80 FR 25677 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 86 (May 5, 2015)

The FTC plans to conduct a study to examine the factors influencing consumers' decisions to participate in a class action settlement, opt out of a class action settlement, or object to the settlement. This is the first of two notices required under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') seeking public comments on proposed research before requesting Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') review of, and clearance for, the collection of information discussed herein.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25677-25679]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10419]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or ``FTC'').

[[Page 25678]]


ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC plans to conduct a study to examine the factors 
influencing consumers' decisions to participate in a class action 
settlement, opt out of a class action settlement, or object to the 
settlement. This is the first of two notices required under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') seeking public comments on proposed 
research before requesting Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') 
review of, and clearance for, the collection of information discussed 
herein.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/decidingfactorsstudypra online or on 
paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Class Action 
Deciding Factors Study, Project No. P024210'' on your comment, and file 
your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/decidingfactorsstudypra by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Class Action 
Deciding Factors Study, Project No. P024210'' 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 J),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 J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Moore, Attorney, 202-326-2167, 
Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Commission's Class Action Fairness Project strives to ensure 
that class action settlements in consumer protection and competition 
matters provide appropriate benefits to consumers and that class action 
counsel or defendants are not inappropriately benefitting at the 
expense of class members. As part of this program, the FTC monitors 
class actions and files amicus briefs or intervenes in appropriate 
cases;\1\ coordinates with state, federal, and private groups to advise 
them and to seek suggestions on matters that merit FTC attention; and 
monitors the progress of legislation and class action rule changes.
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    \1\ See e.g., FTC's Mem. of Law as Amicus Curiae, Nwabueze v. 
AT&T, Inc., 3:09-cv-1529 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 30, 2013), available at 
https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/nwabueze-v.att-inc./130830nwabuezeamicus.pdf; FTC's Mem. of Law as 
Amicus Curiae, White v. EDebitPay, LLC, 2:11-cv-06738 (C.D. Cal. 
Aug. 9, 2013), available at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/anita-white-et-al.v.edebitpay-l.l.c.et-al.no.211-cv-06738-cbm-ffm-c.d.cal-august-9-2013/130809edebitpayamicusbrief.pdf; Mot. of FTC for Leave to File Brief 
as Amicus Curiae, Moore v. Verizon Commc'ns, Inc., 4:09-cv-08123 
(N.D. Cal. Aug. 17, 2012), available at https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/amicus_briefs/moore-v.verizon-communications-inc./120817mooreverizonamicusbrief.pdf.
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II. The FTC's Proposed Study

A. Study Description

    To further these goals, the FTC plans to conduct a consumer 
research study to determine what factors influence a consumer's 
decision to participate in a class action settlement, opt out of a 
class action settlement, or object to the settlement. Specifically, the 
study will examine whether consumers' comprehension of their options, 
the amount consumers expect to receive from the settlement, or the 
complexity of the settlement process impacts their decision to 
participate in a settlement. To conduct the study, FTC staff will 
directly contact consumers who have received class action notices. We 
plan to use the results, along with other information such as public 
comments, to guide the FTC's Class Action Fairness Project.
    Having considered the costs and benefits of various data collection 
methods, the FTC staff has concluded that directly contacting 
recipients of nationwide class action notices will provide the most 
efficient way to collect data to meet the research objectives within a 
feasible budget. Thus, the FTC proposes to collect responses from a 
broad spectrum of the U.S. adult population. Participants will be drawn 
from information provided by settlement administrators who have 
administered nationwide class actions. All participation will be 
voluntary. While the results will not be generalizable to the U.S. 
population, the Commission believes that they will provide useful 
insights into consumer understanding of the claims being considered.

B. PRA Burden Analysis

    Staff estimates that respondents will require, on average, 20 
minutes to complete the questionnaire. Staff will pretest the 
questionnaire with approximately 100 respondents to ensure that all 
questions are easily understood. Allowing for an extra three minutes 
for questions unique to the pretest, the pretest will total 
approximately 38 hours, cumulatively (100 respondents x 23 minutes 
each). Once the pretest is completed, the FTC plans to seek information 
from up to 8,000 respondents for approximately 20 minutes each. Thus, 
respondents will cumulatively take approximately 2,700 hours. The cost 
per respondent should be negligible. Participation will not require 
start up, capital, or labor expenditures.

III. Request for Comment

    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.\2\ As required by Section 
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for 
public comment before requesting that OMB extend the existing paperwork 
clearance for the regulations noted herein.
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    \2\ 44 U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c).
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    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) Whether the reporting requirements are necessary, 
including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the 
accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the methodology and 
assumptions used are valid; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before July 6, 2015. 
Write ``Class Action Deciding Factors Study, Project No. P024210'' 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 http://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

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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 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). 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).\3\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest.
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    \3\ 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).
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    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/decidingfactorsstudypra, by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Class Action Deciding 
Factors Study, Project No. P024210'' on your comment and on the 
envelope and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Room 
CC-5610 (Annex J), 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 
J), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://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 July 6, 2015. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-10419 Filed 5-4-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P