16
MR. RUDOLPH:
Same objection.
17
THE WITNESS:
Depends.
18
MR. JESSEN:
19
answer on that one.
20
21
(Discussion off the stenographic
record.)
22
23
24
25
I bet I know your
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Just want to go back to something we
discussed earlier briefly.
If a user composes a message and a
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URL preview is generated, and then the user
2
hits the send button, and the body of the
3
message is sent along with the URL attachment,
4
and that message goes to a -- message and the
5
attachment go to a Facebook server, if -- if
6
the message and the attachment, okay, if
7
they're in memory on a Facebook server, and the
8
message is awaiting final delivery to a
9
recipient, do you consider that message to be
10
in temporary intermediate storage incidental to
11
the electronic transmission?
12
A.
13
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
Form.
15
16
Q.
21
Objection.
Calls --
Would you -MR. RUDOLPH:
-- for legal
conclusion.
19
20
Objection.
BY MR. JESSEN:
17
18
I would not --
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Would you -- you understand there
could be a difference of opinion on that?
22
MR. RUDOLPH:
23
BY MR. JESSEN:
24
25
Q.
Objection.
That other computer scientists might
disagree with what you're saying there?
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MR. RUDOLPH:
2
Calls for speculation.
3
4
5
6
7
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Or do you think the view that you're
espousing is beyond dispute?
A.
dispute.
8
9
Objection.
I always think my views are beyond
No.
That's not true.
I could see someone trying to wedge
a technical argument that would say it was
10
temporary storage incidental to the
11
transmission.
12
think it's like such a slimy manipulation of
13
the term as to render it meaningless.
14
someone could disagree with --
I think it's -- honestly, I
So
15
Q.
I'll --
16
A.
-- it, but I'd -- I would think very
17
18
19
strongly that they were wrong about that.
Q.
code could be a device?
20
21
MR. RUDOLPH:
THE REPORTER:
Could you repeat that
because of the siren.
24
25
Objection.
Argumentative.
22
23
Almost like saying a line of source
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Almost like saying a line of source
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code could be a device?
2
A.
Are you implying that I'm slimy?
3
Q.
No.
4
A.
You know I do patent testimony,
5
right?
6
details.
So I'm really good at the technical
7
Q.
8
testimony.
9
No, I know.
Okay.
I know you do patent
Let's talk -- and you and I
10
could have very interest philosophical
11
conversations, by the way, but we'll have to
12
save those --
13
A.
Off the record.
14
Q.
-- for another -- another time.
15
Okay.
Let's -- I want to go to --
16
you have a discussion on -- starting on Page 27
17
that says:
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
I want to talk a little -- I have
"Class members are ascertainable."
20
some questions about that.
21
briefly earlier.
22
23
24
25
We talked about it
In Paragraph 102 you discuss the
proposed class in this case.
And do you understand that the -what we call the putative class members must be
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natural persons?
2
You understand that?
3
A.
I do.
4
Q.
Located within the United States.
5
You understand that?
6
A.
Yes.
7
Q.
Okay.
8
Who sent or received a
message from a Facebook user.
9
You see that?
10
A.
A private message.
11
Q.
Right.
12
13
14
15
I use "private message" and
"message" synonymously.
A.
That's part of our core
disagreement.
Q.
16
Perhaps.
That included a URL in its
17
content --
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
-- correct?
20
A.
Yes.
21
Q.
And from which Facebook generated
22
the URL attachment, correct?
23
A.
Yes.
24
Q.
From within two years of the filing
25
of this action, which is December 31st, 2011 -Page 329
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or excuse me -- December 30th, 2011, up through
2
the date of class certification.
3
A.
I see that, yes.
4
Q.
Okay.
So that's the proposed --
5
that's the -- that's the class that the
6
plaintiffs are asking the court to certify.
7
In Paragraph 103, you say that, to
8
retrieve a list of class members, the code
9
process should be relatively straightforward.
10
A database query could be used to select the
11
Facebook user IDs of everyone whose actions had
12
created an ENT share from a private message,"
13
correct?
14
A.
Yes.
15
Q.
Okay.
And "ENT share" is synonymous
16
in this context with "user-specific share
17
object"?
18
A.
Correct.
19
Q.
Okay.
Is it your expert opinion
20
that the Facebook user IDs of everyone whose
21
actions had created an ENT share from a private
22
message constitutes a list of every member of
23
the proposed class and known nonclass members?
24
25
A.
I'm just thinking through that.
I -- I do understand the question.
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Q.
Yeah, yeah.
2
A.
Just let's me repeat it so I'm --
3
Take your time.
I'm answering correctly.
4
If we have the Facebook IDs of all
5
the people who have sent the message that makes
6
this object, is that enough to identify the
7
members of the class?
8
Q.
Yeah.
I think that's basically it.
9
A.
I think that's right then.
10
Q.
Well, although I should add, I mean
11
because the class also includes people who've
12
received messages with URL -- with URLs in
13
their content and from which a URL attachment
14
was generated.
15
16
17
18
So how would you identify those
people?
A.
The people who had received the
message?
19
Q.
Yeah.
20
A.
So if you have it, I would want to
21
look at it to make sure -- to look at this --
22
at the ENT share objects to see if the
23
recipient's listed in there.
24
recall if the recipient is or not.
25
obviously don't have that in the report here.
I just don't
And I
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2
MR. JESSEN:
one.
We'll mark this as Exhibit 5.
3
4
Let's take a look at
(Deposition Exhibit 5 was marked for
identification.)
5
THE WITNESS:
6
MR. JESSEN:
7
swap that out?
8
Thank you.
Oh.
Can we
wrong one.
9
MR. RUDOLPH:
10
11
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I gave you the
Okay.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Okay.
So this -- what's -- the
12
court reporter's handed you Exhibit 5, which is
13
a document with the production numbers FB 6038
14
to 6084.
15
16
This is -- I'll just represent is an
ENT share for a particular URL share.
17
Just take a look, and let me know if
18
you can -- you're able to identify the
19
recipient.
20
A.
21
22
Thank you.
So trying to go through this
quickly, I don't see the recipient --
23
MR. RUDOLPH:
Don't -- okay.
24
THE WITNESS:
-- listed here.
25
BY MR. JESSEN:
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2
3
Q.
I didn't see it either when we went
through it earlier.
A.
So if -- given that that's the case,
4
the code examples that I have here would
5
retrieve the senders of those messages.
6
Q.
Uh-huh.
7
A.
From there, because we have
8
information about -- about the message itself,
9
and as you mentioned, there are objects created
10
that represent the message in addition to
11
representing --
12
Q.
Uh-huh.
13
A.
-- the attachment, you should be
14
able -- there would be an extra step required
15
beyond what I have here to identify the
16
recipients.
17
this data to then the recipients of the
18
messages with an additional step.
19
20
21
Q.
But you should be able to go from
What do you think that additional
step would entail?
A.
So you'd modify these slightly so
22
that, instead of just selecting the ID of the
23
person who's -- who was the creator in that ENT
24
share object, you would retrieve the
25
message and -- you know, I haven't looked at
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this structure -- at the data structure for
2
storing the message.
3
But -- but certainly one way or
4
another will get you to the recipient because
5
you can see that in your messages folder,
6
right?
7
look at those messages and see that you sent it
8
to a recipient or vice versa and if the
9
attachment is there.
10
Like you can go through and actually
Q.
Is that similar to the
11
self-identification mechanism you -- you also
12
propose in this?
13
A.
Well, self-identification you'd have
14
to ask -- you know, people would be doing it
15
themselves.
16
with code.
17
Q.
By Facebook --
18
A.
By --
19
Q.
-- or --
20
A.
-- Facebook.
21
Q.
You're saying looking -- actually
This could be done automatically
22
looking in people's inboxes to see if the URL
23
attachment was visible?
24
25
I mean is that -- forgive me if I
got it wrong, but is that what you're
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proposing?
2
A.
No, no, no.
I'm just saying the
3
fact that -- so you, for example, or I can go
4
to our messages folders on Facebook --
5
Q.
Right?
6
A.
-- and retrieve any of those
7
messages shows that the data is stored
8
together, the sender, the recipient and the
9
message ID.
10
So certainly you could self-identify
11
that way.
12
connected -- it has to be for Facebook to be
13
able to display it -- you could use this method
14
to select the people who had sent those
15
messages and the message IDs, and from there,
16
because we know they're all connected, identify
17
the recipients of those messages that had the
18
attachment.
19
Q.
But because we know that data is
Would the search -- would the
20
results of the query that you discuss in sort
21
of Paragraphs 103 and 104, would that identify
22
share object -- user-specific share objects
23
associated with deleted messages or deleted
24
accounts?
25
A.
I'm not sure about either.
I'm not
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sure what Facebook deletes.
So if you delete
2
your Facebook account, generally, the last I
3
checked, Facebook did not actually delete the
4
data with your account.
5
a year later and --
So you could come back
6
Q.
Uh-huh.
7
A.
-- sign up again, and everything you
8
had done would be there.
9
at depth into this, but I believe that those
10
So I haven't looked
messages would be there also.
11
As for deleted messages, I'm not
12
sure.
13
like if Facebook gets rid of these ENT shares
14
if someone deletes a message or not.
15
Q.
I haven't looked at what the process is,
Would the results of your query
16
identify messages with URL share attachments
17
that were blocked by site integrity processing?
18
A.
So my understanding -- and -- and
19
this could have changed over time -- is that
20
Facebook won't actually carry -- follow through
21
with this process if the URL is blocked.
22
Q.
The process -- what process?
23
A.
Of creating --
24
Q.
Of creating the --
25
A.
-- the objects.
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Q.
Okay.
Would the results of your
2
query identify messages with URL share
3
attachments that did not result in the creation
4
of a share object for one reason or another?
5
6
A.
Like in the case of these code
errors?
7
Q.
Yeah.
8
A.
Then I think it would not if -- I'm
9
sorry.
10
Sure.
Just so -- repeating this.
If -- if there was a URL in the
11
message but the -- and there was a URL
12
attachment but the ENT share object did not get
13
created?
14
Q.
Correct.
15
A.
Okay.
16
It would not identify that
then.
17
I think would be okay actually,
18
because if that object doesn't get created, the
19
person probably isn't a member of the class.
20
Q.
Uh-huh.
You don't have any way, I
21
gather, of identifying Facebook users who type
22
the URL into the text of a message, had a URL
23
preview generated, and then deleted that
24
preview before they sent the message, correct?
25
A.
That's correct.
I don't know how
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you would know that.
2
Q.
3
excuse me.
4
Okay.
And your query "quode" --
Pardon me.
Your query code in Paragraph 104 is
5
based upon the attributes you identify in
6
Paragraph 99, correct?
7
A.
That's correct.
8
Q.
And in Paragraph 99 you say that
9
10
certain attributes show that a given ENT share
was created from a private message, correct?
11
A.
Yes.
12
Q.
Okay.
So if these attributes are
13
under- or over-inclusive of members of the
14
purported class, the resulting list from your
15
query will similarly be over- or
16
under-inclusive, right?
17
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
18
THE WITNESS:
If they were, I think
19
that would be true.
20
21
22
23
Form.
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
And I gather -- do -- do these
messages -- I'm sorry.
Pardon me.
Do these attributes identify only UR
24
-- URL shares in messages or other kinds of
25
shares for messages?
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A.
Only URL shares.
2
Q.
Did these attributes identify only
3
messages with a URL in their text?
4
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
5
THE WITNESS:
I believe it's the
6
case that this is actually based on the
7
attachment and not on the text of the message.
8
9
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Okay.
So this could include a
10
message that -- like if I type in a URL and
11
then a preview is generated, and then I delete
12
the URL but I keep the preview and send it,
13
that would -- that would pick up that
14
message --
15
A.
That's right.
16
Q.
-- as well, right?
Okay.
17
Do these attributes -- strike that.
18
There was a period of time -- and
19
this is discussed in Alex Himel declaration --
20
when you could go to a Like button social
21
plug-in on a third-party Web site, and one of
22
the options was you could click "Share in
23
private message."
24
A.
Yes.
25
Q.
And then from there you could -- you
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could -- you could share the URL in a message.
2
Do you know if -- if the -- your --
3
the attributes that you identify would pick up
4
those kinds of shares?
5
A.
So I'd want to go back and -- and
6
revisit Himel.
But I believe it's the case
7
that they would.
8
-- because I kind of remember them making a
9
point about this.
I believe that -- that those
10
Q.
Uh-huh.
11
A.
I believe it's the case that those
12
share and private message messages were treated
13
the same way in the data.
14
here, so I'd want to confirm that --
But it's not in
15
Q.
Okay.
16
A.
-- to be sure.
17
Q.
Do these attributes -- these four
18
attributes, do they identify only messages
19
including a nonFacebook URL?
20
21
22
A.
That's correct.
This is only
nonFacebook URLs.
Q.
Do these attributes distinguish
23
between messages whose senders are physically
24
located in the United States and others?
25
A.
These attributes do not make that
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2
distinction.
Q.
Do these attributes distinguish
3
between URLs shared in private messages before
4
December 30th, 2011, and those shared after
5
December 30th, 2011?
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
A.
The attributes in Paragraph 99 don't
address the date.
Q.
Do these attributes identify URL
message shares that were logged in any way to
Nectar?
A.
So the queries that I have using
these --
13
Q.
Uh-huh.
14
A.
-- are on the ENT share objects.
15
They're not on the Nectar data.
16
was -- if there were a case where there were
17
not overlap there, it was -- I don't -- I don't
18
know if this could be the case.
19
think harder about it.
20
So if there
I'd have to
But hypothetically, if it were
21
logged to Nectar and not in an ENT share or the
22
reverse, if they didn't match, then you'd be
23
missing one or the other.
24
missing what's in Nectar.
25
Q.
You'd be -- you'd be
Right.
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So these attributes, they -- you
2
couldn't tell from these attributes whether the
3
URL message share was logged to Nectar; is that
4
accurate?
5
6
A.
Nectar.
So you're -- I'm not querying
So --
7
Q.
Right?
8
A.
-- you know, if that were the
9
question that I would ask --
10
Q.
Uh-huh.
11
A.
-- that I were asked, I'd actually
12
want to go back to the code a little bit to --
13
to connect the Nectar logging process with this
14
to kind of see exactly where the dependencies
15
and connections are.
16
querying Nectar with these properties.
17
Q.
Okay.
But certainly this is not
Do these attributes identify
18
URL message shares that resulted in an
19
increment in the
20
A.
21
table?
Again, this is not querying the
table.
22
Q.
Got it.
23
A.
But this is a code connection
24
between the creation of the objects this would
25
identify and that incrementing.
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Q.
What's that code connection?
2
A.
Like do you want specific lines?
3
Q.
No, but just in general.
4
A.
So there --
5
Q.
If you remember.
6
A.
There are lines of code.
So I -- I
7
know I have -- I was just looking at it.
8
are lines of code that do the logging for the
9
There
table that's connected to this.
10
Q.
Okay.
11
A.
Theoretically it's possible, but
12
they could be different for some of these
13
errors.
14
shares; it's not querying
15
Q.
16
17
But again, this is querying the ENT
Right.
Do these attributes identify URL
message shares that were utilized by Taste?
18
A.
It does not.
19
Q.
Do these attributes identify URL
20
message shares that were displayed in any
21
recommendations plug-in?
22
A.
Does not.
23
Q.
Do these attributes identify URL
24
message shares that were displayed in any
25
activity feed?
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A.
No.
2
Q.
Do these attributes identify URL
3
message shares that were included in data from
4
any API available to third parties?
5
6
7
A.
It does not uniquely identify those,
Q.
Do these attributes identify URL
no.
8
message shares that were reflected in Insights
9
data?
10
A.
No.
11
Q.
What about demographic data made
12
13
available to third parties?
A.
No.
I mean in all cases these
14
things certainly could have been used this way.
15
But they're not distinguished in the query
16
here.
17
18
Q.
They could have been, sort of a
case-specific issue.
19
A.
I think that's right.
20
Q.
Yeah.
21
So I just have a few more
along this same lines.
22
A.
Sure.
23
Q.
Do these attributes identify URL
24
message shares that resulted in any increment
25
in the Like counter on a third party Web site?
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A.
I just want to make sure -- I know
2
you've given me a bunch of these questions --
3
just so I'm answering them correctly.
4
are only going to identify ENT share objects.
So these
5
Q.
Understood.
6
A.
All these things that you're asking
7
about, as I'm agreeing that they're not shown
8
there, is that that data's not connected to
9
these objects.
10
Q.
Understood.
11
A.
Okay.
12
Q.
And I've only got a couple more.
13
And I'm sorry --
14
A.
Okay.
15
Q.
-- it's a little repetitive.
16
A.
No.
I just wanted to make sure,
17
when I say no, it doesn't show up there, that
18
we're -- that I'm answering --
19
Q.
Yeah?
20
A.
-- within your asking.
21
Q.
Yeah.
I'm just trying to understand
22
exactly what your -- what these attributes
23
would identify and what they -- what they
24
wouldn't.
25
A.
Okay.
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Q.
So these attributes wouldn't
2
identify whether or not a message share had
3
resulted in an increment in a Like button
4
social plug-in counter on a third-party Web
5
site.
6
A.
Correct.
7
Q.
Okay.
Do these attributes
8
distinguish between messages whose senders or
9
recipients are natural persons and those that
10
11
12
13
14
are not?
A.
That can be kind of a very
philosophical question.
Q.
Especially since you study
artificial intelligence.
15
A.
Yeah.
I mean that's the thing,
16
right?
17
have bots with accounts, right, artifical
18
intelligence with accounts --
If -- so Facebook doesn't want you to
19
Q.
Uh-huh.
20
A.
-- and would block those.
21
But, you know, if it didn't know if
22
I had written a bot to do that, since Facebook
23
has no way of distinguishing that, even though
24
they technically don't allow it, it wouldn't
25
distinguish.
That's assuming, you know, people
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are violating those terms of Facebook.
2
3
Q.
You -- you say it wouldn't
distinguish.
6
7
I just want to make sure I
heard you correct.
4
5
Okay.
A.
Correct.
So if I signed up a bot,
Facebook --
8
Q.
Right.
9
A.
-- didn't know it was a bot, and it
11
Q.
Right.
12
A.
-- started sending private messages,
10
13
14
--
you wouldn't be able to distinguish that.
Q.
Do these attributes distinguish
15
between messages sent by Facebook users and
16
those that were sent by nonFacebook users?
17
18
19
A.
I don't think you could send one of
these messages if you weren't a Facebook user.
Q.
Do these attributes distinguish
20
between messages whose users knew about and
21
consented to the alleged interceptions?
22
23
24
25
A.
I don't know how anyone would have
known about and consented to the interceptions.
Q.
But -- okay.
But it's possible that
someone could have, right?
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A.
Yeah.
Like I guess if Facebook
2
engineer would have known this was happening,
3
this would identify the Facebook engineer even
4
if he or she had consented.
5
filter out manually --
But it's easy to
6
Q.
But you --
7
A.
-- afterwards.
8
Q.
-- you could tell -- these
9
attributes wouldn't tell you -- and I --
10
consent is a -- is an issue that the Court will
11
decide.
12
But you couldn't tell -- you could
13
get a list of people who had sent messages
14
containing URL shares, but these attributes
15
aren't going to tell you which of those users
16
consented to the conduct that you're
17
complaining about, right?
18
19
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Calls for
legal conclusion.
20
THE WITNESS:
Short of making a
21
legal conclusion, yes, because consent is just
22
not recorded.
23
BY MR. JESSEN:
24
Q.
Say that -- consent is not recorded?
25
A.
Yes.
This is all accessing data
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that Facebook has recorded.
2
Q.
Oh, I see.
3
A.
They haven't --
4
Q.
Oh, I see.
5
A.
-- recorded if I know about it or
6
have consented.
7
pull that out.
8
9
MR. JESSEN:
saying.
10
11
I see what you're
Okay.
I think we have maybe five minutes
left.
12
13
So these attributes wouldn't
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
You've six
minutes.
14
MR. JESSEN:
Six?
15
If you guys just give us like five
16
minutes, we'll look through our notes, figure
17
out...
18
19
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
Off the record at
6:19.
20
(A short recess was taken.)
21
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
22
6:38.
23
24
25
On the record at
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Dr. Golbeck, you have some
statements in your report regarding your view
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that if Facebook Message is delivered when it
2
reaches HBase and is in persistent storage at
3
that time.
4
You remember that?
5
A.
Yes.
6
Q.
Okay.
If Facebook created
7
user-specific share objects based on URL share
8
attachments in private messages, after the
9
message and the attachment had reached HBase,
10
would you consider that to be an interception?
11
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
12
THE WITNESS:
Certainly not as I've
13
Form.
analyzed it here.
14
BY MR. JESSEN:
15
Q.
Okay.
16
A.
You know, it's a hypothetical.
It
17
seems like probably not, but I would want to
18
see the actual details of -- of what's
19
happening in the process to be sure.
20
21
22
23
24
25
Q.
I gather you still would view that
as a privacy violation?
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
Incomplete hypothetical.
THE WITNESS:
I -- personally I
would, yes.
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1
2
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Yes.
Okay.
3
Do you think that you're more
4
privacy sensitive than a lot of people?
5
6
MR. RUDOLPH:
Objection.
Form.
THE WITNESS:
I don't think so.
Vague.
7
I
8
think I'm more privacy invasion aware than most
9
people.
10
BY MR. JESSEN:
11
Q.
Okay.
12
A.
But when I talk to people about the
13
things that I view as privacy invasions that
14
are happening that not --
15
Q.
Right.
16
A.
-- everybody knows about, they tend
17
18
19
to be as spooked and appalled as I am.
Q.
Do they alter their conduct
typically after learning of these practices?
20
MR. RUDOLPH:
21
Calls for speculation.
22
THE WITNESS:
Objection.
Form.
Lacks foundation.
So I -- you know, I
23
can't really know.
But when I do go and give
24
these talks that I mentioned to you, I show
25
this video called "Take This Lollipop," which
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you should try if you never have.
2
creepy Facebook stalker guy look at your
3
profile.
4
Makes a
And I always get lots of people
5
saying, "I'm just going to go delete my
6
Facebook account right now," which is not a --
7
really a Facebook issue, and it certainly
8
doesn't have to do with private messages.
9
But yeah.
People -- I think, when
10
they find out about privacy issues like this,
11
definitely contemplate changing their behavior.
12
Whether they do is a question because there's
13
not a lot of alternatives other than totally
14
opting out of online life.
15
16
BY MR. JESSEN:
Q.
Let's go back to the section on
17
ascertainability.
18
couple of questions about -- you say in
19
paragraph 105 on Page 29:
20
were not an option, direct code could be
21
written to access the data."
22
I want to just ask you a
And then you say:
"If database queries
"For each share
23
object, something like the following checks
24
would determine if it were a share generated
25
from that private message."
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See that?
2
A.
Yes.
3
Q.
I just want to understand exactly
4
what -- what -- exactly what are you proposing
5
there?
6
7
8
9
Like are you proposing a -- a manual
look-up process for every share object?
A.
Certainly not manual.
It would be
code.
10
Q.
Okay.
11
A.
So one could, for example, get a
12
list of all the ENT share objects, loop through
13
them with this query, which would identify
14
those that were created from private messages.
15
16
Q.
How is it -- how is it different
from what you were proposing in your query --
17
A.
So the --
18
Q.
-- code?
19
A.
-- the foundation of it --
20
Q.
Yep?
21
A.
-- is essentially the same.
22
Q.
Uh-huh.
23
A.
Paragraph 104 is SQL, S-Q-L, code.
24
25
Paragraph 105 is roughly PHP code.
Q.
Uh-huh.
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A.
So it's just a matter of is it a
2
query you would make in a database because the
3
data's accessible in that way.
4
Q.
Right.
5
A.
Or is it one that you would write
6
7
separate code for.
Q.
Do you know -- you have any sense
8
for how much time and effort it would take to
9
generate these -- these lists of proposed class
10
11
12
members?
A.
From a programming perspective or a
computational time perspective?
13
Q.
Let's do both.
14
A.
So I -- I have no idea how long it
15
would take to run this --
16
Q.
Uh-huh.
17
A.
-- just because Facebook has a
18
pretty sophisticated C loud-based architecture.
19
Q.
Yeah.
20
A.
So it'd be a lot different than me
21
22
running it on my computer.
Generating the code, you know, the
23
core of it would be very fast, you know,
24
something you can do in a few minutes.
25
Actually implementing it so it would run, you
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know, it should take somebody a day or two to
2
kind of work out all the bugs and -- and --
3
Q.
Okay.
4
A.
-- figure it out.
It shouldn't take
5
-- for a competent Facebook engineer, it
6
shouldn't take an inordinate amount of time.
7
MR. JESSEN:
8
further questions at this time.
9
Okay.
I don't have any
I would renew my request for those
10
three e-mails between Dr. Golbeck and the
11
plaintiffs' counsel before she was engaged.
12
13
MR. RUDOLPH:
We're -- we're going
to have to get back to you on that.
14
MR. JESSEN:
15
MR. RUDOLPH:
16
to -- to look into it.
17
MR. JESSEN:
Okay.
And I'll just --
Haven't had have time
Even though I think
18
it's unlikely I would bring you back, I will
19
just reserve my right to bring you back if need
20
be.
21
THE WITNESS:
22
that we have left on the record.
23
fun.
24
MR. JESSEN:
25
THE WITNESS:
For the 15 seconds
That'd be
They might -I'll totally do 15
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seconds.
2
MR. JESSEN:
They might give me
3
another -- you know, little -- little bit --
4
but hopefully that won't be necessary.
5
THE WITNESS:
There -- there's
6
nothing too exciting in those e-mails.
7
No.
8
communications.
I know.
9
10
I shouldn't talk about any of the
MR. JESSEN:
your time.
Well, thank you for
Happy birthday.
11
THE WITNESS:
12
MR. JESSEN:
13
Thank you.
And I have no further
questions.
14
MR. RUDOLPH:
15
THE VIDEOGRAPHER:
16
17
18
19
20
So...
Yeah.
No questions.
Off the record at
6:44.
This is the end of Media Unit 4 and
the end of the deposition.
(Whereupon, the proceeding was
concluded at 6:45 p.m.)
21
22
23
24
25
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2
CERTIFICATE OF NOTARY PUBLIC
I, Bonnie L. Russo, the officer before
3
whom the foregoing deposition was taken, do
4
hereby certify that the witness whose testimony
5
appears in the foregoing deposition was duly
6
sworn by me; that the testimony of said witness
7
was taken by me in shorthand and thereafter
8
reduced to computerized transcription under my
9
direction; that said deposition is a true
10
record of the testimony given by said witness;
11
that I am neither counsel for, related to, nor
12
employed by any of the parties to the action in
13
which this deposition was taken; and further,
14
that I am not a relative or employee of any
15
attorney or counsel employed by the parties
16
hereto, nor financially or otherwise interested
17
in the outcome of the action.
18
19
20
<%signature%>
21
Notary Public in and for
22
the District of Columbia
23
24
My Commission expires:
June 30, 2020
25
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