DeMarchi, Virginia K., United States Magistrate Judge
This Document Relates To: All Actions
REDACTED ORDER RE DECEMBER 13, 2024 DISCOVERY DISPUTE RE DATA LINEAGE INFORMATION Re: Dkt. No. 726
Once again, plaintiffs ask the Court to order Meta to produce information from Meta’s [REDACTED].[1] Dkt. No. 726. Specifically, plaintiffs ask for an order requiring Meta to produce shots of the display from the [REDACTED] “for key tables identified in the litigation.” Id. at 1. The parties disagree regarding whether plaintiffs’ request for production of these screen shots will facilitate the process in which the parties are presently engaged to identify relevant and responsive data sources (i.e. the September 9, 2024 protocol, see Dkt. No. 614). The Court held a hearing on this dispute on January 15, 2025. Dkt. No. 774.
As Meta correctly observes, the Court has already considered and rejected plaintiffs’ prior requests for [REDACTED] information. See Dkt. Nos. 614, 687. Plaintiffs argue that on this occasion they are not seeking the entirety of the [REDACTED], but only a discrete number of screen shots, and so their present request imposes no undue burden on Meta. See Dkt. No. 726 at 3. In addition, plaintiffs claim that with access to the [REDACTED], they are “capable of investigating [REDACTED], that will alleviate the burden of the [REDACTED] slog”—a reference to the September 9, 2024 protocol. Id.
Plaintiffs do not dispute Meta’s contention that “one must look at the [REDACTED] within each [REDACTED] to determine the [REDACTED] and whether data in any given [REDACTED] is potentially relevant,” and that lineage information at the [REDACTED] level does not reveal whether the [REDACTED] are related in a way that is relevant to this action. Id. at 7. The September 9, 2024 protocol requires Meta to [REDACTED] plaintiffs identify, precisely so that these relevant relationships can be systematically identified. See Dkt. No. 614 at 1-3.[2]
During a lengthy discussion with the parties at the hearing, the Court attempted to discern what efficiencies, if any, might be obtained by requiring Meta to disclose screen shots of the [REDACTED]. If the Court were persuaded that disclosure of the [REDACTED] information plaintiffs seek would facilitate the parties’ efforts to identify relevant and responsive data sources, the Court would order that disclosure. But the Court is not persuaded that disclosure of the screen shots plaintiffs request would yield any efficiencies. For this reason, the Court denies the relief plaintiffs seek.
IT IS SO ORDERED.