2015-30935. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Review; Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) to extend for an additional three years the current Paperwork Reduction Act (“PRA”) clearance for information collection requirements contained in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule (“COPPA Rule” or “Rule”), which will expire on February 29, 2016.

DATES:

Comments must be filed by January 8, 2016.

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 “COPPA Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P155408” on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/​ftc/​coppapra2,, by following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, 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:

Requests for additional information should be addressed to Miry Kim, Attorney, [phone], Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: COPPA Rule, 16 CFR part 312.

OMB Control Number: 3084-0117.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.

Abstract: On September 25, 2015, the FTC sought public comment on the information collection requirements associated with subpart N. 80 FR 57818 (“September 25, 2015 Federal Register Notice”). No relevant comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., the FTC is providing a second opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule.

The COPPA Rule, 16 CFR part 312, requires commercial Web sites to provide notice and obtain parents' consent before collecting, using, and/or disclosing personal information from children under age 13, with limited exceptions. The COPPA Rule contains certain statutorily-required notice requirements that apply to operators of any Web site or online service directed to children, and operators of any Web site or online service with actual knowledge of collecting personal information from children. Covered operators must: Provide online notice and direct notice to parents of how they collect, use, and disclose children's personal information; obtain the prior consent of the child's parent in order to engage in such collection, use, and disclosure, with limited exceptions; provide reasonable means for the parent to obtain access to the information and to direct its deletion; and, establish procedures that protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of personal information collected from children.

Burden Statement ^[1]

1. Estimated annual hours burden: 17,500 hours

(a) New entrant web operators' disclosure burden: 16,800 hours

(b) Safe harbor applicant reporting requirements: 100 hours, rounded (for an estimated one additional safe harbor applicant)

(c) Annual audit and report for safe harbor programs: 800 hours

(d) Safe harbor program recordkeeping requirements: 0 or minimal

2. Estimated annual labor costs: $5,342,500

(a) New entrant web operators' disclosure burden: $5,297,600

(b) Safe harbor applicant reporting requirements: $18,500

(c) Annual audit and report for safe harbor programs: $26,400

(d) Safe harbor program recordkeeping requirements: $0 or marginal

3. Estimated annual non-labor costs: $0

Request for Comments

You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before January 8, 2016. Write “COPPA Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. 155408” 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 doesn't include any sensitive health information, like medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, don't 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, don't 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)).^[2] Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest.

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/​coppapra2,, by following the instructions on the web-based form. When 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 “COPPA Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. 155408” on your comment and on the envelope, and mail it 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.

Comments on the information collection requirements subject to review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail, however, are subject to delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, comments instead should be sent by facsimile to [phone].

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 January 8, 2016. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see http://www.ftc.gov/​ftc/​privacy.htm.

David C. Shonka,

Principal Deputy General Counsel.

Footnotes

1.  This discussion and the associated burden estimates concern strictly recurring compliance obligations under the COPPA Rule. Details underlying the estimates within this Burden Statement can be found in the September 25, 2015 Federal Register Notice.

2.  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), CFR 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).