Doe I v. Google LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOHN DOE I, et al., Case No. 23-cv-02431-VC

Plaintiffs,

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO

v. DISMISS

GOOGLE LLC, Re: Dkt. No. 88 Defendant.

This is another pixel case. In many pixel cases, the plaintiffs sue the owner of the web property they interacted with, alleging that the owner installed source code that caused their personal information to be transmitted to a third party. But in this case, the plaintiffs have sued the third party that offers the source code: Google. They allege that their health care providers use Google source code to analyze traffic on their web properties, that their personal health information is transmitted to Google as part of this process, and that Google feeds this information into its own advertising machinery. For this, the plaintiffs assert, Google is liable for violating their privacy rights. There are several related problems with the complaint. First, by the plaintiffs’ own allegations, Google has admonished health care providers not to use the source code in a way that causes users’ personal health information to be transmitted…