[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51677-51678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20243]
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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. 78, No. 162 / Wednesday, August 21, 2013 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 51677]]
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
16 CFR Part 312
RIN 3084-AB20
Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule Proposed Parental
Consent Method; AssertID, Inc. Application for Approval of Parental
Consent Method
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission requests public comment
concerning the proposed parental consent method submitted by AssertID,
Inc. (``AssertID'') under the Voluntary Commission Approval Processes
provision of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 20,
2013.
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 ``AssertID Application
for Parental Consent Method, Project No. P-135415'' on your comment,
and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/copparuleassertidapp, 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 E), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kandi Parsons, Attorney, (202) 326-
2369, or Peder Magee, Attorney, (202) 326-3538, Division of Privacy and
Identity Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 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\ On December
19, 2012, the Commission amended the Rule, and these amendments became
effective on July 1, 2013.\3\ The Rule requires certain Web site
operators to post privacy policies and provide notice, and to obtain
verifiable parental consent, prior to collecting, using, or disclosing
personal information from children under the age of 13. The Rule
enumerates methods for obtaining verifiable parental consent, while
also allowing an interested party to file a written request for
Commission approval of parental consent methods not currently
enumerated.\4\ To be considered, the party must submit a detailed
description of the proposed parental consent method, together with an
analysis of how the method meets the requirements for parental consent
described in 16 CFR 312.5(b)(1).
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\1\ 64 FR 59888 (1999).
\2\ 16 CFR part 312.
\3\ 78 FR 3972 (2013).
\4\ 16 CFR 312.12(a); 78 FR at 3991-3992, 4013.
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Pursuant to Section 312.12(a) of the Rule, AssertID has submitted a
proposed parental consent method to the Commission for approval. The
full text of its application is available on the Commission's Web site
at www.ftc.gov.
Section B. Questions on the Parental Consent Method
The Commission is seeking comment on the proposed parental consent
method, and is particularly interested in receiving comment on the
questions that follow. These questions are designed to assist the
Commission's consideration of the petition 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 number of the question
being answered. For all comments submitted, please provide any relevant
data, statistics, or any other evidence, upon which those comments are
based.
1. Is this method already covered by existing methods enumerated in
Section 312.5(b)(1) of the Rule?
2. If this is a new method, provide comments on whether the
proposed parental consent method meets the requirements for parental
consent laid out in 16 CFR Sec. 312.5(b)(1). Specifically, the
Commission is looking for comments on whether the proposed parental
consent method is reasonably calculated, in light of available
technology, to ensure that the person providing consent is the child's
parent.
3. Does this proposed method pose a risk to consumers' personal
information? If so, is that risk outweighed by the benefit to consumers
and businesses of using this method?
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 September 20,
2013. Write ``AssertID Application for Parental Consent Method, Project
No. P-135415'' 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 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, such as 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, including medical records or other individually
identifiable health information. In addition, do not include any
``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information which is .
. . privileged or confidential,'' as discussed 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, do not 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
[[Page 51678]]
you have to follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR
4.9(c).\5\ 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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\5\ 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 https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/copparuleassertidapp, 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 ``AssertID Application for
Parental Consent Method, Project No. P-135415'' 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 E), 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 September 20, 2013. 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.
Richard C. Donohue,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-20243 Filed 8-20-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P