[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25676-25677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10424]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC plans to conduct a study to examine consumer 
perception of class action notices. This is the first of two notices 
required under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') seeking public 
comments on proposed research before requesting Office of Management 
and Budget (``OMB'') review of, and clearance for, the collection of 
information discussed herein.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/classactionnoticepra online or on paper, 
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Class Action Notice 
Consumer Perception Study, Project No. P024210'' on your comment, and 
file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/classactionnoticepra by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Class Action 
Notice Consumer Perception Study, Project No. P024210'' 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 J), 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 J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Moore, Attorney, 202-326-2167, 
Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Commission's Class Action Fairness Project strives to ensure 
that class action settlements in consumer protection and competition 
matters provide appropriate benefits to consumers and that class action 
counsel or defendants are not inappropriately benefitting at the 
expense of class members. As part of this program, the FTC monitors 
class actions and files amicus briefs or intervenes in appropriate 
cases; \1\ coordinates with state, federal, and private groups to 
advise them and to seek suggestions on matters that merit FTC 
attention; and monitors the progress of legislation and class action 
rule changes.
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    \1\ See e.g., FTC's Mem. of Law as Amicus Curiae, Nwabueze v. 
AT&T, Inc., 3:09-cv-1529 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 30, 2013), available at 
https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/nwabueze-v.att-inc./130830nwabuezeamicus.pdf; FTC's Mem. of Law as 
Amicus Curiae, White v. EDebitPay, LLC, 2:11-cv-06738 (C.D. Cal. 
Aug. 9, 2013), available at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/anita-white-et-al.v.edebitpay-l.l.c.et-al.no.211-cv-06738-cbm-ffm-c.d.cal-august-9-2013/130809edebitpayamicusbrief.pdf; Mot. of FTC for Leave to File Brief 
as Amicus Curiae, Moore v. Verizon Commc'ns, Inc., 4:09-cv-08123 
(N.D. Cal. Aug. 17, 2012), available at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/moore-v.verizon-communications-inc./120817mooreverizonamicusbrief.pdf.
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II. The FTC's Proposed Study

A. Study Description

    To further these goals, the FTC plans to conduct an Internet-based 
consumer research study to explore consumer perceptions of class action 
notices, including whether consumers understand the options provided in 
the notices and the implications of such options. The proposed Study 
will gauge consumer comprehension of the options conveyed by the notice 
and the implications of each option for the respondent. Specifically, 
using a treatment-effect methodology, the study will examine whether 
respondents receiving class action notices

[[Page 25677]]

understand the process and implications for opting out of a settlement, 
the process for participating in the settlement, and the implications 
of doing nothing. Notices used in the study may derive from notices 
sent to class members in various nationwide class action settlements. 
We plan to use the study results, along with other information such as 
public comments, to guide the FTC's Class Action Fairness Project.
    Having considered the costs and benefits of various data collection 
methods, the FTC staff has concluded that an Internet panel with 
nationwide coverage will provide the most efficient way to collect data 
to meet the research objectives within a feasible budget. Thus, the FTC 
proposes to collect responses from a broad spectrum of the U.S. adult 
population. Participants will be drawn from an Internet panel 
maintained by a commercial firm that operates the panel. All 
participation will be voluntary. While the results will not be 
generalizable to the U.S. population, the Commission believes that they 
will provide useful insights into consumer understanding of the claims 
being considered.

B. PRA Burden Analysis

    Staff estimates that respondents will require, on average, 20 
minutes to complete the questionnaire. Staff will pretest the 
questionnaire with approximately 100 respondents to ensure that all 
questions are easily understood. Allowing for an extra three minutes 
for questions unique to the pretest, the pretest will total 
approximately 38 hours, cumulatively (100 respondents x 23 minutes 
each). Once the pretest is completed, the FTC plans to seek information 
from up to 8,000 respondents for approximately 20 minutes each. Thus, 
respondents will cumulatively take approximately 2,700 hours. The cost 
per respondent should be negligible. Participation will not require 
start up, capital, or labor expenditures.

III. Request for Comment

    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.\2\ 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 regulations noted herein.
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    \2\ 44 U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c).
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    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) Whether the reporting requirements are necessary, 
including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the 
accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the methodology and 
assumptions used are valid; (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.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before July 6, 2015. 
Write ``Class Action Notice Consumer Perception Study, Project No. 
P024210'' 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 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, 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).\3\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest.
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    \3\ 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/classactionnoticepra, 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 ``Class Action Notice 
Consumer Perception Study, Project No. P024210'' 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 J), 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 J), 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. 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 July 6, 2015. 
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. 2015-10424 Filed 5-4-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P