[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32293-32295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14865]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 182 3100]
ReadyTech Corporation; Analysis 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 to Aid Public Comment describes both
the allegations in the 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 August 1, 2018.
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: ``ReadyTech
Corporation'' on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/readytechconsent by following the
[[Page 32294]]
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment
on paper, write ``ReadyTech; File No. 1823100'' 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 D), Washington, DC 20580; or deliver your comment
to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution
Center, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington,
DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Monique Einhorn (202-326-2575), Bureau
of Consumer Protection, 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 a 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 July 2, 2018), on the World Wide Web, at
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before August 1, 2018.
Write ``ReadyTech; File No. 1823100'' 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 website, at https://www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments.
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/readytechconsent 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 website.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``ReadyTech;
File No. 1823100'' 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 D),
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 D), Washington, DC
20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by
courier or overnight service.
Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC
website at https://www.ftc.gov, you are solely responsible for making
sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, your comment should not include any
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else'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, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by
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)--including in particular competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). 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). Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has
been posted on the public FTC website--as legally required by FTC Rule
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website,
unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements
for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel
grants that request.
Visit the FTC website 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 August 1, 2018. For information on the
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the
Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
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
ReadyTech Corporation (``ReadyTech'').
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 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 ReadyTech made to consumers concerning its participation in the
Privacy Shield framework agreed upon by the U.S. and the European Union
(``EU''). The Privacy Shield framework allows U.S. companies to
transfer data outside the EU consistent with EU law. To join the EU-
U.S. Privacy Shield framework, 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 as providing ``adequate'' privacy protection. These
principles include notice; choice; accountability for onward transfer;
security; data integrity and purpose limitation; access; and recourse,
enforcement, and liability. Commerce maintains a public website,
https://www.privacyshield.gov/list, where it posts the names of
companies that have self-certified to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
framework. The listing of companies indicates whether their self-
certification is current. Companies are required to re-certify every
year in order to retain their status as current members
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of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework.
ReadyTech provides online and instructor-led training. According to
the Commission's complaint, ReadyTech has set forth on its website,
www.readytech.com/policies/privacy-policy/, privacy policies and
statements about its practices, including statements related to the
status of its participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework.
The Commission's complaint alleges that ReadyTech deceptively
represented that it was actively in the process of certifying
compliance with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework when, in fact,
ReadyTech never completed the necessary steps to finalize its
application, and was not certified to participate in the EU-U.S.
Privacy Shield framework.
Part I of the proposed order prohibits ReadyTech 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 EU-
U.S. Privacy Shield framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield
framework.
Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and
compliance provisions. Part II requires acknowledgement of the order
and dissemination of the order now and in the future to persons with
responsibilities relating to the subject matter of the order. Part III
ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status and
mandates that ReadyTech submit an initial compliance report to the FTC.
Part IV requires ReadyTech to retain documents relating to its
compliance with the order for a five-year period.
Part V mandates that ReadyTech make available to the FTC
information or subsequent compliance reports, as requested. 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. 2018-14865 Filed 7-11-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P