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 REQUESTING FURTHER

v. BRIEFING

GOOGLE LLC, Re: Dkt. No. 164 Defendant.

The Court apologizes for the delay. This is a difficult case. The Court is very tentatively inclined to reach the following conclusions and requests that the parties file supplemental briefs addressing them: 1. One of the things that makes this case so tricky is the lack of a clear overlap between the conduct the plaintiffs complain about in this case and some of the statutes they invoke. As the Court understands it, this lawsuit is and always has been focused on Google’s receipt of private health information that can be linked to an identifiable person. Dkt. No. 159, Second Amend. Compl. ¶¶1, 21. But some of the statutory provisions invoked by the plaintiffs are broader—they cover the intentional interception of any communication without the consent of one party (or both parties) to the communication. It was probably a wise choice for the plaintiffs to focus their lawsuit in this fashion, but it makes it difficult to apply…