EmpiriStat, Inc.; Analysis To Aid Public Comment, 47298-47299 [2019-19395]
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47298
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 174 / Monday, September 9, 2019 / Notices
program sponsored by the government
or any other self-regulatory or standardsetting organization, including, but not
limited to, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy
Shield framework.
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. 2019–19393 Filed 9–6–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 182 3195]
EmpiriStat, Inc.; Analysis To Aid Public
Comment
Federal Trade Commission.
Proposed consent agreement;
request for comment.
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
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 9, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file
comments online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the
Request for Comment part of the
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:43 Sep 06, 2019
Jkt 247001
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below. Write: ‘‘EmpiriStat, Inc.; File No.
182 3195’’ 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:
Robin Wetherill (202–326–2220),
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
Home Page (for September 3, 2019), on
the World Wide Web, at https://
www.ftc.gov/news-events/commissionactions.
You can file a comment online or on
paper. For the Commission to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or
before October 9, 2019. Write
‘‘EmpiriStat, Inc.; File No. 182 3195’’ 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.
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 through the https://
www.regulations.gov website.
If you prefer to file your comment on
paper, write ‘‘EmpiriStat, Inc.; File No.
182 3195’’ 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
PO 00000
Frm 00066
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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 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
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 https://
www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and the
E:\FR\FM\09SEN1.SGM
09SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 174 / Monday, September 9, 2019 / Notices
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with NOTICES
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 9, 2019.
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 EmpiriStat, Inc.
(‘‘EmpiriStat’’ or ‘‘Respondent’’).
The proposed consent order
(‘‘proposed 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
EmpiriStat made concerning its
participation in and compliance with
the Privacy Shield framework agreed
upon by the U.S. and the European
Union (‘‘EU’’). The Privacy Shield
framework allows U.S. companies to
receive personal data transferred from
the EU without violating EU. The
frameworks consist of a set of principles
and related requirements that have been
deemed by the European Commission as
providing ‘‘adequate’’ privacy
protection. The principles include
notice; choice; accountability for
onward transfer; security; data integrity
and purpose limitation; access; and
recourse, enforcement, and liability. The
related requirements include, for
example, securing an independent
recourse mechanism to handle any
disputes about how the company
handles information about EU citizens.
To participate in the frameworks, a
company must comply with the Privacy
Shield principles and self-certify that
compliance to the U.S. Department of
Commerce (‘‘Commerce’’). Commerce
reviews companies’ self-certification
applications and maintains a public
website, https://www.privacyshield.gov/
list, where it posts the names of
companies who have completed the
requirements for certification.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:43 Sep 06, 2019
Jkt 247001
Companies are required to recertify
every year in order to continue
benefitting from Privacy Shield.
EmpiriStat provides statistical
analysis and clinical trial support
services. According to the Commission’s
complaint, EmpiriStat published on its
website, https://www.empiristat.com, a
privacy policy containing statements
related to its participation in Privacy
Shield.
The Commission’s proposed threecount 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 certified
participant in the EU-U.S. and SwissU.S. Privacy Shield frameworks. The
proposed complaint further alleges that
Respondent engaged in deceptive acts or
practices by representing that it
complied with those frameworks when
in fact it had failed to comply with
certain Privacy Shield requirements.
Part I of the proposed order prohibits
the company from making
misrepresentations about its
membership in any privacy or security
program sponsored by the government
or any other self-regulatory or standardsetting organization, including, but not
limited to, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy
Shield framework.
Part II of the proposed order requires
that the company affirm to Commerce
that it will either continue to apply the
Privacy Shield framework principles to
any data it received pursuant to
frameworks or will delete or return such
data.
Parts III through VI of the proposed
order are reporting and compliance
provisions. Part III 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 IV ensures
notification to the FTC of changes in
corporate status and mandates that the
company submit an initial compliance
report to the FTC. Part V 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 VI
mandates that the company make
available to the FTC information or
subsequent compliance reports, as
requested.
Part VII 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.
PO 00000
Frm 00067
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47299
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. 2019–19395 Filed 9–6–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 182 3188]
DCR Workforce, Inc.; Analysis To Aid
Public Comment
Federal Trade Commission.
Proposed consent agreement;
request for comment.
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
complaint and the terms of the consent
order—embodied in the consent
agreement—that would settle these
allegations.
SUMMARY:
Comments must be received on
or before October 9, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file
comments online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the
Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below. Write: ‘‘DCR Workforce, Inc.;
File No. 182 3188’’ 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:
Robin Wetherill (202–326–2220),
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
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\09SEN1.SGM
09SEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 174 (Monday, September 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47298-47299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19395]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 182 3195]
EmpiriStat, Inc.; Analysis To Aid Public Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 9, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file comments online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write: ``EmpiriStat, Inc.;
File No. 182 3195'' 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: Robin Wetherill (202-326-2220), 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 Home Page (for September 3, 2019), 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 9, 2019.
Write ``EmpiriStat, Inc.; File No. 182 3195'' 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.
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 through the https://www.regulations.gov website.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``EmpiriStat,
Inc.; File No. 182 3195'' 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 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 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 https://www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and
the
[[Page 47299]]
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 9, 2019. 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
EmpiriStat, Inc. (``EmpiriStat'' or ``Respondent'').
The proposed consent order (``proposed 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 EmpiriStat made concerning its participation in and compliance
with the Privacy Shield framework agreed upon by the U.S. and the
European Union (``EU''). The Privacy Shield framework allows U.S.
companies to receive personal data transferred from the EU without
violating EU. The frameworks consist of a set of principles and related
requirements that have been deemed by the European Commission as
providing ``adequate'' privacy protection. The principles include
notice; choice; accountability for onward transfer; security; data
integrity and purpose limitation; access; and recourse, enforcement,
and liability. The related requirements include, for example, securing
an independent recourse mechanism to handle any disputes about how the
company handles information about EU citizens.
To participate in the frameworks, a company must comply with the
Privacy Shield principles and self-certify that compliance to the U.S.
Department of Commerce (``Commerce''). Commerce reviews companies'
self-certification applications and maintains a public website, https://www.privacyshield.gov/list, where it posts the names of companies who
have completed the requirements for certification. Companies are
required to recertify every year in order to continue benefitting from
Privacy Shield.
EmpiriStat provides statistical analysis and clinical trial support
services. According to the Commission's complaint, EmpiriStat published
on its website, https://www.empiristat.com, a privacy policy containing
statements related to its participation in Privacy Shield.
The Commission's proposed three-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
certified participant in the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield
frameworks. The proposed complaint further alleges that Respondent
engaged in deceptive acts or practices by representing that it complied
with those frameworks when in fact it had failed to comply with certain
Privacy Shield requirements.
Part I of the proposed order prohibits the company 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. Privacy Shield
framework.
Part II of the proposed order requires that the company affirm to
Commerce that it will either continue to apply the Privacy Shield
framework principles to any data it received pursuant to frameworks or
will delete or return such data.
Parts III through VI of the proposed order are reporting and
compliance provisions. Part III 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 IV
ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status and
mandates that the company submit an initial compliance report to the
FTC. Part V 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 VI mandates that the company
make available to the FTC information or subsequent compliance reports,
as requested.
Part VII 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. 2019-19395 Filed 9-6-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P