[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8985-8987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-4613]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Privacy Act; System of Records

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION: Notice of proposed new Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: The FTC proposes a new system of records subject to the 
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. This system, if adopted, would include 
telephone numbers and other information pertaining to individuals who 
have informed the Commission that they do not wish to receive 
telemarketing calls. System records would be disclosed to telemarketers 
so they may comply with the do-not-call provisions of the Commission's 
Telemarketing Sales Rule.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by March 29, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the Office of the Secretary, Federal 
Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580, 
``Telemarketing Rulemaking--Comment,'' FTC File No. R411011. Please 
indicate that your comment pertains to ``Proposed Privacy Act System, 
Do-Not-Call Registry-FTC.'' Comments may also be submitted by 
electronic mail to [email protected]. The Commission will make this notice 
and, to the extent possible, all papers and comments received in 
electronic form in response to this notice available to the public 
through its Web site on the Internet: www.ftc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Tang, Attorney, Office of the 
General Counsel, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20580, (202) 326-2447, [email protected]. For information about the 
proposed amendments to the Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule 
relating to this

[[Page 8986]]

proposed records system, contact Catherine Harrington-McBride, (202) 
326-2452 (email: [email protected]), Karen Leonard, (202) 326-3597 
(email: [email protected]), Michael Goodman, (202) 326-3071 (email: 
[email protected]), or Carole Danielson, (202) 326-3115 (email: 
[email protected]), Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, 
as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the FTC is publishing this notice of a 
proposed new agency system of records, to be designated as FTC-IV-3, 
``Do-Not-Call Registry System-FTC.'' The system is intended to improve 
enforcement of and compliance with the requirements of the Commission's 
Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR Part 310, which the Commission is 
currently proposing to amend. See 67 FR 4491 (Jan. 30, 2002) (proposed 
amendments).
    The purpose of the proposed records system, if adopted, would be to 
create a national registry of individuals who do not wish to receive 
telemarketing calls, and to make such information available to 
telemarketers so they may make any necessary additions, deletions, or 
other corrections to the do-not-call lists they keep in order to remain 
in compliance with the Rule. See proposed 16 CFR 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B). 
The agency intends to compile and maintain these records in a secure 
electronic database designed, developed, operated, and serviced by 
agency and/or contractor personnel bound by the restrictions of the 
Privacy Act. See 5 U.S.C. 552a(m). The system would be under the 
general supervision of the Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, 
with technical support from the Commission's Division of Information 
and Technology Management, Office of the Executive Director.
    The Commission anticipates that information collected and 
maintained in the proposed system would include, at minimum, telephone 
numbers of individuals who have notified the Commission, through 
certain means described below, that they do not wish to receive 
telemarketing calls. To the extent necessary or appropriate, other 
information collected and maintained in the system may include, for 
example: date(s) and time(s) that the individual's telephone number was 
placed on the registry; the individual's specific telemarketing 
preferences; and other identifying information that individuals may be 
asked to provide voluntarily (e.g., residential zip codes for system 
record sorting purposes).\1\
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    \1\ To the extent that the Commission intends to collect only 
basic registration information from individuals, such activity is 
exempt from review or approval by the Office of Management and 
Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3518. See 5 
CFR 1320.3(h)(1).
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    The agency expects to use automated methods to collect this 
information. These methods may involve, for example, a dial-in 
telephone system that relies on interactive voice response (``IVR'' or 
``telephone menu'') technology to answer incoming calls from 
individuals, coupled with automatic number identification (``ANI'' or 
``caller identification'') technology to verify the telephone number 
from which an individual is dialing before adding that number to the 
registry.
    Likewise, the agency expects to use automated methods, in whole or 
part, to process requests from individuals seeking access to their 
records in the system. For example, such individuals may be seeking to 
confirm whether they previously registered their phone numbers with the 
Commission, to delete their numbers from the registry in order to 
permit telemarketing calls again, to modify their specific 
telemarketing preferences to the extent the system maintains such data, 
etc. In these cases, individuals will likely be asked to provide 
certain additional personal identifying information (e.g., name and 
postal or e-mail address) in order for the agency to acknowledge their 
access requests in writing.\2\
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    \2\ 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(2)(A) (acknowledgment of requests). 
Identifying information submitted by individuals in connection with 
their requests would be treated and maintained as part of the 
Privacy Act requests and appeals system, and not the Do-Not-Call 
Registry system. See 57 FR 45678, 45701 (Oct. 2, 1992) (FTC system 
of records pertaining to Privacy Act requests and appeals), full 
text available at http://www.ftc.gov/foia/92sysnot-web.pdf.
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    As described below, system records would be subject to appropriate 
safeguards to prevent unauthorized disclosure or tampering. The 
Commission is soliciting comment on whether telephone numbers or other 
information that may be maintained in the registry should be 
automatically deleted by the system after a certain period of time, 
even when the individual does not affirmatively delete such information 
from the system, or whether some other retention schedule or approach 
should be adopted.
    Once the system is established, system records would be routinely 
disclosed to telemarketers or their authorized agents for purposes of 
correcting or supplementing their do-not-call lists, as noted earlier, 
so that individuals who have registered with the Commission do not 
receive unwanted telemarketing calls.\3\ These disclosures are 
authorized by the Privacy Act, to the extent such disclosures are 
consistent with the purpose for which the Commission would be 
establishing the proposed system of records. See 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(7), 
(b)(3) (``routine use''). In addition, the Commission intends that 
system records would be subject to certain ``routine uses'' that are 
generally applicable to other FTC records systems and are intended to 
facilitate Commission enforcement, administration, and compliance under 
applicable laws, statutes and orders.\4\ These ``routine uses'' 
include, but are not limited to, the use of records, where appropriate, 
in law enforcement investigations or proceedings conducted by the 
Commission or by other agencies or authorities (e.g., to determine 
whether a telemarketer is complying with the do-not-call provisions of 
the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule), as well as other regulatory or 
compliance matters or proceedings.\5\ Individuals should further be 
aware that Privacy Act records, like other agency records, may be 
subject to disclosure pursuant to court orders, requests filed by 
members of the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),\6\ 
official requests by Congress or the General Accounting Office, and 
other uses and

[[Page 8987]]

disclosures authorized by the Privacy Act. See generally 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b).
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    \3\ Although the Commission may provide data to telemarketers 
electronically, this activity would not fall under the definition of 
a Privacy Act ``matching program,'' 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(8), or the 
provisions of the Act applicable to such programs, because the data 
would not involve payroll or other matters covered by such programs.
    \4\ See 57 FR at 45706 (Appendix I to FTC system notice), cited 
supra note 2.
    \5\ These routine uses, to the extent they are discussed in 
Appendix I, see supra note 4, are also discussed in the routine uses 
proposed for this system and described in this notice infra. To the 
extent these uses involve the sharing of records with other agencies 
or authorities, the Commission may, where feasible and appropriate, 
redact or otherwise obtain confidentiality agreements, protective 
orders, or make other arrangements in order to protect against the 
disclosure of personally identifiable information. Such information-
sharing is subject to applicable procedures set forth in the 
Commission's Rules of Practice (see, e.g., 16 CFR 4.11) and are 
intended to be ``routine uses'' under subsection (b)(3) of the 
Privacy Act (i.e., consistent with the purpose for which the 
information is collected), and may be in addition to disclosures 
that the head of another agency may formally request for law 
enforcement purposes under the separate authority of subsection 
(b)(7) of the Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(7).
    \6\ Although Privacy Act records can become the subject of a 
FOIA request, the FOIA does not mandate disclosure of such records 
if it would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal 
privacy. See 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6); Department of the Air Force v. 
Rose, 425 U.S. 352 (1976).
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    Accordingly, the Commission seeks public comment on the proposed 
system of records as described above, including comment on which 
methods of collecting the do-not-call data from individuals would be 
most convenient, reliable, and appropriate, including the potential 
costs of such methods for the government, telemarketers, and the 
public; means for verifying the identity or telephone number of the 
individual who wishes to place that telephone number on the registry; 
the length of time that such records should be retained before they are 
deleted; suitable alternatives for providing written acknowledgments of 
requests to access system records; how much information is necessary or 
appropriate to maintain in the system; the ``routine uses'' proposed 
for these records; and any other issues raised by the proposed system.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), the Commission is providing notice of 
this proposal to the appropriate committees of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, and to the Office of Management and 
Budget.
FTC-IV-3

System Name:
Do-Not-Call Registry System--FTC (FTC-IV-3).
Security Classification:
    Not applicable.

System Location:
    Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, 
DC 20580. System records may be maintained, in whole or part, off-site 
by contractors.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    Individuals who notify the Commission that they do not wish to 
receive telemarketing calls.

Categories of Records in the System:
    Telephone numbers of individuals who do not wish to receive 
telemarketing calls; the system may also include the date and/or time 
that the telephone number was placed on or removed from the registry, 
the individual's telemarketing preferences, or other information that 
the individual may be asked to provide voluntarily.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq., Telemarketing 
and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act, 15 U.S.C. 6101-6108.

Purpose(s):
    To maintain records of the telephone numbers of individuals who do 
not wish to receive telemarketing calls; to disclose such records to 
telemarketers and their agents in order for them to reconcile their do-
not-call lists with the registry and comply with the do-not-call 
provisions of the Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR Part 
310; to enable the Commission to determine whether a telemarketer is 
complying with the Rule; to provide statistical data that may lead to 
or be incorporated into law enforcement investigations and litigation; 
or for other law enforcement, regulatory or informational purposes.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purposes of such Uses:
    Records from this system may be disclosed as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b), and, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3), in accordance with 
the routine uses announced by the Commission in Appendix I of its 
system notice applicable to all other agency Privacy Act systems of 
records (57 FR 45678). Additional routine uses for records in this 
system are as follows, provided that no routine use specified either 
herein or in Appendix I shall be construed to limit or waive any other 
routine use published for this system:
    a. Records may be made available or referred on an automatic or 
other basis to telemarketers and their agents for the purpose of 
determining or verifying that an individual does not wish to receive 
telemarketing calls;
    b. Records may be made available or referred on an automatic or 
other basis to other federal, state, or local government authorities 
for regulatory, compliance, or law enforcement purposes.

Disclosure to Consumer Reporting Agencies:
    Not applicable.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    Stored in a computer database maintained on magnetic disks and 
tape, or other electronic systems determined by the Commission in 
consultation with staff or contractors.

Retrievability:
    Indexed by area code and phone number of individuals who have 
informed the Commission that they do not wish to receive telemarketing 
calls. May also be retrieved by other data, if any, compiled or 
otherwise maintained with the record.

Safeguards:
    Access to computerized records by electronic security precautions. 
Access generally restricted to those agency personnel and contractors 
whose responsibilities require access, or to approved telemarketers or 
their agents.

Retention and Disposal:
    Automated information retained indefinitely, until deleted pursuant 
to request by the subject individual, or deleted automatically after 
certain period of time, to be determined by the Commission.

System Manager and Address:
    Do-Not-Call Registry Program Manager, Division of Marketing 
Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.

Notification Procedure:
    To obtain notification of whether the system contains a record 
pertaining to that individual (i.e., the individual's telephone 
number), individuals may be required to use a dial-in registry or other 
system that will enable the identification and verification of their 
telephone numbers. Individuals filing written requests pursuant to 16 
CFR 4.13 will be acknowledged and directed to use this system.

Record Access Procedures:
    See notification procedures above.

Contesting Record Procedures:
    See notification procedures above. Where an individual believes the 
system has erroneously recorded or omitted information that is 
collected and maintained by the system, the individual will be afforded 
the opportunity to register, change, or delete that information after 
the automated system identifies and verifies the telephone number from 
which the individual is calling.

Record Source Categories:
    Individuals who inform the Commission through the procedures 
established by the Commission that they do not wish to receive 
telemarketing calls.

Exemptions Claimed for the System:
    None.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-4613 Filed 2-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P