2016-27266. Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information

AGENCY:

Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION:

Request for public comment; reopening for public comments.

SUMMARY:

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

DATES:

The comment period for the request for public comment published in the Federal Register on September 7, 2016 (81 FR 61632), is reopened. Comments must be received on or before November 21, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by following the Instructions for Submitting Comments part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write “Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR 314, Project No. P145407,” on your comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/​ftc/​safeguardsrulenprm 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 or Katherine McCarron, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580, [phone] or [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Comment Period Extension

On September 7, 2016 (81 FR 61632), as part of the Commission's systematic review of all current FTC rules and guides, the Commission published a Request for Comments requesting public comment on the overall costs, benefits, necessity, and regulatory impact of the Safeguards Rule, with a deadline for filing comments of November 7, 2016. On September 12, 2016 (81 FR 63435), the Commission published a Request for Public Comment on its Disposal Rule, with a deadline for comments of November 21, 2016. On October 21, 2016, the American Financial Services Association, Consumer Data Industry Association, and the National Auto Dealer Association, requested that the comment period be extended until November 21, 2016 to coincide with the comment period for Disposal Rule Request for Comments. The requesters explained that the two rules are closely related and that comments on the two rules may overlap. Therefore, having the two comment periods coincide would make it easier for commenters to provide feedback on both rules.

The Commission agrees that allowing additional time for filing comments on the Safeguards Rule would help facilitate the creation of a more complete record. In addition, extending the comment period would not harm consumers because the current Rule will remain in effect during the review process. Therefore, the Commission has decided to extend the comment period to November 21, 2016.

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 November 21, 2016. Write “Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR 314, Project No. P145407” on the 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 https://www.ftc.gov/​policy/​public-comments. 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, such as a 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 payment 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, do not include any “[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information which is . . . privileged or confidential,” as discussed 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 must follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 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 comments 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.

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://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/​ftc/​safeguardsrulenprm by following the instructions on the web-based form. If this document 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 “Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR 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.

Visit the Commission Web site at http://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 November 21, 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.

By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.