[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 100 (Friday, May 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31187-31189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11098]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 192 3129]


Miniclip S.A.; Analysis To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.

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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 June 22, 2020.

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

[[Page 31188]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Miniclip S.A.; File 
No. 192 3129'' on your comment, and file your comment online at https://www.regulations.gov 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: Ryan Mehm (202-326-2918), Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 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 Website (for May 19, 2020), at this web address: 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 June 22, 2020. 
Write ``Miniclip S.A.; File No. 192 3129'' 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 https://www.regulations.gov website.
    Due to the public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 
outbreak and the agency's heightened security screening, postal mail 
addressed to the Commission will be subject to delay. We strongly 
encourage you to submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Miniclip S.A.; 
File No. 192 3129'' 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 
website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for 
making sure 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 your comment does not include 
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 website--as legally required by FTC Rule 
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC Website, 
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 website at http://www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and 
the news release describing the proposed settlement. 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 June 22, 2020. 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 (``Commission'') has accepted, subject 
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from 
Miniclip S.A. (``Respondent''). The proposed consent order (``proposed 
order'') has been placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for 
receipt of comments from 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.
    Respondent develops, publishes, and distributes mobile and online 
digital games. As of August 2019, Respondent had approximately 100 
applications (``apps'') available for download through Apple's App 
Store and Google Play. Consumers can also play online games via 
Respondent's website, www.miniclip.com, and through Facebook.
    This matter concerns alleged false or misleading representations 
that Respondent made concerning its status in a Children's Online 
Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (``COPPA'') safe harbor program. 
Congress enacted COPPA to protect the safety and privacy of children 
online by prohibiting the unauthorized or unnecessary collection of 
children's personal information online by operators of Internet 
Websites and online services. COPPA directed the Commission to 
promulgate a rule implementing COPPA. The Commission promulgated the 
COPPA Rule on November 3, 1999, and the COPPA Rule went into effect on 
April 21, 2000. The Commission promulgated revisions to the Rule that 
went into effect on July 1, 2013. COPPA includes a provision enabling 
industry groups or others to submit for Commission approval self-
regulatory safe harbor programs that

[[Page 31189]]

implement the protections of the Commission's final Rule.
    In 2001, the Commission approved the Children's Advertising Review 
Unit (``CARU'') as a COPPA safe harbor program. In July 2009, 
Respondent joined CARU's COPPA safe harbor program. Thereafter, 
Respondent began disseminating statements regarding its participation 
in CARU's COPPA safe harbor program. Respondent remained a member of 
CARU's COPPA Safe Harbor Program until July 6, 2015, when CARU 
terminated Respondent's participation in the program. After CARU 
terminated Respondent from its safe harbor program, Respondent 
continued to make claims that it participated in the program.
    The Commission's proposed one-count complaint alleges that 
Respondent violated Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act. 
Specifically, the proposed complaint alleges that Respondent engaged in 
a deceptive act or practice by falsely representing that it was a 
current participant in the CARU COPPA safe harbor program when it was 
not.
    Part I of the proposed order prohibits Respondent 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 CARU 
COPPA safe harbor.
    Parts II through V 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 the company submit an initial compliance report to the 
FTC. Part IV requires the company to create certain documents relating 
to its compliance with the order for ten (10) years and to retain those 
documents for a five-year period. Part V mandates that the company make 
available to the FTC information or subsequent compliance reports, as 
requested.
    Part VI is a provision ``sun-setting'' the order after twenty (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.
April J. Tabor,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-11098 Filed 5-21-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P