[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4716-4717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01746]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 142-3028]
Level 3 Communications, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order
To Aid Public Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.
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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or
practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid
Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint
and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--
that would settle these allegations.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 20, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/levelthreeconsent online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Level 3
Communications, LLC.--Consent Agreement; File No. 142-3028'' on your
comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/levelthreeconsent https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fidelitynationalconsent by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment
on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex
D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Lyon, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, (202-326-2344), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34,
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The
following Analysis To Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained
from the FTC Home Page (for January 21, 2014), on the World Wide Web,
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm. A paper copy can be obtained
from the FTC Public Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-
2222.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before February 20,
2014. Write ``Level 3 Communications, LLC.--Consent Agreement; File No.
142-3028'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your
state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding,
including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web
site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web
site.
Because your comment will be made public, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number,
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive health information, like medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole
discretion,
[[Page 4717]]
grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest.
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\1\ In particular, the written request for confidential
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/levelthreeconsent by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you
also may file a comment through that Web site.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Level 3 Communications,
LLC.--Consent Agreement; File No. 142-3028'' on your comment and on the
envelope, and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your
paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.
Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that
it receives on or before February 20, 2014. You can find more
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has
accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement applicable to
Level 3 Communications, LLC (``Level 3'').
The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons.
Comments received during this period will become part of the public
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the
agreement and the comments received, and will decide whether it should
withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final
the agreement's proposed order.
This matter concerns alleged false or misleading representations
that Level 3 made to consumers concerning its participation in the Safe
Harbor privacy frameworks agreed upon by the U.S. and the European
Union (``EU'') (``U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework'') and the U.S. and
Switzerland (``U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework''). It is among several
actions the Commission is bringing to enforce the promises that
companies make when they certify that they participate in the U.S.-EU
Safe Harbor Framework and/or U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework (``Safe
Harbor Frameworks''). The Safe Harbor Frameworks allow U.S. companies
to transfer data outside the EU and Switzerland consistent with
European law. To join the Safe Harbor Frameworks, a company must self-
certify to the U.S. Department of Commerce (``Commerce'') that it
complies with a set of principles and related requirements that have
been deemed by the European Commission and Switzerland as providing
``adequate'' privacy protection. These principles include notice,
choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and
enforcement. Commerce maintains a public Web site, www.export.gov/safeharbor, where it posts the names of companies that have self-
certified to the Safe Harbor Frameworks. The listing of companies
indicates whether their self-certification is ``current'' or ``not
current.'' Companies are required to re-certify every year in order to
retain their status as ``current'' members of the Safe Harbor
Frameworks.
Level 3 is an international communications provider and one of the
six largest internet service providers in the world. According to the
Commission's complaint, from June 2001 until November 2013, Level 3 set
forth on its Web site, www.level3.com, privacy policies and statements
about its practices, including statements related to its participation
in the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor
Framework.
The Commission's complaint alleges that Level 3 falsely represented
that it was a ``current'' participant in the Safe Harbor Frameworks
when, in fact, from June 2012 until November 2013, Level 3 was not a
``current'' participant in the Safe Harbor Frameworks. The Commission's
complaint alleges that in June 2001, Level 3 submitted a self-
certification to the Safe Harbor Frameworks. Level 3 did not renew its
self-certification in June 2012 and Commerce subsequently updated Level
3's status to ``not current'' on its public Web site.
Part I of the proposed order prohibits Level 3 from making
misrepresentations about its membership in any privacy or security
program sponsored by the government or any other self-regulatory or
standard-setting organization, including, but not limited to, the U.S.-
EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework.
Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and
compliance provisions. Part II requires Level 3 to retain documents
relating to its compliance with the order for a five-year period. Part
III requires dissemination of the order now and in the future to
persons with responsibilities relating to the subject matter of the
order. Part IV ensures notification to the FTC of changes in company
status. Part V mandates that Level 3 submit an initial compliance
report to the FTC, and make available to the FTC subsequent reports.
Part VI is a provision ``sunsetting'' the order after twenty (20)
years, with certain exceptions.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the proposed complaint or order or to modify the
order's terms in any way.
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-01746 Filed 1-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P