20-cv-04688-RS
United States District Court, Northern District of California
Rodriguez v. Google LLC
Decided Jan 3, 2024
20-cv-04688-RS
01-03-2024
ANIBAL RODRIGUEZ, et al., Plaintiffs, v.
GOOGLE LLC, Defendant.
RICHARD SEEBORG, Chief United States
District Judge
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO CERTIFY
CLASS AND DENYING DAUBERT MOTION
RICHARD SEEBORG, Chief United States
District Judge
I. INTRODUCTION
Plaintiffs Anibal Rodriguez, Sal Cataldo, Julian
Santiago, and Susan Lynn Harvey are users of
third-party apps to which Google provides
services. Plaintiffs bring a putative class action
against Defendant Google LLC with three claims:
invasion of privacy, intrusion upon seclusion, and
violation of the Comprehensive Computer Data
Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA), Cal. Penal Code
§ 502, et seq. Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure 23(b)(3) and 23(b)(2), they seek
certification of nationwide classes of all Google
users who had their “Web & App Activity”
(“WAA”) and/or “supplemental Web & App
Activity” (“sWAA”) switched off in their Google
privacy settings since July 1, 2016.
Concurrently, Google moves to exclude the
opinion by Plaintiffs' damages expert, Michael J.
Lasinski, pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993). Lasinski submitted a
2
report to calculate class-wide unjust enrichment
and actual damages for Plaintiff's two proposed
classes. For the reasons below, Plaintiffs' motion
to certify class is granted and Google's Daubert
motion is denied. *2
II. BACKGROUND
This is a putative class action challenging
Google's data practices. See Fourth Amended
Complaint (“FAC”). The factual history of this
case has been discussed at length in previous
orders. In sum, Plaintiffs aver Google contravenes
its representations to its WAA-off and sWAA-off
users when it collects, saves, and uses their data
from third-party apps built with the Firebase
and/or Google Mobile Ads Software Developer
Kits (“SDKs”). Google admits that it collects this
data but, for sWAA-off users, it does so only for
“basic record-keeping” of its advertising services
and to store and analyze data for the third-party
app developers. Opp. at 1. Plaintiffs now move to
certify two classes:
Class 1: All individuals who, during the
period beginning July 1, 2016 and
continuing through the present (the “Class
Period”), (a) had their “Web & App
Activity” and/or “supplemental Web &
App Activity” setting turned off and (b)
whose activity on a non-Google-branded
mobile app was still transmitted to Google,
from (c) a mobile device running the
Android operating system, because of the
Firebase Software Development Kit
(“SDK”) and/or Google Mobile Ads SDK.
1