Superior Mortgage Corporation; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment, 58414-58415 [05-20042]

Agencies

• FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 193 (Thursday, October 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58414-58415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20042]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 052 3136]


Superior Mortgage Corporation; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order 
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 or unfair methods of competition. 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 October 27, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. 
Comments should refer to ``Superior Mortgage, File No. 052 3136,'' 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/Office of the Secretary, Room 159-H, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Comments containing confidential 
material must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with Commission Rule 4.9(c). 16 CFR 
4.9(c) (2005).\1\ The FTC 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 Commission is subject to 
delay due to heightened security precautions. Comments that do not 
contain any nonpublic information may instead be filed in electronic 
form as part of or as an attachment to e-mail messages directed to the 
following e-mail box: consentagreement@ftc.gov.
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    \1\ 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).
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    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, whether filed 
in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and 
will be available to the public on the FTC Web site, to the extent 
practicable, at https://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 Web site. More information, including routine uses permitted by 
the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's privacy policy, at https://
www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Rich, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 
326-3224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 38 Stat. 721, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and Sec.  2.34 of 
the Commission Rules of Practice, 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 28, 2005), on the World Wide Web, at https://

[[Page 58415]]

www.ftc.gov/os/2005/09/index.htm. A paper copy can be obtained from the 
FTC Public Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-2222.
    Public comments are invited, and may be filed with the Commission 
in either paper or electronic form. All comments should be filed as 
prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or 
before the date specified in the DATES section.

Analysis of Agreement Containing Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission has accepted a consent agreement, 
subject to final approval, from Superior Mortgage Corp. (``Superior 
Mortgage''). Superior Mortgage is a mortgage lender specializing in 
residential mortgage loans with headquarters in Tuckerton, New Jersey. 
Superior Mortgage collects sensitive customer information, including 
customer names, Social Security numbers, credit histories, and bank and 
credit card account numbers, and is a ``financial institution'' subject 
to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act's Standards for Safeguarding Customer 
Information Rule, 16 CFR part 314 (``Safeguards Rule'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed in 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 other appropriate action or make 
final the agreement's proposed order.
    This matter concerns Superior Mortgage's alleged violations of the 
Safeguards Rule, as well as alleged security misrepresentations to 
consumers on Superior Mortgage's Web site. The Safeguards Rule, which 
became effective on May 23, 2003, requires financial institutions to 
implement reasonable policies and procedures to ensure the security and 
confidentiality of customer information, including:
     Designating one or more employees to coordinate the 
information security program;
     Identifying reasonably foreseeable internal and external 
risks to the security, confidentiality, and integrity of customer 
information, and assessing the sufficiency of any safeguards in place 
to control those risks;
     Designing and implementing information safeguards to 
control the risks identified through risk assessment, and regularly 
testing or otherwise monitoring the effectiveness of the safeguards' 
key controls, systems, and procedures;
     Overseeing service providers, and requiring them by 
contract to protect the security and confidentiality of customer 
information; and
     Evaluating and adjusting the information security program 
in light of the results of testing and monitoring, changes to the 
business operation, and other relevant circumstances.
    The Commission's complaint alleges that Superior Mortgage failed to 
implement the protections required by the Safeguards Rule and, 
specifically, that it failed to: (1) Assess risks to its customer 
information until more than a year after the Safeguard Rule's effective 
date; (2) institute appropriate password policies to control access to 
company systems and documents containing sensitive customer 
information; (3) encrypt or otherwise protect sensitive customer 
information before sending it by e-mail; and (4) take reasonable steps 
to ensure that its service providers were providing appropriate 
security for customer information and addressing known security risks 
in a timely fashion.
    The complaint also alleges that Superior Mortgage violated section 
5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (``FTC Act'') by representing 
that the personal information it obtained from consumers through http:/
/www.supmort.com was encrypted using SSL from the time of submission 
until receipt by Superior Mortgage, when in fact that information was 
encrypted only while it was being transmitted between a visitor's Web 
browser and the Web site's server (using SSL); once the information 
reached the server, it was decrypted and e-mailed to Superior 
Mortgage's headquarters and branch offices in clear, readable text.
    The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent Superior 
Mortgage from future practices similar to those alleged in the 
complaint. Specifically, part I of the proposed order prohibits 
Superior Mortgage from misrepresenting the extent to which it maintains 
and protects the privacy, confidentiality, or security of any personal 
information collected from or about consumers. Part II of the proposed 
order prohibits Superior Mortgage from violating the Safeguards Rule. 
Part III of the proposed order requires that Superior Mortgage obtain, 
within 180 days after being served with the final order approved by the 
Commission, and on a biennial basis thereafter for ten (10) years, an 
assessment and report from a qualified, objective, independent third-
party professional, certifying that: (1) Superior Mortgage has in place 
a security program that provides protections that meet or exceed the 
protections required by the Safeguards Rule, and (2) Superior 
Mortgage's security program is operating with sufficient effectiveness 
to provide reasonable assurance that the security, confidentiality, and 
integrity of nonpublic personal information has been protected. This 
provision is substantially similar to comparable provisions obtained in 
prior Commission orders under the Safeguards Rule and Section 5 of the 
FTC Act. See, e.g., Sunbelt Lending Servs., Inc., FTC Docket No. C-4129 
(Jan. 7, 2005); Tower Records, FTC Docket No. C-4110 (June 2, 2004).
    Part III of the proposed order also requires Superior Mortgage to 
retain documents relating to compliance. For the assessments and 
supporting documents, Superior Mortgage must retain the documents for 
three (3) years after the date that each assessment is prepared.
    Parts IV through VII of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part IV requires dissemination of the order now 
and in the future to persons with supervisory responsibilities. Part V 
ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status. Part VI 
mandates that Superior Mortgage submit compliance reports to the FTC. 
Part VII 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 order or to modify its terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-20042 Filed 10-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P