[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65855-65856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-26405]
[[Page 65855]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The FTC intends to conduct consumer survey research to advance
its understanding of the experiences of consumers who interact with
consumer reporting agencies (``CRAs'') following an incident of
identity theft. The results of this research will inform and guide the
Commission's future enforcement and education efforts. This is the
second of two notices required under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(``PRA''), and the Commission seeks additional public comments on its
proposed consumer research before requesting Office of Management and
Budget (``OMB'') review of, and clearance for, the collection of
information discussed herein.
DATES: Comments must be filed by December 5, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``Consumer
Experiences with CRAs Research: FTC File No. P065405'' to facilitate
the organization of comments. Please note that comments will be placed
on the public record of this proceeding -- including on the publicly
accessible FTC website, at (http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm)
-- and therefore should not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, comments should not include any sensitive
personal information, such as an individual'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. Comments also should
not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records
or other individually identifiable health information. In addition,
comments should not include any ``[t]rade secrets and commercial or
financial information obtained from a person and privileged or
confidential. . . .,'' as provided 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). 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).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ FTC 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 FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because paper mail addressed to the FTC is subject to delay due to
heightened security screening, please consider submitting your comments
in electronic form. Comments filed in electronic form should be
submitted by using the following weblink: (https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-factasurvey) (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 weblink : (https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-factasurvey). If
this Notice appears at (http://www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp),
you may also file an electronic comment through that website. The
Commission will consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to
it. You may also visit the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov to read
the Notice and the news release describing it.
A comment filed in paper form should include the reference
``Consumer Experiences with CRAs Research: FTC File No. P065405'' 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 H-135 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20580. 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.
All comments should additionally be submitted to: Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, 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. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive
public comments that it receives, whether filed in paper or electronic
form. Comments received will be available to the public on the FTC
website, to the extent practicable, at (http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm). As a matter of discretion, the Commission 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: Requests for additional information
should be addressed to Pavneet Singh or Anthony Rodriguez, Attorneys,
Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Mail Stop NJ-3158, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2252.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of
information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information''
means agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit
reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 44
U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c).
On July 1, 2008, the Commission sought public comments concerning
the proposed collection of information. See 73 FR 37457. The Commission
received a total of six comments, five from consumers and one from the
Consumer Data Industry Association (``CDIA'').
Three of the consumer comments reflected their experiences as
victims of identity theft and two of the consumer comments contained
general statements regarding CRAs.
CDIA's comments acknowledged that surveying consumers is helpful,
but raised concerns regarding the scope and methodology of the proposed
research. Regarding the scope of the survey, CDIA stated that the FTC
should also survey consumer experiences when exercising other Fair and
Accurate Credit Transactions Act (``FACT ACT'') rights and not limit
the survey to rights associated with CRAs. To better address the
purposes of this survey, however, the FTC will focus on those rights
associated with CRAs. Although a broader scope may be desirable for
further study or enforcement, the FTC believes that quality of
responses will be improved by focusing on a related group of rights.
CDIA also raised concerns that the research relies too much on
consumer recollections that may erode over time, and that the research
will measure
[[Page 65856]]
consumer perceptions versus actual experiences. Although consumer
recollection may be imperfect, its invocation is a common and accepted
practice in survey research. Moreover, the FTC is surveying consumers
about their relatively recent experiences when exercising their FACT
Act rights. Their recollections should be relatively fresh, and the FTC
believes it is appropriate to rely on them in this consumer research.
CDIA further asserted that the FTC's reliance on consumers who have
reported data to the FTC's ID theft clearinghouse will skew the results
because such consumers will not be representative of the general
population. The FTC believes that reliance on consumers who have
previously communicated with the agency is the only economically
feasible means to generate a sample of identity theft victims and to
gather information. The 2006 FTC Identity Theft Survey found that 3.7%
of Americans had been victims of identity theft in the previous year.
In order for a survey of the general population to reliably contact
4,000 identity theft victims,\2\ over 100,000 consumers would have to
be surveyed. The cost of such a large survey would be prohibitive.
Sending the survey only to consumers who have reported data to the
FTC's ID theft clearinghouse allows the FTC to reach the same number of
identity theft victims for a fraction of the cost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ As explained further in the ensuing discussion of the
proposed collection of information, staff anticipates mailing the
survey to approximately 3,000 to 4,000 individuals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FTC acknowledges that the survey will not be representative of
the general population, and will not attempt to project its results
beyond consumers who have reported to the FTC. Instead, the Commission
will use the survey to examine the kinds of problems, if any, that such
consumers experience while exercising their FACTA rights. The FTC thus
intends to utilize a survey sample from consumers who have previously
communicated with the agency and not incur the cost and burden of
finding a sample from the general population.
Pursuant to the OMB regulations that implement the PRA (5 CFR Part
1320), the Commission is providing this second opportunity for public
comment while seeking OMB clearance for the survey. All comments should
be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be
received on or before December 5, 2008.
1. Description of the collection of information and proposed use
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (``FCRA'') provides identity theft
victims with certain rights, such as the ability to place fraud alerts
on their credit files, designed to assist them in avoiding or
mitigating the harms they suffer as a result of the crime.
The Commission intends to use consumer survey research to advance
its understanding of the experiences of identity theft victims who
interact with CRAs and who seek to avail themselves of their FCRA
remedies. The consumer research will include focus group interviews of
30 consumers, to be followed by a pretesting phase consisting of phone
interviews of another 30 consumers, and then mail surveys sent to
individual consumers. The Commission seeks information from consumers
who have been victims of identity theft and who have contacted one or
more of the three nationwide CRAs for assistance. The information from
consumers will be collected on a voluntary basis and will be kept
anonymous. The FTC staff will identify consumers to be contacted for
each phase of the research from a random selection of consumers who
have communicated with the FTC's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse
database between January 1, 2008 and May 30, 2008. Staff is seeking
approximately 1,000 returned surveys because that input would enable it
to project the results from the sample to the population from which the
sample was drawn with a maximum error rate of 3%. Assuming a response
rate of about 25%-30%, this would require staff to mail the survey to
approximately 3,000-4,000 individuals.
Questions to identity theft victims in the research will address
several topics, including but not limited to: their experiences when
they contacted one or more CRAs and whether they received the required
notice of rights from CRAs; their access to free credit reports; and
their ability to place fraud alerts on their files, dispute inaccurate
information, and block information due to identity theft. The results
of the focus groups and mail surveys will assist the Commission in
assessing the experiences of identity theft victims when they interact
with CRAs. This assessment will help to inform and guide the FTC's
future efforts to enforce provisions of the FCRA and to educate
consumers and the consumer reporting industry of their rights and
obligations under the FCRA.
2. Estimated hours burden
Absent public comments on the FTC's previously stated burden
analysis, the FTC is retaining and restating here for further comment
its prior burden estimates. The FTC staff proposes to interview 30
consumers divided into three separate focus groups of 10 persons each,
and estimates that each consumer will spend approximately one hour to
participate. Thus, the estimated total burden imposed by the focus
groups will be approximately 30 hours. Staff estimates that respondents
to the mail survey will require, on average, approximately 8 minutes to
answer the survey (based on anticipated variations among consumers when
they interacted with CRAs). Staff will pretest the survey through phone
interviews of approximately 30 respondents to ensure that all questions
are easily understood. The pretest will total approximately 4 hours
cumulatively (30 respondents x 8 minutes each). For the full survey,
the staff intends to mail 3,000-4,000 surveys and anticipates receiving
a response rate as high as 30% of the consumer recipients (i.e., 900-
1,200 responses). Assuming 1,200 consumers respond to the survey, staff
further estimates the final survey will require approximately 160 hours
to complete (1,200 respondents x 8 minutes each). Thus, cumulative
burden hours for the clearance would total 194 hours.
3. Estimated cost burden
The cost per respondent should be negligible. Participation is
voluntary and will not require start-up, capital, or labor expenditures
by respondents.
William Blumenthal,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. E8-26405 Filed 11-4-08: 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-S