Hammerling v. Google LLC

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedDecember 1, 2022
Docket3:21-cv-09004
StatusUnknown

This text of Hammerling v. Google LLC (Hammerling v. Google LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hammerling v. Google LLC, (N.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 MARIE HAMMERLING, et al., Case No. 21-cv-09004-CRB

9 Plaintiffs,

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 10 v. DISMISS

11 GOOGLE LLC, 12 Defendant.

13 Defendant Google LLC (“Google”) moves to dismiss Plaintiffs Marie Hammerling 14 and Kay Jackson’s amended complaint. For the second time, Plaintiffs allege that Google 15 secretly used their Android smartphones to collect data regarding their use of third-party 16 apps. Plaintiffs allege that, through the collection of this data, Google “gains a wealth of 17 highly personal information about consumers” in order to “gain an unfair advantage 18 against its competitors.” Am. Compl. (dkt. 51) ¶¶ 3, 5. In its prior order, the Court 19 dismissed all of Plaintiffs’ claims against Google. See Hammerling v. Google LLC, No. 20 21-CV-09004-CRB, 2022 WL 2812188 (N.D. Cal. July 18, 2022). Plaintiffs renew those 21 claims in their amended complaint, alleging that Google breached its contract with its 22 customers and violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, the California Constitution, 23 and California fraud and privacy laws. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 119–222. Google again moves to 24 dismiss. Mot. (dkt. 57). Finding this matter suitable for resolution without oral argument 25 pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), because Plaintiffs fail to cure the deficiencies outlined 26 in the Court’s prior order, the Court GRANTS Google’s motion to dismiss. 27 I. BACKGROUND 1 claims: (1) common law intrusion upon seclusion; (2) invasion of privacy under the 2 California Constitution; (3) violation of California Civil Code section 1709; (4) violations 3 of the fraud, unlawful, and unfair prongs of California Civil Code section 17200 (“Unfair 4 Competition Law” or “UCL”); (5) violation of California Civil Code section 1750 5 (“California Consumers Legal Remedies Act” or “CLRA”); (6) breach of contract; (7) 6 breach of implied contract; (8) unjust enrichment; (9) relief under the Declaratory 7 Judgment Act; and (10) violation of California Penal Code section 631 (“California’s 8 Invasion of Privacy Act” or “CIPA”). See Hammerling, 2022 WL 2812188. Despite 9 noting that “many of the problems [outlined in the order would] be difficult to cure,” the 10 Court granted Plaintiffs leave to amend. Id. at *18. Plaintiffs amended their complaint, 11 leaving the vast majority of their allegations untouched; those facts are discussed in the 12 Court’s prior order. See Hammerling, 2022 WL 2812188, at *1–2. In their amended 13 complaint, Plaintiffs allege the following additional facts: 14 First, Plaintiffs allege that data about their use of third-party apps provided “unique 15 insights” into their lives; for example, through Hammerling’s use of the Fidelity 16 Investments and Bank of America apps, Google knew where Hammerling “maintained her 17 financial accounts.” Am. Compl. ¶ 18. Through other third-party apps downloaded to her 18 Android smartphone, Google could deduce that Hammerling had a home security system, 19 drove a Mazda, read the New York Times, and was physically active. Id. Similarly, 20 through Jackson’s use of the Joel Osteen, YouVersion Bible, and Bible Trivia apps, 21 Google knew Jackson’s religious beliefs. Id. ¶ 30. 22 Second, Plaintiffs highlight five pieces of specific information collected from 23 Hammerling’s use of third-party apps: (1) she visited the Wish app on March 10, 2021 and 24 viewed a foot massager, and on March 3, 2021 and viewed “womens slippers size 9”; (3) 25 she visited the Groupon app and viewed deals for “78% off Anti-inflammatory Meal 26 subscriptions” on October 13, 2019 and “100% Extra Virgin Coconut Oil” on May 10, 27 2020; and (3) she visited the Picsart Photo & Video Editor app on March 8, 2021. Id. ¶¶ 1 Hammerling’s Google account, which state that: “This activity was saved to your Google 2 Account because the following settings were on: additional Web & App Activity. You can 3 control these settings here.” Id. ¶¶ 19, 21. When Plaintiffs followed the link in that notice, 4 they allege that the Web & App Activity Activity Control only states that Google will 5 “Save[] your activity on Google sites and apps” and Google’s collection of Hammerling’s 6 third-party app data from Groupon, Wish, and Picsart was in violation of this 7 representation. Id. ¶ 23.1 8 Third, Plaintiffs allege that Hammerling read Google’s Privacy Policy and that she 9 “did not understand this policy to mean (and did not agree) that Google would collect 10 sensitive data from” third-party apps she downloaded to her Android smartphone. Id. ¶ 25. 11 Plaintiffs do not allege that Jackson ever read the Policy. 12 Fourth and finally, Plaintiffs allege that this information was “not de-identified or 13 anonymized,” but that their interactions with third-party apps are “directly associated with 14 [their] Google Account[s].” See, e.g., id. ¶¶ 31, 65. 15 II. LEGAL STANDARD 16 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the Court may dismiss a complaint 17 for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Dismissal may be based on 18 either “the lack of a cognizable legal theory or the absence of sufficient facts alleged under 19 a cognizable legal theory.” Godecke v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc., 937 F.3d 1201, 1208 (9th 20 Cir. 2019) (cleaned up). A complaint must plead “sufficient factual matter, accepted as 21 true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 22 678 (2009) (cleaned up). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content 23 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 24 misconduct alleged.” Id. When evaluating a motion to dismiss, the Court “must presume 25 all factual allegations of the complaint to be true and draw all reasonable inferences in 26

27 1 While Plaintiffs do not allege that any specific data of this kind was collected from Jackson, they 1 favor of the nonmoving party.” Usher v. City of Los Angeles, 828 F.2d 556, 561 (9th Cir. 2 1987). “Courts must consider the complaint in its entirety, as well as other sources courts 3 ordinarily examine when ruling on Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss, in particular, 4 documents incorporated into the complaint by reference, and matters of which a court may 5 take judicial notice.” Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 322 6 (2007). 7 Claims for fraud must meet the pleading standard of Federal Rule of Civil 8 Procedure 9(b), which requires a party “alleging fraud or mistake [to] state with 9 particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake.” Rule 9(b) “requires . . . an 10 account of the time, place, and specific content of the false representations as well as the 11 identities of the parties to the misrepresentations.” Swartz v. KPMG LLP, 476 F.3d 756, 12 764 (9th Cir. 2007) (cleaned up). “This means that averments of fraud must be 13 accompanied by the who, what, when, where, and how of the misconduct charged.” In re 14 Google Assistant Priv. Litig., 546 F. Supp. 3d 945, 955 (N.D. Cal. 2021) (internal 15 quotation marks omitted). 16 If a court dismisses a complaint for failure to state a claim, it should “freely give 17 leave” to amend “when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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Hammerling v. Google LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hammerling-v-google-llc-cand-2022.