Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment, 51270-51272 [2015-20802]

Download as PDF 51270 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 163 / Monday, August 24, 2015 / Notices tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 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 https://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 September 16, 2015. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the Commission’s privacy policy, at https://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 NAICS Association, LLC. (‘‘NAICS’’). 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 NAICS made to consumers concerning its participation in the Safe Harbor privacy frameworks agreed upon by the U.S. and the European Union (‘‘EU’’) and the U.S. and Switzerland (collectively, ‘‘Safe Harbor Frameworks’’). The Safe Harbor Frameworks allow U.S. companies to transfer data outside the EU and Switzerland consistent with EU and Swiss law. To join the Safe Harbor Frameworks, a company must selfcertify 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, 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 VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:48 Aug 21, 2015 Jkt 235001 Frameworks. 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 Frameworks. NAICS provides services to assist companies in working with or understanding NAICS (‘‘North American Industry Classification System’’) and SIC (‘‘Standard Industry Classification’’) system codes. According to the Commission’s complaint, NAICS has set forth on its Web site, https://www.naics.com/ privacy-policy/, privacy policies and statements about its practices, including statements related to its participation in the Safe Harbor Frameworks. The Commission’s complaint alleges that NAICS falsely represented that it was a ‘‘current’’ participant in the Safe Harbor Frameworks when, in fact, from February 2014 until April 2015, NAICS was not a ‘‘current’’ participant in the Safe Harbor Frameworks. The Commission’s complaint alleges that in February 2013, NAICS submitted its self-certification to the Safe Harbor Frameworks. NAICS did not renew its self-certification in February 2014 and Commerce subsequently updated NAICS’s status to ‘‘not current’’ on its public Web site. Part I of the proposed order prohibits NAICS 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 and the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework. Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and compliance provisions. Part II requires NAICS to retain documents relating to its compliance with the order for a fiveyear 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 NAICS 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. PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 By direction of the Commission. Donald S. Clark, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2015–20804 Filed 8–21–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750–01–P FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION [File No. 152 3185] Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment Federal Trade Commission. Proposed Consent Agreement. AGENCY: ACTION: 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 September 16, 2015. ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ forensicsconsultingconsent online or on paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ‘‘Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC—Consent Agreement; File No. 152 3185’’ on your comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ ftc/forensicsconsultingconsent by following the instructions on the webbased form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ‘‘Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC—Consent Agreement; File No. 152 3185’’ 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: Ruth Yodaiken, ((202) 326–2127), 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 SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\24AUN1.SGM 24AUN1 tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 163 / Monday, August 24, 2015 / Notices 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 August 17, 2015), on the World Wide Web at: https://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 September 16, 2015. Write ‘‘Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC— Consent Agreement; File No. 152 3185’’ 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/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 VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:48 Aug 21, 2015 Jkt 235001 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. 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/ forensicsconsultingconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. If this Notice appears at https:// www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site. If you file your comment on paper, write ‘‘Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC—Consent Agreement; File No. 152 3185’’ 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 https://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 September 16, 2015. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the Commission’s privacy policy, at https://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 Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC (‘‘Forensics Consulting Solutions’’). The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for thirty 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). PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 51271 (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 the company made to consumers concerning its participation in the Safe Harbor privacy Framework agreed upon by the U.S. and the European Union (‘‘EU’’) (‘‘U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework’’). The U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework allows U.S. companies to transfer data outside the EU consistent with EU law. To join the U.S.-EU 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 selfcertification is ‘‘current’’ or ‘‘not current.’’ Companies are required to recertify every year in order to retain their status as current members of the Safe Harbor Framework. Forensics Consulting Solutions describes itself as an electronic discovery consulting firm. According to the Commission’s complaint, the company has set forth on its Web site, www.aboutfcs.com/security-privacy, privacy policies and statements about its practices, including statements related to its participation in the U.S-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The Commission’s complaint alleges that Forensics Consulting Solutions falsely represented that it was a ‘‘current’’ participant in the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework when, in fact, from August 2012 until May 2015, Forensics Consulting Solutions was not a ‘‘current’’ participant in the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The Commission’s complaint alleges that in August 2009, Forensics Consulting Solutions submitted its self-certification to the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework and its status was listed as ‘‘current’’ on Commerce’s Web site. Forensics Consulting Solutions did not renew its self-certification in August 2012 and E:\FR\FM\24AUN1.SGM 24AUN1 51272 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 163 / Monday, August 24, 2015 / Notices Commerce subsequently updated Forensics Consulting Solutions’ status to ‘‘not current’’ on its public Web site. In May 2015, Forensics Consulting Solutions recertified with Commerce and is now a current participant in the U.S–EU Safe Harbor Framework. Part I of the proposed order prohibits Forensics Consulting Solutions from making misrepresentations about its membership in any privacy or security program sponsored by the government or any 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 Forensics Consulting Solutions 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 Forensics Consulting Solutions 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. BILLING CODE 6750–01–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [60Day–15–0604; Docket No. CDC–2015– 0067] Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION: Notice with comment period. tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES AGENCY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing efforts to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:48 Aug 21, 2015 Jkt 235001 Please note: All public comment should be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking portal (Regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: [FR Doc. 2015–20802 Filed 8–21–15; 8:45 am] SUMMARY: government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection entitled School-Associated Violent Deaths Surveillance System (SAVDSS). CDC will use the information to continue the ongoing surveillance of school-associated violent deaths (SAVD), to track and monitor the extent of school-associated violence. DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 23, 2015. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC–2015– 0067 by any of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulation.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Mail: Leroy A. Richardson, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS– D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329. Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted without change to Regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to Regulations.gov. To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, contact the Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS–D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404–639–7570; Email: omb@cdc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information collection before submitting the PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a proposed data collection as described below. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. Proposed Project The School-Associated Violent Death Surveillance System (SAVD)—Revision (OMB# 0920–0604, expiration 04/30/ 2016)—National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Background and Brief Description School-associated violence, particularly homicides and suicides that occur in schools, has been a significant public concern for several years. Despite the important role of schools as a setting for violence research and prevention interventions, relatively little scientific or systematic work has been conducted to describe the nature and level of fatal violence associated with schools. Public health and education officials have had to rely on limited local studies and estimated numbers to describe the extent of school-associated violent death. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) requested assistance from the Division of Violence E:\FR\FM\24AUN1.SGM 24AUN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 163 (Monday, August 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51270-51272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20802]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 152 3185]


Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent 
Order to Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 September 16, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/forensicsconsultingconsent online or on 
paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Forensics 
Consulting Solutions, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 152 3185'' on 
your comment and file your comment online at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/forensicsconsultingconsent by following 
the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your 
comment on paper, write ``Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 152 3185'' 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: Ruth Yodaiken, ((202) 326-2127), 
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

[[Page 51271]]

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 August 17, 2015), on the 
World Wide Web at: https://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 September 16, 
2015. Write ``Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC--Consent Agreement; 
File No. 152 3185'' 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/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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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/forensicsconsultingconsent by following the instructions on the 
web-based form. If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Forensics Consulting 
Solutions, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 152 3185'' 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 https://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 September 16, 2015. You can find more 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in 
the Commission's privacy policy, at https://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 
Forensics Consulting Solutions, LLC (``Forensics Consulting 
Solutions'').
    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 the company made to consumers concerning its participation in the 
Safe Harbor privacy Framework agreed upon by the U.S. and the European 
Union (``EU'') (``U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework''). The U.S.-EU Safe 
Harbor Framework allows U.S. companies to transfer data outside the EU 
consistent with EU law. To join the U.S.-EU 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.
    Forensics Consulting Solutions describes itself as an electronic 
discovery consulting firm. According to the Commission's complaint, the 
company has set forth on its Web site, www.aboutfcs.com/security-privacy, privacy policies and statements about its practices, including 
statements related to its participation in the U.S-EU Safe Harbor 
Framework.
    The Commission's complaint alleges that Forensics Consulting 
Solutions falsely represented that it was a ``current'' participant in 
the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework when, in fact, from August 2012 until 
May 2015, Forensics Consulting Solutions was not a ``current'' 
participant in the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The Commission's 
complaint alleges that in August 2009, Forensics Consulting Solutions 
submitted its self-certification to the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework 
and its status was listed as ``current'' on Commerce's Web site. 
Forensics Consulting Solutions did not renew its self-certification in 
August 2012 and

[[Page 51272]]

Commerce subsequently updated Forensics Consulting Solutions' status to 
``not current'' on its public Web site. In May 2015, Forensics 
Consulting Solutions recertified with Commerce and is now a current 
participant in the U.S-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
    Part I of the proposed order prohibits Forensics Consulting 
Solutions from making misrepresentations about its membership in any 
privacy or security program sponsored by the government or any 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 Forensics Consulting Solutions 
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 Forensics Consulting 
Solutions 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. 2015-20802 Filed 8-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
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