[Federal Register: June 27, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 125)] [Notices] [Page 36515-36517] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27jn08-51] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or ``FTC''). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''). The FTC is seeking public comments on its proposal to extend through July 31, 2011, the current PRA clearance for information collection requirements contained in the Commission's Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Privacy Rule (``GLB Privacy Rule'' or ``Rule''). The current clearance expires on July 31, 2008. DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 28, 2008. ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. Comments should refer to ``Paperwork Comment: FTC File No. P085405'' to facilitate the organization of comments. A comment filed in paper form should include this reference both in the text and on the envelope and should be mailed or delivered to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Room H-135 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The Commission is requesting that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the FTC is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. Moreover, because paper mail in the Washington area and at the FTC is subject to delay, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as prescribed below. If, however, the comment contains any material for which confidential treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper form, and the first page of the document must be clearly labeled ``Confidential.''\1\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must be accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment, including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by following the instructions on the web-based form at (https:// secure.commentworks.com/ftc-glbprivacyrulepra) and following the instructions on the web-based form. To ensure that the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the web-based form at the (https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-glbprivacyrulepra) weblink. If this notice appears at www.regulations.gov, you may also file an electronic comment through that website. The Commission will consider all comments that www.regulations.gov forwards to it. All comments should additionally be submitted to: Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade Commission. Comments should be submitted via facsimile to (202) 395- 6974 because U.S. Postal Mail is subject to lengthy delays due to heightened security precautions. The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments will be considered by the Commission and will be available to the public on the FTC website, to the extent practicable, at www.ftc.gov. As a matter of discretion, the FTC makes every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from the public comments it receives before placing those comments on the FTC website. More information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's privacy policy at (http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.shtm). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kellie Cosgrove Riley, Senior Attorney, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 326-2252, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 2, 2008, the FTC sought comment on the information collection requirements associated with the GLB Privacy Rule, 16 CFR Part 313 (OMB Control Number 3084-0121). See 73 FR 17980. No comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB regulations, 5 CFR Part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB approval to extend the existing PRA clearance for the Rule. All comments should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before July 28, 2008. The GLB Privacy Rule is designed to ensure that customers and consumers, subject to certain exceptions, will have access to the privacy policies of the financial institutions with which they conduct business. As mandated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. 6801- 6809, the Rule requires financial institutions to disclose to consumers: (1) initial notice of the financial institution's privacy policy when establishing a customer relationship with a consumer and/or before sharing a consumer's non-public personal information with certain nonaffiliated third parties; (2) notice of the consumer's right to opt out of information sharing with such parties; (3) annual notice of the institution's privacy policy to any continuing customer; and (4) notice of changes in the institution's practices on information sharing. These requirements are subject to the PRA. The Rule does not require recordkeeping. Estimated annual hours burden: As noted in the original burden estimate for the GLB Privacy Rule, determining the paperwork burden of the Rule's disclosure requirements is very difficult because of the highly diverse group of [[Page 36516]] affected entities, consisting of financial institutions not regulated by a federal financial regulatory agency. See 15 U.S.C. 6805 (committing to the Commission's jurisdiction entities that are not specifically subject to another agency's jurisdiction). The burden estimates represent the FTC staff's best assessment, based on its knowledge and expertise relating to the financial institutions subject to the Commission's jurisdiction under this law. To derive these estimates, staff considered the wide variations in covered entities. In some instances, covered entities may make the required disclosures in the ordinary course of business, apart from the GLB Privacy Rule. In addition, some entities may use highly automated means to provide the required disclosures, while others may rely on methods requiring more manual effort. The burden estimates shown below include the time that may be necessary to train staff to comply with the regulations. These figures are averages based on staff's best estimate of the burden incurred over the broad spectrum of covered entities. Staff retains its prior estimate of the number of entities each year that will address the GLB Privacy Rule for the first time (5,000) and its estimate of established entities already familiar with the Rule (100,000). While the number of established entities familiar with the Rule would theoretically increase each year with the addition of new entrants, staff retains its previous estimate of established entities given that a number of the established entities will close in any given year, and also given the difficulty of establishing a more precise estimate. Staff's burden estimates for new entrants and established entities are detailed in the charts below. Start-up hours and labor costs for new entrants: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Approx. Approx. Hourly wage Hours per Approx. Total Total Event and labor Respondent Number of Annual Labor category* Respondents Hrs. Costs ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reviewin $31.66 20 5,000 100,000 $3,166,00 g managerial/ 0 interna profession l al policie s and develop ing GLBA- impleme nting instruc tions** --------- Creating $14.71 5 5,000 25,000 $367,750 disclos clerical ure documen t or electro nic disclos ure (includ ing initial , annual, and opt out disclos ures) --------- $32.82 10 ............. 50,000 $1,641,00 profession 0 al/ technical --------- Dissemin $14.71 15 5,000 75,000 $1,103,25 ating clerical 0 initial disclos ure (includ ing opt out notices ) --------- $32.82 10 ............. 50,000 $1,641,00 profession 0 al/ technical --------- Total ........... ............ ............. 300,000 $7,919,00 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly cost figures to burden hours. The hourly rates used were based on mean wages for managerial/professional time (e.g., compliance evaluation and/or planning), professional/technical time (e.g., designing and producing notices, reviewing and updating information systems), and clerical time (e.g., reproduction tasks, filing, and, where applicable to the given event, typing or mailing). See BLS National Compensation Survey, June 2006, Table 1, available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ ncbl0910.pdf (Management, professional, and related; office and administrative support) and BLS Occupational Employment and Wages 2006,Table 2, available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ ocwage.pdf (professional, scientific, and technical services - business and financial operations). Labor cost totals reflect solely that of the commercial entities affected. Staff assumes that the time required of consumers to respond affirmatively to respondents' opt-out programs (be it manually or electronically) would be minimal. ** Reviewing instructions includes all efforts performed by or for the respondent to: determine whether and to what extent the respondent is covered by an agency collection of information, understand the nature of the request, and determine the appropriate response (including the creation and dissemination of document and/or electronic disclosures). Burden hours and costs for established entities: Burden for established entities already familiar with the Rule predictably would be less than for start-up entities because start-up costs, such as crafting a privacy policy, are generally one-time costs and have already been incurred. Staff's best estimate of the average burden for these entities is as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Approx. Approx. Hourly wage Hours per Approx. Number Total Total Event and labor Respondent of Annual Labor category* Respondents** Hours Costs ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reviewi $31.66 4 70,000 280,000 $8,864,8 ng managerial/ 00 GLBA- profession implem al enting polici es and practi ces -------- [[Page 36517]] Dissemi $14.71 15 70,000 1,050,000 $15,445, nating clerical 500 annual disclo sure -------- $32.82 5 ............... 350,000 $11,487, profession 000 al/ technical -------- Changes $14.71 15 1,000 15,000 $220,650 to clerical privac y polici es and relate d disclo sures -------- $32.82 5 ............... 5,000 $164,100 profession al/ technical -------- Total ........... ............ ............... 1,700,000 $36,182, 050 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly cost figures to burden hours; labor cost totals reflect solely that of the commercial entities affected. The hourly rates used were based on mean wages for managerial/professional time (e.g., compliance evaluation and/or planning), professional/technical time (e.g., designing and producing notices, reviewing and updating information systems), and clerical time (e.g., reproduction tasks, filing, and, where applicable to the given event, typing or mailing). See BLS National Compensation Survey, June 2006, Table 1, available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ ncbl0910.pdf (Management, professional, and related; office and administrative support) and BLS Occupational Employment and Wages 2006,Table 2, available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ ocwage.pdf (professional, scientific, and technical services - business and financial operations). Consumers have a continuing right to opt-out, as well as a right to revoke their opt-out at any time. When a respondent changes its information sharing practices, consumers are again given the opportunity to opt-out. Again, staff assumes that the time required of consumers to respond affirmatively to respondents' opt-out programs (be it manually or electronically) would be minimal. ** The estimate of respondents is based on the following assumptions: (1) 100,000 respondents, approximately 70% of whom maintain customer relationships exceeding one year, (2) no more than 1% (1,000) of whom make additional changes to privacy policies at any time other than the occasion of the annual notice; and (3) such changes will occur no more often than once per year. As calculated above, the total annual PRA burden hours and labor costs for all affected entities in a given year would be 2,000,000 hours and $44,101,000, respectively. Estimated Capital/Other Non-Labor Costs Burden: Staff believes that capital or other non-labor costs associated with the document requests are minimal. Covered entities will already be equipped to provide written notices (e.g., computers with word processing programs, typewriters, copying machines, mailing capabilities). Most likely, only entities that already have on-line capabilities will offer consumers the choice to receive notices via electronic format. As such, these entities will already be equipped with the computer equipment and software necessary to disseminate the required disclosures via electronic means. David C. Shonka, Acting General Counsel. [FR Doc. E8-14621 Filed 6-26-08: 8:45 am]
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