[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7211-7213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-2904]


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

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Extension

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

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: The FTC is seeking public comments on its proposal to extend 
through August 31, 2014, the current Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') 
clearance for information collection requirements contained in the 
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule (``COPPA Rule''), which 
will expire on August 31, 2011.

DATES: Comments must be filed by April 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the 
Request for Comments part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
below. Comments in electronic form should be submitted by using this 
weblink: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/coppapra (and following 
the instructions on the web-based form). Comments filed in paper form 
should be mailed or delivered to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580, in the manner detailed in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
regarding this proceeding should be addressed to Mamie Kresses, Federal 
Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of 
Advertising Practices, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Mail Drop NJ-3212, 
Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2070.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The COPPA Rule, 16 CFR Part 312, requires 
commercial Web sites to provide notice and obtain parents' consent 
before collecting, using, and/or disclosing personal information from 
children under age 13, with limited exceptions.

Request for Comments

    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). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC is 
providing this opportunity for public comment before requesting that 
OMB extend the existing paperwork clearance for the COPPA Rule. (OMB 
Control Number 3084-0117). Comments must be received on or before the 
deadline specified above in the DATES section in order to be considered 
by the Commission.
    The FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the required collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; 
(2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the required 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on those who are to 
respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    Comments should refer to ``COPPA Rule: FTC File No. P114504'' to 
facilitate the organization of comments. Please note that your 
comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the 
public record of this proceeding, including on the publicly accessible 
FTC Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm.
    Because comments will be made public, you are solely responsible 
for ensuring they do not include any sensitive personal information, 
such as any 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 secret or any commercial or financial 
information which is * * * privileged or confidential.'' See Section 
6(f) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (``FTC Act''), 15 U.S.C. 
46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2).

[[Page 7212]]

Comments containing matter 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\ 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please consider submitting your comments in electronic form. 
Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted using the 
following weblink: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/copparulepra 
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://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/coppapra. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp, you may also file an electronic comment through that Web 
site. The Commission will consider all comments that regulations.gov 
forwards to it.
    The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public 
comments that it receives. Comments received will be available to the 
public on the FTC Web site, to the extent practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the FTC 
makes every effort to remove home contact information for individuals 
from the public comments it receives before placing those comments on 
the FTC Web site. 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.

Burden Statement

    Estimated annual hours burden: 6,100 hours.
    (a) Disclosure Requirements: 6,000 hours.
    The COPPA Rule contains certain statutorily-required notice 
requirements, which constitute a ``collection of information'' under 
the PRA. These are:

    (1) Each Web site and online service directed to children, and 
any Web site or online service with actual knowledge that it is 
collecting personal information from children, must provide notice 
of how it collects, uses, and discloses such information and, with 
limited exceptions, must obtain the prior consent of the child's 
parent in order to engage in such collection, use, and disclosure;
    (2) The operator must provide the parent with notice of the 
specific types of personal information being collected from the 
child and give the parent the opportunity to forbid the operator 
from collecting, using, or maintaining such information, and to 
provide reasonable means for the parent to obtain access to the 
information and to direct its deletion; and,
    (3) Web site and online service operators must establish 
procedures that protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity 
of personal information collected from children.

    The FTC staff estimates that roughly 100 new web entrants each year 
will fall within the Rule's coverage and that, on average, new entrants 
will spend approximately 60 hours crafting a privacy policy, designing 
mechanisms to provide the required online privacy notice and, where 
applicable, the direct notice to parents.\2\ Accordingly, staff 
estimates that complying with the Rule's disclosure requirements will 
require approximately 6,000 hours (100 new web entrants x 60 hours per 
entrant). Consistent with prior estimates, FTC staff estimates that the 
time spent on compliance would be apportioned five to one between legal 
(lawyers or similar professionals) and technical (computer programmers) 
personnel. Staff therefore estimates that lawyers or similar 
professionals who craft privacy policies will account for 5,000 of the 
6,000 hours required. Computer programmers responsible for posting 
privacy policies and implementing direct notices and parental consent 
mechanisms will account for the remaining 1,000 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Although the FTC staff cannot determine with certainty the 
number of new entrants potentially subject to the Rule, the staff 
believes this estimate is reasonable based upon current trends. The 
staff retains its estimate of 60 hours per new entrant. This 
estimate has been published for comment in prior FTC notices 
regarding renewed clearance for the Rule, and the Commission has not 
received any comments challenging it. See, e.g., 73 FR 35689 (June 
24, 2008); 70 FR 21107 (April 22, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Web site operators that have previously created or adjusted their 
sites to comply with the Rule will incur no further burden associated 
with the Rule, unless they opt to change their policies and information 
collection in ways that will further invoke the Rule's provisions. 
Moreover, staff believes that existing COPPA-compliant operators who 
introduce additional sites beyond those they already have created will 
incur minimal, if any, incremental PRA burden. This is because such 
operators already have been through the start-up phase and can carry 
over the results of that to the new sites they create.
    (b) Voluntary Reporting Requirements for Safe Harbor Participants: 
100 hours
    Operators can comply with the Rule by meeting the terms of industry 
self-regulatory guidelines that the Commission approves after notice 
and comment.\3\ While the submission of industry self-regulatory 
guidelines to the agency is voluntary, the Rule includes specific 
reporting requirements that all safe harbor applicants must provide to 
receive Commission approval. Staff retains its estimate that it would 
require, on average, 265 hours per new safe harbor program applicant to 
prepare and submit its safe harbor proposal in accordance with Section 
312.12(c) of the Rule. Industry sources have confirmed that this 
estimate is reasonable and advised that all of this time would be 
attributable to the efforts of lawyers. Given that several safe harbor 
programs are already available to Web site operators, FTC staff 
believes that it is unlikely that more than one additional safe harbor 
applicant will submit a request within the next three years of PRA 
clearance sought. Thus, annualized burden attributable to this 
requirement would be approximately 88 hours per year (265 hours /3 
years) or, roughly, 100 hours. Staff believes that most of the records 
submitted with a safe harbor request would be those that these entities 
have kept in the ordinary course of business, and that any incremental 
effort associated with maintaining the results of independent 
assessments or other records under Section 312.10(d)(3) also would be 
in the normal course of business. In accordance with the regulations 
implementing the PRA, the burden estimate excludes effort expended for 
these activities. 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Section 312.10(c). Approved self-regulatory guidelines 
can be found on the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens_shp.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Accordingly, FTC staff estimates that total burden per year for 
disclosure requirements affecting new web entrants and reporting 
requirements for safe harbor applications would be approximately 6,100 
hours.
    Estimated annual cost burden:
    1. Labor costs: Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate 
hourly cost figures to the burden hours described above. Staff assumes 
hourly rates of $150 and $36, respectively, for lawyers or similar 
professionals and computer programmers.\4\ Based on these inputs,

[[Page 7213]]

staff further estimates that associated annual labor costs for new 
entrants would be $801,000 [(5,100 hours x $150 per hour for legal) + 
(1,000 hours x $36 per hour for computer programmers)] and $15,000 for 
safe harbor applicants (100 hours per year x $150 per hour), for a 
total labor cost of approximately $816,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ FTC staff estimates average legal costs at $150 per hour, 
which is roughly midway between Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 
mean hourly wages shown for attorneys (approximately $56) in the 
most recent whole-year data (2009) available online and what staff 
believes more generally reflects hourly attorney costs ($250) 
associated with Commission information collection activities. The 
$36 estimate for computer programmers is also based on the most 
recent whole-year BLS data available online. See National 
Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 
2009, at Table 3, available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/nctb1346.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Capital or other non-labor costs: Because Web sites will already 
be equipped with the computer equipment and software necessary to 
comply with the Rule's notice requirements, the predominant costs 
incurred by the Web sites are the aforementioned estimated labor costs. 
Similarly, industry members should already have in place the means to 
retain and store the records that must be kept under the Rule's safe 
harbor recordkeeping provisions, because they are likely to have been 
keeping these records independent of the Rule. Capital and start-up 
costs associated with the Rule are minimal.

Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-2904 Filed 2-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P