[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4698-4700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01765]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 142-3024]


DDC Laboratories, Inc., Doing Business as DNA Diagnostics Center; 
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid 
Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint 
and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--
that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 20, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ddcconsent online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``DDC Laboratories, 
Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 142-3024'' on your comment and file 
your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ddcconsent https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fidelitynationalconsent by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on

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paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine White, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202-326-2878), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis To Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for January 21, 2014), on the World Wide Web, 
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm. A paper copy can be obtained 
from the FTC Public Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-
2222.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before February 20, 
2014. Write ``DDC Laboratories, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 142-
3024'' 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 does not 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 does not include any 
sensitive health information, like 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 you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ 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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    \1\ 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/ddcconsent 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 ``DDC Laboratories, Inc.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 142-3024'' 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 D), 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 February 20, 2014. 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.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement applicable to 
DDC Laboratories, Inc. (``DDC'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final 
the agreement's proposed order.
    This matter concerns alleged false or misleading representations 
that DDC made to consumers concerning its participation in the Safe 
Harbor privacy framework (``Safe Harbor'') agreed upon by the U.S. and 
the European Union (``EU'') (``U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework''). It is 
among several actions the Commission is bringing to enforce the 
promises that companies make when they certify that they participate in 
the Safe Harbor Framework. The Safe Harbor framework allows U.S. 
companies to transfer data outside the EU consistent with European law. 
To join the Safe Harbor framework, a company must self-certify to the 
U.S. Department of Commerce (``Commerce'') that it complies with a set 
of principles and related requirements that have been deemed by the 
European Commission as providing ``adequate'' privacy protection. These 
principles include notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data 
integrity, access, and enforcement. Commerce maintains a public Web 
site, www.export.gov/safeharbor, where it posts the names of companies 
that have self-certified to the Safe Harbor framework. The listing of 
companies indicates whether their self-certification is ``current'' or 
``not current.'' Companies are required to re-certify every year in 
order to retain their status as ``current'' members of the Safe Harbor 
framework.
    DDC is a leading provider of private DNA testing and focuses 
primarily on testing to establish paternity and other familial 
relationships. According to the Commission's complaint, since at least 
November 2007, DDC has set forth on its Web site, www.dnacenter.com, a 
privacy policy and statement about its practices, including a statement 
related to its

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participation in the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
    The Commission's complaint alleges that DDC, through its statement, 
falsely represented that it was a ``current'' participant in the Safe 
Harbor when, in fact, from November 2011 until November 2013, DDC was 
not a ``current'' participant in the Safe Harbor. The Commission's 
complaint alleges that in November 2007, DDC submitted a Safe Harbor 
self-certification. DDC subsequently renewed its self-certification in 
November 2008, November 2009, and November 2010. DDC did not renew its 
self-certification in November 2011 and Commerce subsequently updated 
DDC's status to ``not current'' on its public Web site. In November 
2013, DDC renewed its self-certification to the Safe Harbor and its 
status was changed to ``current'' on Commerce's Web site.
    Part I of the proposed order prohibits DDC from making 
misrepresentations about its membership in any privacy or security 
program sponsored by the government or any other self-regulatory or 
standard-setting organization, including, but not limited to, the U.S.-
EU Safe Harbor Framework.
    Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part II requires DDC to retain documents 
relating to its compliance with the order for a five-year period. Part 
III requires dissemination of the order now and in the future to 
persons with responsibilities relating to the subject matter of the 
order. Part IV ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate 
status. Part V mandates that DDC submit an initial compliance report to 
the FTC, and make available to the FTC subsequent reports. Part VI is a 
provision ``sunsetting'' the order after twenty (20) years, with 
certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the proposed complaint or order or to modify the 
order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-01765 Filed 1-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P