[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 53 (Wednesday, March 19, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15271-15272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06035]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 312
RIN 3084-AB20
Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule Safe Harbor Proposed
Self-Regulatory Guidelines; iKeepSafe COPPA Safe Harbor Program
Application
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice announcing submission of proposed ``safe harbor''
guidelines and requesting public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission publishes this notice and request
for public comment concerning proposed self-regulatory guidelines
submitted by the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (``iKeepSafe''), under
the safe harbor provision of the Children's Online Privacy Protection
Rule.
DATES: Written comments must be received by April 21, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``iKeepSafe Application
for Safe Harbor, Project No. 145402'' on your comment, and file your
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ikeepsafeapp
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 H), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristin Cohen, Attorney, (202) 326-
2276, Peder Magee, Attorney, (202) 326-3538, or Miry Kim, Attorney,
(202) 326-3622, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Federal
Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Section A. Background
On October 20, 1999, the Commission issued its final Rule pursuant
to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. 6501 et
seq., which became effective on April 21, 2000.\1\ On December 19,
2012, the Commission amended the Rule, and these amendments became
effective on July 1, 2013.\2\ The Rule requires certain Web site
operators to post privacy policies and provide notice, and to obtain
verifiable parental consent, prior to collecting, using, or disclosing
personal information from children under the age of 13.\3\ The Rule
contains a ``safe harbor'' provision enabling industry groups or others
to submit to the Commission for approval self-regulatory guidelines
that would implement the Rule's protections.\4\
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\1\ 64 FR 59888 (1999).
\2\ 78 FR 3972 (2013).
\3\ 16 CFR part 312.
\4\ See 16 CFR 312.11; 78 FR at 3995-96, 4012-13.
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Pursuant to Section 312.11 of the Rule, iKeepSafe has submitted
proposed self-regulatory guidelines to the Commission for approval. The
text of the proposed guidelines is available on the Commission's Web
site, at www.ftc.gov.
Section B. Questions on the Proposed Guidelines
The Commission is seeking comment on various aspects of the
proposed guidelines, and is particularly interested in receiving
comment on the questions that follow. These questions are designed to
assist the public and should not be construed as a limitation on the
issues on which public comment may be submitted. Each response should
cite the number and subsection of the question being answered. For all
comments submitted, please provide any relevant data, statistics, or
any other evidence, upon which those comments are based.
1. Please provide comments on any or all of the provisions in the
proposed guidelines. For each provision commented on please describe
(a) the
[[Page 15272]]
impact of the provision(s), including benefits and costs, if any, and
(b) what alternatives, if any, iKeepSafe should consider, as well as
the costs and benefits of those alternatives.
2. Do the provisions of the proposed guidelines governing
operators' information practices provide ``the same or greater
protections for children'' as those contained in Sections 312.2-312.10
of the Rule? \5\ Where possible, please cite the relevant sections of
both the Rule and the proposed guidelines.
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\5\ See 16 CFR 312.11(b)(1); 78 FR at 4013.
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3. Are the mechanisms used to assess operators' compliance with the
proposed guidelines effective? \6\ If not, please describe (a) whether
and how the assessment mechanisms could be modified to satisfy the
Rule's requirements, and (b) the costs and benefits of those
modifications.
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\6\ See 16 CFR 312.11(b)(2); 78 FR at 4013.
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4. Are the incentives for operators' compliance with the proposed
guidelines effective? \7\ If not, please describe (a) whether and how
the incentives could be modified to satisfy the Rule's requirements,
and (b) the costs and benefits of those modifications.
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\7\ See 16 CFR 312.11(b)(3); 78 FR at 4013.
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5. Do the proposed guidelines provide adequate means for resolving
consumer complaints? If not, please describe (a) whether and how the
dispute resolution process could be modified to resolve consumer
complaints adequately, and (b) the costs and benefits of those
modifications.
6. Does iKeepSafe have the capability to run an effective safe
harbor program? Specifically, can iKeepSafe effectively conduct initial
and continuing assessments of operators' fitness for membership in its
program in light of its business model and technological capabilities
and mechanisms? \8\ If not, please describe (a) whether and how the
program could be modified to ensure that iKeepSafe could run it
effectively, and (b) the costs and benefits of those modifications.
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\8\ See 16 CFR 312.11(c)(1).
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Section C. Invitation To Comment
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before April 21, 2014.
Write ``iKeepSafe Application for Safe Harbor, Project No. 145402'' 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 provided 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 follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR
4.9(c).\9\ Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC
General Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest.
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\9\ 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/ikeepsafeapp, 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 ``iKeepSafe Application
for Safe Harbor, Project No. 145402'' 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 H), 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 April 21, 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.
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-06035 Filed 3-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P