[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65855-65856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-26405]



[[Page 65855]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FTC intends to conduct consumer survey research to advance 
its understanding of the experiences of consumers who interact with 
consumer reporting agencies (``CRAs'') following an incident of 
identity theft. The results of this research will inform and guide the 
Commission's future enforcement and education efforts. This is the 
second of two notices required under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(``PRA''), and the Commission seeks additional public comments on its 
proposed consumer research before requesting Office of Management and 
Budget (``OMB'') review of, and clearance for, the collection of 
information discussed herein.

DATES: Comments must be filed by December 5, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``Consumer 
Experiences with CRAs Research: FTC File No. P065405'' to facilitate 
the organization of comments. Please note that comments will be placed 
on the public record of this proceeding -- including on the publicly 
accessible FTC website, at (http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm) 
-- and therefore should not include any sensitive or confidential 
information. In particular, comments should not include any sensitive 
personal information, such as an individual'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. Comments also should 
not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records 
or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, 
comments should not include any ``[t]rade secrets and commercial or 
financial information obtained from a person and privileged or 
confidential. . . .,'' as provided 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). 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).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ FTC Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must be 
accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment, 
including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must 
identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from 
the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the 
Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the 
public interest. See FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because paper mail addressed to the FTC is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening, please consider submitting your comments 
in electronic form. Comments filed in electronic form should be 
submitted by using the following weblink: (https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-factasurvey) (and following the 
instructions on the web-based form). To ensure that the Commission 
considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the web-based form 
at the weblink : (https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-factasurvey). If 
this Notice appears at (http://www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp), 
you may also file an electronic comment through that website. The 
Commission will consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to 
it. You may also visit the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov to read 
the Notice and the news release describing it.
    A comment filed in paper form should include the reference 
``Consumer Experiences with CRAs Research: FTC File No. P065405'' both 
in the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered to 
the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in 
paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, 
because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission 
is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.
    All comments should additionally be submitted to: Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Federal Trade Commission. Comments should be submitted via 
facsimile to (202) 395-6974 because U.S. Postal Mail is subject to 
lengthy delays due to heightened security precautions.
    The FTC Act and other laws 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, whether filed in paper or electronic 
form. Comments received will be available to the public on the FTC 
website, to the extent practicable, at (http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm). As a matter of discretion, the Commission makes 
every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from 
the public comments it receives before placing those comments on the 
FTC website. More information, including routine uses permitted by the 
Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's privacy policy, at (http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.shtm).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be addressed to Pavneet Singh or Anthony Rodriguez, Attorneys, 
Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Mail Stop NJ-3158, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2252.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal 
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information'' 
means agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit 
reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 44 
U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c).
    On July 1, 2008, the Commission sought public comments concerning 
the proposed collection of information. See 73 FR 37457. The Commission 
received a total of six comments, five from consumers and one from the 
Consumer Data Industry Association (``CDIA'').
    Three of the consumer comments reflected their experiences as 
victims of identity theft and two of the consumer comments contained 
general statements regarding CRAs.
    CDIA's comments acknowledged that surveying consumers is helpful, 
but raised concerns regarding the scope and methodology of the proposed 
research. Regarding the scope of the survey, CDIA stated that the FTC 
should also survey consumer experiences when exercising other Fair and 
Accurate Credit Transactions Act (``FACT ACT'') rights and not limit 
the survey to rights associated with CRAs. To better address the 
purposes of this survey, however, the FTC will focus on those rights 
associated with CRAs. Although a broader scope may be desirable for 
further study or enforcement, the FTC believes that quality of 
responses will be improved by focusing on a related group of rights.
    CDIA also raised concerns that the research relies too much on 
consumer recollections that may erode over time, and that the research 
will measure

[[Page 65856]]

consumer perceptions versus actual experiences. Although consumer 
recollection may be imperfect, its invocation is a common and accepted 
practice in survey research. Moreover, the FTC is surveying consumers 
about their relatively recent experiences when exercising their FACT 
Act rights. Their recollections should be relatively fresh, and the FTC 
believes it is appropriate to rely on them in this consumer research.
    CDIA further asserted that the FTC's reliance on consumers who have 
reported data to the FTC's ID theft clearinghouse will skew the results 
because such consumers will not be representative of the general 
population. The FTC believes that reliance on consumers who have 
previously communicated with the agency is the only economically 
feasible means to generate a sample of identity theft victims and to 
gather information. The 2006 FTC Identity Theft Survey found that 3.7% 
of Americans had been victims of identity theft in the previous year. 
In order for a survey of the general population to reliably contact 
4,000 identity theft victims,\2\ over 100,000 consumers would have to 
be surveyed. The cost of such a large survey would be prohibitive. 
Sending the survey only to consumers who have reported data to the 
FTC's ID theft clearinghouse allows the FTC to reach the same number of 
identity theft victims for a fraction of the cost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ As explained further in the ensuing discussion of the 
proposed collection of information, staff anticipates mailing the 
survey to approximately 3,000 to 4,000 individuals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FTC acknowledges that the survey will not be representative of 
the general population, and will not attempt to project its results 
beyond consumers who have reported to the FTC. Instead, the Commission 
will use the survey to examine the kinds of problems, if any, that such 
consumers experience while exercising their FACTA rights. The FTC thus 
intends to utilize a survey sample from consumers who have previously 
communicated with the agency and not incur the cost and burden of 
finding a sample from the general population.
    Pursuant to the OMB regulations that implement the PRA (5 CFR Part 
1320), the Commission is providing this second opportunity for public 
comment while seeking OMB clearance for the survey. All comments should 
be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be 
received on or before December 5, 2008.

1. Description of the collection of information and proposed use

    The Fair Credit Reporting Act (``FCRA'') provides identity theft 
victims with certain rights, such as the ability to place fraud alerts 
on their credit files, designed to assist them in avoiding or 
mitigating the harms they suffer as a result of the crime.
    The Commission intends to use consumer survey research to advance 
its understanding of the experiences of identity theft victims who 
interact with CRAs and who seek to avail themselves of their FCRA 
remedies. The consumer research will include focus group interviews of 
30 consumers, to be followed by a pretesting phase consisting of phone 
interviews of another 30 consumers, and then mail surveys sent to 
individual consumers. The Commission seeks information from consumers 
who have been victims of identity theft and who have contacted one or 
more of the three nationwide CRAs for assistance. The information from 
consumers will be collected on a voluntary basis and will be kept 
anonymous. The FTC staff will identify consumers to be contacted for 
each phase of the research from a random selection of consumers who 
have communicated with the FTC's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse 
database between January 1, 2008 and May 30, 2008. Staff is seeking 
approximately 1,000 returned surveys because that input would enable it 
to project the results from the sample to the population from which the 
sample was drawn with a maximum error rate of 3%. Assuming a response 
rate of about 25%-30%, this would require staff to mail the survey to 
approximately 3,000-4,000 individuals.
    Questions to identity theft victims in the research will address 
several topics, including but not limited to: their experiences when 
they contacted one or more CRAs and whether they received the required 
notice of rights from CRAs; their access to free credit reports; and 
their ability to place fraud alerts on their files, dispute inaccurate 
information, and block information due to identity theft. The results 
of the focus groups and mail surveys will assist the Commission in 
assessing the experiences of identity theft victims when they interact 
with CRAs. This assessment will help to inform and guide the FTC's 
future efforts to enforce provisions of the FCRA and to educate 
consumers and the consumer reporting industry of their rights and 
obligations under the FCRA.

2. Estimated hours burden

    Absent public comments on the FTC's previously stated burden 
analysis, the FTC is retaining and restating here for further comment 
its prior burden estimates. The FTC staff proposes to interview 30 
consumers divided into three separate focus groups of 10 persons each, 
and estimates that each consumer will spend approximately one hour to 
participate. Thus, the estimated total burden imposed by the focus 
groups will be approximately 30 hours. Staff estimates that respondents 
to the mail survey will require, on average, approximately 8 minutes to 
answer the survey (based on anticipated variations among consumers when 
they interacted with CRAs). Staff will pretest the survey through phone 
interviews of approximately 30 respondents to ensure that all questions 
are easily understood. The pretest will total approximately 4 hours 
cumulatively (30 respondents x 8 minutes each). For the full survey, 
the staff intends to mail 3,000-4,000 surveys and anticipates receiving 
a response rate as high as 30% of the consumer recipients (i.e., 900-
1,200 responses). Assuming 1,200 consumers respond to the survey, staff 
further estimates the final survey will require approximately 160 hours 
to complete (1,200 respondents x 8 minutes each). Thus, cumulative 
burden hours for the clearance would total 194 hours.

3. Estimated cost burden

    The cost per respondent should be negligible. Participation is 
voluntary and will not require start-up, capital, or labor expenditures 
by respondents.

William Blumenthal,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. E8-26405 Filed 11-4-08: 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-S