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`Case 5:18-cv-07597-BLF Document 236 Filed 05/04/21 Page 1 of 2
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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`JERI CONNOR,
`Plaintiff,
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`v.
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`QUORA, INC.,
`Defendant.
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`Case No. 18-cv-07597 BLF (NC)
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`ORDER ON DISCOVERY DISPUTE
`AS TO FORENSIC INSPECTION OF
`PLAINTIFF’S ELECTRONIC
`DEVICES
`Re: ECF 235
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`In this negligence case arising from a data breach, defendant Quora moves to
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`compel a forensic examination of plaintiff Connor’s devices that she used to access the
`Quora platform. ECF 235. Quora states that it seeks to examine plaintiff’s digital
`“hygiene” on her devices, and asserts that the search is relevant to causation, comparative
`negligence, and class certification. Connor objects that the request is untimely,
`cumulative, irrelevant, overly intrusive, and not proportional to the needs of the case under
`Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1).
`The document request at issue, Quora RFP No. 15, seeks “ALL PHYSICAL
`HARDWARE OR DEVICES YOU have used to access the QUORA PLATFORM,
`including but not limited to the mobile phone(s), tablets, laptops or other computers or
`devices that YOU used to access the Quora platform.” As drafted, Quora’s request is
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`NorthernDistrictofCalifornia
`United States District Court
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`Case 5:18-cv-07597-BLF Document 236 Filed 05/04/21 Page 2 of 2
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`dramatically overbroad, intrusive, and not proportional to the needs of the case under Rule
`26.
`In the discovery letter brief, Quora suggests that it would agree to adopt “reasonable
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`protocols” like those adopted in the Anthem data breach case, No. 15-md-02617 LHK,
`including the use of a third-party forensic examiner. ECF 235 at p. 4. But Quora’s
`discovery brief is short on details as to what it is proposing. What does it want to search
`for on the devices? Using what methods? Who would do the search? Where? Who would
`pay for it? What access and control will plaintiff have over the search?
`Without these curbs to limit the burden and expense of the production, the proposed
`search is a fishing expedition that is not proportional to the needs of the case. Less
`burdensome discovery methods could have been used to learn the information Quora now
`seeks. Quora’s request is therefore denied.
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`IT IS SO ORDERED.
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`Dated: May 4, 2021
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`_____________________________________
`NATHANAEL M. COUSINS
`United States Magistrate Judge
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`NorthernDistrictofCalifornia
`United States District Court
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