[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 123 (Monday, June 27, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37290-37291]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16007]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 123 / Monday, June 27, 2011 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 37290]]



FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 312


Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule; Aristotle 
International, Inc.'s Application for Safe Harbor Proposed Self-
Regulatory Guidelines

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).

ACTION: Third party submission of proposed ``safe harbor'' guidelines; 
request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission publishes a notice and request 
for public comment concerning proposed self-regulatory guidelines 
submitted by Aristotle International, Inc. (Aristotle) under the safe 
harbor provision of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received by August 8, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Aristotle Application 
for Safe Harbor, Project No. P-114509'' on your comment, and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/aristotle, by 
following the instructions on the Web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following 
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 
(Annex B), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phyllis Marcus, Attorney, (202) 326-
2854, or Mamie Kresses, Attorney, (202) 326-2070, Division of 
Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section A. Background

    On October 20, 1999, the Commission issued its final Rule \1\ 
pursuant to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. 
6501 et seq, which became effective on April 21, 2000.\2\ The Rule 
requires certain Web site operators to post privacy policies, provide 
notice, and obtain parental consent prior to collecting, using, or 
disclosing personal information from children. The Rule contains a 
``safe harbor'' provision enabling industry groups or others to submit 
to the Commission for approval self-regulatory guidelines that would 
implement the Rule's protections.\3\
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    \1\ 64 FR 59888 (1999).
    \2\ 16 CFR part 312.
    \3\ See 16 CFR 312.10; 64 FR at 59906-08, 59915.
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    Pursuant to Section 312.10 of the Rule, Aristotle has submitted 
proposed self-regulatory guidelines to the Commission for approval. The 
full text of the proposed guidelines is available on the Commission's 
Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2011/06/110621aristotlerequest.pdf.

Section B. Questions on the Proposed Guidelines

    The Commission is seeking comment on various aspects of the 
proposed guidelines, and is particularly interested in receiving 
comment on the questions that follow. These questions are designed to 
assist the public and should not be construed as a limitation on the 
issues on which public comment may be submitted. Responses to these 
questions should cite the numbers and subsection of the questions being 
answered. For all comments submitted, please provide any relevant data, 
statistics, or any other evidence, upon which those comments are based.
    1. Please provide comments on any or all of the provisions in the 
proposed guidelines. For each provision commented on please describe 
(a) The impact of the provision(s) (including any benefits and costs), 
if any, and (b) what alternatives, if any, Aristotle should consider, 
as well as the costs and benefits of those alternatives.
    2. Do the provisions of the proposed guidelines governing 
operators' information practices provide ``the same or greater 
protections for children'' as those contained in Sections 312.2-312.8 
of the Rule? \4\ Where possible, please cite the relevant sections of 
both the Rule and the proposed guidelines.
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    \4\ See 16 CFR 312.10(b)(1); 64 FR at 59915.
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    3. Are the mechanisms used to assess operators' compliance with the 
guidelines effective? \5\ If not, please describe (a) how the proposed 
guidelines could be modified to satisfy the Rule's requirements, and 
(b) the costs and benefits of those modifications.
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    \5\ See 16 CFR 312.10(b)(2); 64 FR at 59915.
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    4. Are the incentives for operators' compliance with the guidelines 
effective? \6\ If not, please describe (a) how the proposed guidelines 
could be modified to satisfy the Rule's requirements, and (b) the costs 
and benefits of those modifications.
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    \6\ See 16 CFR 312.10(b)(3); 64 FR at 59915.
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    5. Do the guidelines provide adequate means for resolving consumer 
complaints? If not, please describe (a) how the proposed guidelines 
could be modified to resolve consumer complaints adequately, and (b) 
the costs and benefits of those modifications.

Section C. Invitation To Comment

    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before August 8, 2011. 
Write ``Aristotle Application for Safe Harbor, Project No. P-114509'' 
on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will 
be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment doesn't include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone'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. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment doesn't include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, don't 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or

[[Page 37291]]

financial information which is obtained from any person and which is 
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). In 
particular, don't include competitively sensitive information such as 
costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, 
manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\7\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \7\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at http://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/aristotle, by following the instructions on the Web-based form. If 
this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may 
file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Aristotle Application 
for Safe Harbor, Project No. P-114509'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex B), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit 
your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that 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 on or before August 8, 2011. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-16007 Filed 6-24-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P