[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 178 (Friday, September 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43369-43371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19617]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 172 3173]


Decusoft, LLC; 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 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 10, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the

[[Page 43370]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write: ``In the Matter of 
Decusoft, LLC, File No. 172 3173'' on your comment, and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/decusoftconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. If 
you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``In the Matter of 
Decusoft, LLC, File No. 172 3173'' 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Monique Einhorn (202-326-2575), Bureau 
of Consumer Protection, 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 a 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 8, 2017), on the World Wide Web, 
at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before October 10, 
2017. Write ``In the Matter of Decusoft, LLC, File No. 172 3173'' 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 https://www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments.
    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/decusoftconsent 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 prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``In the Matter 
of Decusoft, LLC, File No. 172 3173'' 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.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC 
Web site at https://www.ftc.gov, you are solely responsible for making 
sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential 
information. In particular, your comment should not include any 
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else'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, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment 
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial 
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by 
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)--including in particular competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is 
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). 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). Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has 
been posted on the public FTC Web site--as legally required by FTC Rule 
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC Web site, 
unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements 
for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel 
grants that request.
    Visit the FTC 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 10, 2017. For information on the 
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the 
Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

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 
Decusoft, LLC (``Decusoft'').
    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 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 Decusoft made to consumers concerning its participation in the 
Privacy Shield frameworks agreed upon by the U.S. and the European 
Union (``EU'') and the U.S. and Switzerland (collectively, ``Privacy 
Shield frameworks''). The Privacy Shield frameworks allow U.S. 
companies to transfer data outside the EU and Switzerland consistent 
with EU and Swiss law. To join the Privacy Shield frameworks, 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 and Switzerland as 
providing ``adequate'' privacy protection. These principles include 
notice; choice; accountability for onward transfer; security; data 
integrity and purpose limitation; access; and recourse,

[[Page 43371]]

enforcement, and liability. Commerce maintains a public Web site, 
https://www.privacyshield.gov/list, where it posts the names of 
companies that have self-certified to the Privacy Shield frameworks. 
The listing of companies indicates whether their self-certification is 
current. Companies are required to re-certify every year in order to 
retain their status as current members of the Privacy Shield 
frameworks.
    Decusoft develops software for use in human resources applications.
    According to the Commission's complaint, Decusoft has set forth on 
its Web site, www.decusoft.com/privacy-policy, privacy policies and 
statements about its practices, including statements related to its 
participation in the EU-U.S. and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield 
frameworks.
    The Commission's complaint alleges that Decusoft falsely 
represented that it was certified to participate in the Privacy Shield 
frameworks when, in fact, Decusoft never completed the necessary steps 
to finalize its applications, and thus, was not certified to 
participate in either the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework or the 
Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield framework.
    Part I of the proposed order prohibits Decusoft 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 EU-
U.S. Privacy Shield framework and the Swiss-U.S. Safe Privacy Shield 
framework.
    Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part II requires acknowledgement of the order 
and dissemination of the order now and in the future to persons with 
responsibilities relating to the subject matter of the order. Part III 
ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status and 
mandates that Decusoft submit an initial compliance report to the FTC. 
Part IV requires Decusoft to retain documents relating to its 
compliance with the order for a five-year period.
    Part V mandates that Decusoft make available to the FTC information 
or subsequent compliance reports, as requested. 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. 2017-19617 Filed 9-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P