[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37491-37494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15910]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Privacy Act Notice

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION: Proposed notice of Privacy Act system amendments.

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SUMMARY: The FTC is establishing a Privacy Act system of records that 
will include telephone numbers and other information of individuals who 
do not wish to receive telemarketing calls from telemarketers, sellers 
or agents covered by the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. This notice 
proposes amendments that describe how the system will apply to personal 
information, if any, collected from or compiled on telemarketers, 
sellers, or their agents in order to access the system.

DATES: Comments, if any, must be received July 24, 2003. Unless 
revisions are made, this system notice shall become final and effective 
August 8, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments, if any, 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 ``Privacy Act System 
Amendments, National Do Not Call Registry--FTC.'' (Alternatively, you 
may submit your comment by electronic mail to [email protected], except as 
provided below.) 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, 
http://www.ftc.gov. If your comment includes information that you 
believe is confidential, you must send it to the above postal address, 
not by e-mail, and you must include a specific request for confidential 
treatment that states the legal or factual basis for your claim and 
identifies the information you believe is confidential. See Commission 
Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). The Commission's General Counsel will grant 
or deny your request based on applicable law, regulation, and the 
public interest. Id.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this Privacy Act 
notice, 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 National Do Not Call Registry, 
contact David Torok, Attorney, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau 
of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3075, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Elsewhere in today's Federal Register, 
pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the 
Commission is publishing in final form its system notice for a new 
agency system of records, the ``National Do Not Call Registry System--
FTC'' (FTC-IV-3).
    The new system will collect and maintain the telephone numbers of 
individuals who do not wish to receive telemarketing calls from 
telemarketers, sellers, and agents, pursuant to the Commission's 
Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR Part 310, as amended. See 68 FR 4580 
(Jan. 29, 2003) (final Rule amendments). The system is intended to help 
the FTC implement and enforce the do-not-call provisions of the Rule.
    The Privacy Act notice that the FTC is publishing for this system 
addresses the privacy of information that is submitted by or generated 
on individuals who choose to place their telephone numbers in the 
system so as not to receive telemarketing calls. Telemarketers, 
sellers, and their agents

[[Page 37492]]

will be separately required, however, to provide certain information to 
establish a payment account before they may access the National Do Not 
Call Registry to check their do-not-call lists against the list of 
telephone numbers maintained in the Registry at that time, as the Rule 
requires.
    The information they submit may include, for example, the name of a 
contact person, that person's telephone number and e-mail address, a 
credit card or bank account number that, in certain cases, may be 
assigned to an individual, etc. See 68 FR 16238, 16244 (Apr. 3, 2003) 
(revised user fee proposal). This information may also be associated 
with and retrieved by other information that the system may 
automatically generate when the telemarketer, seller, or agent accesses 
the system, such as the date and time of access, or the area code(s) or 
group(s) of telephone numbers that the telemarketer, seller, or agent 
downloads from the system.
    Although the information submitted by, or that the system otherwise 
compiles on, telemarketers, sellers, and their agents may include 
information about, or could be otherwise associated with, certain 
individuals, as described above, the information pertains to such 
individuals only in a non-personal capacity (e.g., as employees, 
company officials, etc.) acting or designated to act on behalf of a 
telemarketer, seller, or agent. In the Commission's view, the 
information does not pertain to such individuals within the meaning of 
the Privacy Act, but instead pertains to the telemarketer, seller, or 
agent that was required to submit the information in order to pay for 
and obtain authorized access to the system.
    Nonetheless, to the extent, if any, the Privacy Act applies to this 
information, the Commission proposes to amend its Privacy Act notice to 
address the collection, maintenance and use of personal information, if 
any, compiled from telemarketers, sellers, or agents when they pay for 
and access the Registry. The proposed amendments are incorporated into 
the text of the notice below.
    Privacy Impact Assessment. Section 208 of the E-Government Act of 
2002, Pub. L. No. 107-347, generally requires that agencies assess the 
privacy impact of collecting personally identifiable information online 
before initiating such a collection activity or developing or procuring 
the technology to do so. Section 208 did not take effect until after 
the Commission initiated and legally adopted the Rule amendments that 
established the National Do Not Call Registry, and after the Commission 
started developing and procuring the technology for accepting do-not-
call registrations online. Nevertheless, we have assessed the privacy 
impact of the system as discussed below.

(The Commission's Chief Information Officer or other designated 
official has reviewed this assessment.)
    1. What information will we be collecting? See ``Categories of 
records'' below.
    2. Why are we collecting this information? See ``Purpose(s),'' 
``Routine Uses,'' and ``Disclosure to Consumer Reporting Agencies'' 
below.
    3. How do we intend to use the information? See ``Purpose(s),'' 
``Routine Uses,'' and ``Disclosure to Consumer Reporting Agencies'' 
below.
    4. With whom will we share the information? See ``Purpose(s),'' 
``Routine Uses,'' and ``Disclosure to Consumer Reporting Agencies'' 
below.
    5. What notice or opportunities for consent will individuals have 
about what information we collect and how we share it? This notice 
explains what information we collect from telemarketers, sellers, and 
their agents, and how we share it.
    6. How will the information be secured? See ``Safeguards'' below. 
The Web site through which telemarketers, sellers, and agents will be 
required to submit information to establish a payment account will use 
secure socket layer (SSL) encryption. Once they have submitted the 
required information, telemarketers, sellers, and agents will be 
assigned account numbers or other identifiers in order to obtain 
subsequent access to the system.
    7. Does this create a system of records subject to the Privacy Act 
of 1974, as amended? As explained above, the information to be 
collected from telemarketers, sellers, and their agents pertains to 
them, and not to any individual whose name or other personal identifier 
may be submitted as part of such information. Therefore, the Commission 
does not believe the Privacy Act applies to the collection, maintenance 
or use of the information. Nonetheless, the Commission has proposed to 
amend its Privacy Act system notice, as set forth below, to the extent, 
if any, that the Act applies to that information.
FTC-IV-3

System Name:
    National 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. Individuals whose names or other 
identifiers (e.g., e-mail addresses) are included in the information 
that telemarketers, sellers, or their agents must submit to pay for and 
obtain access to the system are covered by this system only to the 
extent, if any, that the Privacy Act applies to that information.

Categories of records in the system:
    Telephone numbers of individuals who do not wish to receive 
telemarketing calls; information automatically generated by the system, 
including date and/or time that the telephone number was placed on or 
removed from the Registry; and other information that the individual 
may be asked to provide voluntarily (such as e-mail address, if the 
individual registers through the National Do Not Call Registry Web 
site). Telemarketers, sellers, and their agents are separately required 
to submit information to pay for and obtain authorized access to the 
system, including the names of, or other identifiers that may be 
associated with, individuals (e.g., name of contact person, name of the 
person to whom the credit card is issued, e-mail address, etc.). Such 
information is not part of this system except to the extent, if any, 
that the Privacy Act applies to the agency's collection, maintenance 
and retrieval of the information.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq., Telemarketing 
and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, 15 U.S.C. 6101-6108; Do-
Not-Call Implementation Act, Pub. L. No. 108-10 (2003).

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, sellers, 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 and other law enforcement officials 
to determine whether a

[[Page 37493]]

company 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. Information submitted by or compiled on telemarketers, 
sellers, and their agents is used for purposes of fee collection, 
authorizing their access to the system, and related purposes and uses 
as described in this notice.

Routine uses of records:
    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), as may be revised and updated from time to time. 
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. Telephone numbers, but not any e-mail addresses, 
submitted by individuals may be made available or referred on an 
automatic or other basis to telemarketers, sellers, 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.
    c. Information submitted by or compiled on telemarketers, sellers, 
and their agents may be used as described in paragraph b. above, and, 
to the extent not covered by that paragraph, for payment or billing 
purposes, including referral to debt collection agencies or other 
governmental entities for collection, tax reporting, or other related 
purposes, consistent with the Privacy Act. Information that is 
submitted by or compiled on telemarketers, sellers, and their agents 
and that is incorporated into the PAY.GOV system shall also be subject 
to routine uses, if any, that may be separately published for that 
system.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    Not applicable, except for information submitted by or otherwise 
compiled on telemarketers, sellers, and their agents, which may be 
disclosed as described above.

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. For information submitted by or 
compiled on telemarketers, sellers, or their agents, records may be 
indexed and retrieved by any category of data that is submitted by or 
compiled on such telemarketers, sellers, or agents.

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, 
sellers, and their agents. (See also ``Purposes'' and ``Routine Uses'' 
above to learn how information may be used or disclosed.)

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:
    National 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 system or a 
designated Web site 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 those automated systems.
    To the extent, if any, that the Privacy Act applies to information 
submitted by or compiled on telemarketers, sellers, or their agents, 
the system provides notice (i.e., confirms) that the system is 
maintaining such information when an individual accesses the system 
using the account number that was previously assigned to the 
telemarketer, seller, or agent at the time that entity originally 
entered information into the system to establish the relevant account.

Record access procedures:
    See notification procedures above. To request access to any 
information maintained with your registration that is not available to 
you through the automated dial-in system or the designated Web site, 
you must submit your request in writing under the Commission's Rules 
to: ``Privacy Act Request, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Trade 
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580.'' See 
16 CFR 4.13. The same access procedure applies to the extent, if any, 
that the Privacy Act applies to information submitted by or compiled on 
telemarketers, sellers, or their agents, where that information is not 
made available for review or amendments when the telemarketer, seller, 
or agent accesses the system.

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, or provides other requested 
identifying information if the individual is using the designated Web 
site. To contest the accuracy of any other information maintained on 
you that is not accessible to you through the automated dial-in system 
or Web site, you must submit your request in writing under the 
Commission's Rules to: ``Privacy Act Request, Office of the General 
Counsel, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.'' See Commission Rule 4.13, 16 CFR 4.13.
    To the extent, if any, that the Privacy Act applies to information 
submitted by or compiled on telemarketers, sellers, or their agents, 
individuals are required to send any request to amend or correct 
records pertaining to them, if any, to the General Counsel at the above 
address. See Commission Rule 4.13, 16 CFR 4.13.

Record source categories:
    Individuals who inform the Commission through the procedures 
established by the Commission that they do not wish to receive 
telemarketing

[[Page 37494]]

calls. Some records may come from do-not-call lists that some states or 
organizations separately maintain. Record sources for this system may 
also include telemarketers, sellers, and agents, but only to the 
extent, if any, that the Privacy Act applies to such information.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-15910 Filed 6-23-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P