[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 176 (Thursday, September 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54278-54280]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21621]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 122 3237]


Google Inc.; Analysis 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 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 October 6, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/googleplayconsent online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Google Inc.--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 122 3237'' on your comment and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/googleplayconsent by 
following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, mail your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office 
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, 
Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Duane Pozza, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202-326-2042), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade

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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 September 4, 2014), on the World Wide Web, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before October 6, 2014. 
Write ``Google Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 122 3237'' 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/googleplayconsent 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 ``Google Inc.--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 122 3237'' on your comment and on the envelope, and 
mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 
(Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. 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 October 6, 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 (``Commission'') has accepted, subject 
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from Google 
Inc. (``Google'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
30 days for receipt of comments by interested persons. Comments 
received during this period will become part of the public record. 
After 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.
    Google bills consumers for charges related to activity within 
software applications (``apps'') that consumers download to their 
mobile devices from Google's Google Play store. This matter concerns 
Google's billing for charges incurred by children in apps that are 
likely to be used by children without having obtained the account 
holders' express informed consent.
    The Commission's proposed complaint alleges that Google offers 
thousands of apps, including games that children are likely to play, 
and that in many instances, children can obtain virtual items within a 
game app that cost money. Google bills parents and other adult account 
holders for items that cost money within an app--``in-app charges.'' In 
connection with billing for children's in-app charges, Google in many 
instances did not request a password or other method to obtain account 
holder authorization. Currently, in connection with billing for 
children's in-app charges, Google only sometimes requests a parent's 
Google password. In many instances, once the password is entered, 
Google begins a thirty-minute window during which purchases can be made 
by children without further action by the account holder. During this 
process, Google in many instances has not informed account holders that 
password entry will approve a charge or initiate a thirty-minute window 
during which children using the app can incur charges without further 
action by the account holder. The Commission's proposed complaint 
alleges that, through these practices, Google often has failed to 
obtain parents' informed consent to charges incurred by children, which 
constitutes an unfair practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
    The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent Google 
from engaging in the same or similar acts or practices in the future. 
Part I of the proposed order requires Google to obtain express, 
informed consent to in-app charges before billing for such charges, and 
to allow consumers to revoke consent to prospective in-app charges at 
any time. As defined in the proposed order, express, informed consent 
requires an affirmative act communicating authorization of an in-app 
charge (such as entering a password), made proximate to both an in-app 
activity for which Google is

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billing a charge and a clear and conspicuous disclosure of material 
information about the charge. Under the definition, the act and 
disclosure must be reasonably calculated to ensure that the person 
providing consent is the account holder (as opposed to the child). The 
proposed order would require the disclosure to appear at least once per 
mobile device.
    Part II of the proposed order requires Google to provide full 
refunds to Google account holders who have been billed by Google for 
unauthorized in-app charges incurred by minors, for a year following 
entry of the order. If Google's refunds total less than $19 million, 
Google will remit any remaining balance to the Commission to be used 
for informational remedies, further redress, or payment to the U.S. 
Treasury as equitable disgorgement. To effectuate refunds, Google must 
send an electronic notice to its consumers that clearly and 
conspicuously discloses the availability of refunds and instructions on 
how to obtain such refunds. Within 30 days of the end of the one-year 
redress period, Google must provide the Commission with records of 
refund requests, refunds paid, and any refunds denied.
    Parts III through VII of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part III of the proposed order requires Google 
to maintain and upon request make available certain compliance-related 
records, including certain consumer complaints and refund requests, for 
a period of five years. Part IV is an order distribution provision that 
requires Google to provide the order to current and future principals, 
officers, and corporate directors, as well as current and future 
managers, employees, agents, and representatives who participate in 
certain duties related to the subject matter of the proposed complaint 
and order.
    Part V requires Google to notify the Commission of corporate 
changes that may affect compliance obligations within 14 days of such a 
change. Part VI requires Google to submit a compliance report 90 days 
after entry of the order. It also requires Google to submit additional 
compliance reports within 10 business days of a written request by the 
Commission. Part VII is a provision ``sunsetting'' the order after 20 
years, with certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify in any 
way the proposed order's terms.

    By direction of the Commission, Commissioner Wright recused.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-21621 Filed 9-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P