This is a new one for me and doing some quick searching didn't produce and informative results pertaining to my questions. I did find information regarding the case which dates back to 2014.
Today I received an email from Google stating that they are being ordered by a state court to produce information relating to my AdSense account. This includes my name, address and telephone number. Judging by the email I assume that I am not the only one and this is more of a blanket scenario.
Here is the email:
Notice About Your AdSense Account
Hello,
Recently, Google was ordered by a California state court to produce information relating to your AdSense account. This email serves as notice to you that Google will comply with that court order and produce the information unless you make a formal objection to the court that issued the order, as described below.
Please note that this notice has been sent to you by a no-reply email address. Replies sent to [no reply alias] will not be opened, read, or reviewed.
The court order was issued in a lawsuit entitled Ogtanyan v. Google Inc., in the Superior Court of the State of California, Santa Clara County, Case No. 114-CV-259301. This lawsuit was filed against Google by a former AdSense publisher named Peter Ogtanyan, who is challenging Google’s termination of his AdSense account. As part of his lawsuit against Google, Mr. Ogtanyan requested that Google produce to him the name, address and telephone number of AdSense publishers whose accounts were terminated between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014, but who successfully appealed termination through Google’s internal appeals procedure and received payment of earnings that had been withheld. It appears from our records that you are a publisher who falls in this category.
Over Google’s objection, the California court ruled that Google must provide this information to Mr. Ogtanyan. It is possible that Mr. Ogtanyan’s lawyer will use this information to contact you, but this does not make you a party to this case. The court also issued a protective order in this case, and Google will designate your information as highly confidential. This designation prohibits Mr. Ogtanyan and his lawyer from using your information for any purpose outside of his lawsuit against Google. It also limits the persons with whom Mr. Ogtanyan and his lawyer may share your information.
If you do not want Google to produce your AdSense account information to Mr. Ogtanyan, you must (1) file a motion to quash or other type of formal objection in this lawsuit (Case No. 114-CV-259301) in the Superior Court of the State of California, Santa Clara County; and (2) provide a copy of the file-stamped motion or objection to us by emailing it to Google’s lawyer at nicole[email protected] by 5 p.m. Pacific Time on May 9, 2016.
Unfortunately, Google cannot give you legal advice about this matter. Regards, Google Legal Investigations Support
Questions:
- Do my assumptions seem accurate in which this is not unique to my information and more of a blanket email to every Adsense publisher which fits the descriptions within the email?
- Does Google marking this information as "highly confidential" actually mean anything once it is provided?
- Should i get legal advice? (Hard without money for said advice).