2019-10910. Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information

AGENCY:

Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION:

Extension of deadline for submission of public comments.

SUMMARY:

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) is extending the deadline for filing public comments on its recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information (“Safeguards Rule” or “Rule”).

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before August 2, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by following the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write “Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR part 314, Project No. P145407,” on your comment and file your comment online at https://www.regulations.gov 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 B), 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 B), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Lincicum (202-326-2773), Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Comment Period Extension

On April 4, 2019, the Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Safeguards Rule (84 FR 13158), with a deadline for filing comments of June 3, 2019. On April 23, 2019, the National Automobile Dealers Association and the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association requested that the comment period be extended for 90 days, until September 1, 2019, in order to give commenters sufficient time to respond to the extensive requests for comment found in the Notice. On the same day, EDUCAUSE, which represents members of the information technology field in higher education, requested a 60-day extension, until August 2, for the same reason. On April 26, 2019, the American Financial Services Association requested a 90-day extension.

The Commission agrees that allowing additional time for filing comments on the Safeguards Rule would help facilitate the creation of a more complete record. The Commission has therefore decided to extend the comment period for 60 days, to August 2, 2019. Although some requesters asked for a 90-day extension, the proposed rule was announced and made available on the Commission website on March 5, 30 days before it was published in the Federal Register, and the Commission provided a 60-day period for comment rather than 30 days. Thus, the deadline of August 2, 2019, is four months after the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register, and five months after the proposed rule was first announced on the Commission's website. A 60-day extension provides commenters adequate time to consider the proposed rule while not unduly delaying the rulemaking process.

II. Request for Comment

You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before August 2, 2019. Write “Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR part 314, Project No. 145407” on the comment. Your comment, including your name and your state, will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including the https://www.regulations.gov website.

Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your comment online. To make sure that the Commission considers your online comment, you must file it at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the web-based form.

If you file your comment on paper, write “Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR part 314, Project No. P145407” 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 B), 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 B), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, please submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.

Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible website, https://www.regulations.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. Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has been posted on the https://www.regulations.gov website, we cannot redact or remove your comment from the 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 Commission website at https://www.ftc.gov to read this document 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 2, 2019. 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.

By direction of the Commission.

April J. Tabor,

Acting Secretary.