[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25676-25677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10424]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or ``FTC'').
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The FTC plans to conduct a study to examine consumer
perception of class action notices. This is the first of two notices
required under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') seeking public
comments on proposed research before requesting Office of Management
and Budget (``OMB'') review of, and clearance for, the collection of
information discussed herein.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 6, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/classactionnoticepra online or on paper,
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Class Action Notice
Consumer Perception Study, Project No. P024210'' on your comment, and
file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/classactionnoticepra by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Class Action
Notice Consumer Perception Study, Project No. P024210'' on your comment
and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor,
Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Moore, Attorney, 202-326-2167,
Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Commission's Class Action Fairness Project strives to ensure
that class action settlements in consumer protection and competition
matters provide appropriate benefits to consumers and that class action
counsel or defendants are not inappropriately benefitting at the
expense of class members. As part of this program, the FTC monitors
class actions and files amicus briefs or intervenes in appropriate
cases; \1\ coordinates with state, federal, and private groups to
advise them and to seek suggestions on matters that merit FTC
attention; and monitors the progress of legislation and class action
rule changes.
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\1\ See e.g., FTC's Mem. of Law as Amicus Curiae, Nwabueze v.
AT&T, Inc., 3:09-cv-1529 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 30, 2013), available at
https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/nwabueze-v.att-inc./130830nwabuezeamicus.pdf; FTC's Mem. of Law as
Amicus Curiae, White v. EDebitPay, LLC, 2:11-cv-06738 (C.D. Cal.
Aug. 9, 2013), available at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/anita-white-et-al.v.edebitpay-l.l.c.et-al.no.211-cv-06738-cbm-ffm-c.d.cal-august-9-2013/130809edebitpayamicusbrief.pdf; Mot. of FTC for Leave to File Brief
as Amicus Curiae, Moore v. Verizon Commc'ns, Inc., 4:09-cv-08123
(N.D. Cal. Aug. 17, 2012), available at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/moore-v.verizon-communications-inc./120817mooreverizonamicusbrief.pdf.
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II. The FTC's Proposed Study
A. Study Description
To further these goals, the FTC plans to conduct an Internet-based
consumer research study to explore consumer perceptions of class action
notices, including whether consumers understand the options provided in
the notices and the implications of such options. The proposed Study
will gauge consumer comprehension of the options conveyed by the notice
and the implications of each option for the respondent. Specifically,
using a treatment-effect methodology, the study will examine whether
respondents receiving class action notices
[[Page 25677]]
understand the process and implications for opting out of a settlement,
the process for participating in the settlement, and the implications
of doing nothing. Notices used in the study may derive from notices
sent to class members in various nationwide class action settlements.
We plan to use the study results, along with other information such as
public comments, to guide the FTC's Class Action Fairness Project.
Having considered the costs and benefits of various data collection
methods, the FTC staff has concluded that an Internet panel with
nationwide coverage will provide the most efficient way to collect data
to meet the research objectives within a feasible budget. Thus, the FTC
proposes to collect responses from a broad spectrum of the U.S. adult
population. Participants will be drawn from an Internet panel
maintained by a commercial firm that operates the panel. All
participation will be voluntary. While the results will not be
generalizable to the U.S. population, the Commission believes that they
will provide useful insights into consumer understanding of the claims
being considered.
B. PRA Burden Analysis
Staff estimates that respondents will require, on average, 20
minutes to complete the questionnaire. Staff will pretest the
questionnaire with approximately 100 respondents to ensure that all
questions are easily understood. Allowing for an extra three minutes
for questions unique to the pretest, the pretest will total
approximately 38 hours, cumulatively (100 respondents x 23 minutes
each). Once the pretest is completed, the FTC plans to seek information
from up to 8,000 respondents for approximately 20 minutes each. Thus,
respondents will cumulatively take approximately 2,700 hours. The cost
per respondent should be negligible. Participation will not require
start up, capital, or labor expenditures.
III. Request for Comment
Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal agencies must obtain
approval from OMB for each collection of information they conduct or
sponsor. ``Collection of information'' means agency requests or
requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records,
or provide information to a third party.\2\ As required by Section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for
public comment before requesting that OMB extend the existing paperwork
clearance for the regulations noted herein.
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\2\ 44 U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c).
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Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites
comments on: (1) Whether the reporting requirements are necessary,
including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the
accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the methodology and
assumptions used are valid; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before July 6, 2015.
Write ``Class Action Notice Consumer Perception Study, Project No.
P024210'' 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 you have to follow the procedure explained
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\3\ Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest.
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\3\ 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/classactionnoticepra, 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 ``Class Action Notice
Consumer Perception Study, Project No. P024210'' on your comment and on
the envelope and mail your comment to the following address: Federal
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,
Suite CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment
to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite
5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024. 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. 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 July 6, 2015.
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. 2015-10424 Filed 5-4-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P