[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 43 (Thursday, March 5, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10916-10917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5610]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Request for Industry Guidelines and Principles

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice requesting industry guidelines and principles regarding 
online information practices.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission is currently preparing a report 
to Congress on the effectiveness of self-regulation as a means of 
protecting consumer privacy online. The Commission will report on the 
extent to which commercial Web sites, including sites directed to 
children, are disclosing their information practices and offering 
consumers choice regarding the online collection and use of their 
personal information. The Commission will also report its assessment of 
existing industry guidelines and principles on the online collection 
and use of consumers' personal information. The Commission requests 
that interested trade associations and industry groups voluntarily 
submit copies of their information practice guidelines and principles 
for inclusion in the Commission's report.

DATES: Copies of guidelines and principles must be submitted to the 
Commission on or before March 31, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Six paper copies of each set of guidelines or principles 
should be submitted to: Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-
159, Sixth Street & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20580. 
Submissions should be captioned as ``Privacy Guidelines 1998-P954807.''
    To enable prompt and efficient review and dissemination of the 
guidelines or principles to the public, they also should be submitted, 
if possible, in

[[Page 10917]]

electronic form, on either a 5\1/4\ or a 3\1/2\ inch computer disk, 
with a disk label stating the name of the submitter and the name and 
version of the word processing program used to create the document. 
Programs based on DOS or Windows are preferred. Files from other 
operating systems should be submitted in ASCII text format to be 
accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Martha Landesberg, Attorney, Division of Credit Practices, Federal 
Trade Commission, Sixth Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, 
D.C. 20580, telephone 202-326-2825, or Toby Milgrom Levin, Attorney, 
Division of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission, Sixth 
Street & Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580, telephone 
202-326-3156.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Over the past three years the Federal Trade 
Commission has held a series of public workshops devoted to the 
consumer protection issues raised by the proliferation of consumers' 
personal information on the Internet. Workshop participants have 
included members of the online business community, privacy and consumer 
advocates, and experts in interactive technology. In June 1996, 
workshop participants discussed a wide array of subjects, including the 
collection and use of personal information on the World Wide Web (the 
``Web''); the necessary elements of self-regulatory efforts to enhance 
consumer privacy online; developments in interactive technology that 
could enhance online information privacy; consumer and business 
education efforts; the role of government in protecting online 
information privacy; and the special issues raised by the online 
collection and use of information from and about children. On January 
6, 1997, the Commission published the staff report Consumer Privacy on 
the Global Information Infrastructure (1996), which summarized the 
workshop testimony.
    On March 6, 1997, the Commission published a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing a follow-up workshop and seeking written commentary 
on a number of relevant issues, including: (1) Web sites' current 
actual practices in the collection, compilation, sale, and use of 
consumers' personal information, including information about children; 
(2) current implementation of self-regulatory efforts to address online 
privacy, including proposals presented at the June 1996 Workshop; and 
(3) current design and implementation of technologies intended to 
enhance online information privacy. In June 1997, Commission staff 
convened a follow-up workshop designed to further develop the record on 
these topics. The transcripts of the 1996 and 1997 workshops, the staff 
report Consumer Privacy on the Global Information Infrastructure 
(1996), as well as the commentary submitted in connection with the 1997 
workshop, are posted on the Commission's Web site at http://
www.ftc.gov.
    The 1997 workshop demonstrated that consumers are deeply concerned 
about the privacy and security of their personal information in the 
online environment. Research presented at the workshop indicates that 
consumers are looking for greater protections. The workshop testimony 
showed that members of the online industry are aware of the need to 
address consumers' concerns. Throughout the series of Commission 
workshops on these issues, the online industry has argued that self-
regulation is the most efficient and effective means of creating online 
privacy protections. Trade association representatives have made 
commitments to develop privacy policies as guidance for their members, 
and to encourage their members to post their own information practices 
on their Web sites.
    The Commission is currently preparing a report to Congress on 
whether industry proposals demonstrated in the workshops have been 
translated into broader industry progress toward effective self-
regulation. In March 1998, Committee staff will survey commercial Web 
sites to determine the extent to which these sites, including sites 
directed to children, are disclosing their information practices and 
offering consumers choice regarding the collection and use of their 
personal information online. Staff will also assess existing industry 
guidelines and principles regarding the online collection and use of 
consumers' personal information. Staff requests that interested trade 
associations and industry groups submit their guidelines and principles 
on or before March 31, 1998 for inclusion in the report. The Commission 
will report its findings to Congress in June 1998.

Availability of Submissions

    All guidelines and principles will be available for public 
inspection in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 
Sec. 552, and Commission regulations, 16 CFR part 4.9, on normal 
business days between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the 
Public Reference Room 130, Federal Trade Commission, Sixth Street & 
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The Commission will 
make this notice and, to the extent technically possible, all 
submissions received in response to this notice, available to the 
public through the Internet at the following address: http://
www.ftc.gov. The Commission cannot currently receive submissions 
responding to this notice over the Internet.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. Secs. 41 et seq.

    By direction of the Commission, Commissioner Azcuernaga not 
participating.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-5610 Filed 3-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M