80 FR 51263 - Pinger, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 163 (August 24, 2015)

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 draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 163 (Monday, August 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51263-51264]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20809]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 152 3137]


Pinger, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public 
Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 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 September 16, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/pingerconsent online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Pinger, Inc.--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 152 3137'' on your comment and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/pingerconsent by 
following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, write ``Pinger, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File 
No. 152 3137'' 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Monique Einhorn, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection ((202) 326-2575), 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 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 August 17, 2015), on the World Wide Web at: 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before September 16, 
2015. Write ``Pinger, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 152 3137'' 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 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 discussed 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).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a

[[Page 51264]]

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/pingerconsent 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 ``Pinger, Inc.--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 152 3137'' 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.
    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 September 16, 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.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement applicable to 
Pinger, Inc. (``Pinger'').
    The proposed consent 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 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 Pinger made to consumers concerning its participation in the Safe 
Harbor privacy frameworks agreed upon by the U.S. and the European 
Union (``EU'') and the U.S. and Switzerland (collectively, ``Safe 
Harbor Frameworks''). The Safe Harbor Frameworks allow U.S. companies 
to transfer data outside the EU and Switzerland consistent with EU and 
Swiss law. To join the Safe Harbor Frameworks, a company must self-
certify to the U.S. Department of Commerce (``Commerce'') that it 
complies with a set of principles and related requirements that have 
been deemed by the European Commission and Switzerland as providing 
``adequate'' privacy protection. These principles include notice, 
choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and 
enforcement. Commerce maintains a public Web site, www.export.gov/safeharbor, where it posts the names of companies that have self-
certified to the Safe Harbor Frameworks. The listing of companies 
indicates whether their self-certification is ``current'' or ``not 
current.'' Companies are required to re-certify every year in order to 
retain their status as ``current'' members of the Safe Harbor 
Frameworks.
    Pinger develops apps for mobile phones and tablets. According to 
the Commission's complaint, Pinger has set forth on its Web site, 
www.pinger.com/content/company/privacypolicy.html, privacy policies and 
statements about its practices, including statements related to its 
participation in the Safe Harbor Frameworks.
    The Commission's complaint alleges that Pinger falsely represented 
that it was a ``current''' participant in the Safe Harbor Frameworks 
when, in fact, from March 2014 until April 2015, Pinger was not a 
``current''' participant in the Safe Harbor Frameworks. The 
Commission's complaint alleges that in March 2011, Pinger submitted its 
self-certification to the Safe Harbor Frameworks. Pinger did not renew 
its self-certification in March 2014 and Commerce subsequently updated 
Pinger's status to ``not current'' on its public Web site. In May 2015, 
Pinger recertified with Commerce and is now a current participant in 
the Safe Harbor Frameworks.
    Part I of the proposed order prohibits Pinger 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 U.S.-
EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework.
    Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part II requires Pinger to retain documents 
relating to its compliance with the order for a five-year period. Part 
III requires 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. Part V mandates that Pinger submit an initial compliance report 
to the FTC, and make available to the FTC subsequent reports. Part VI 
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 complaint or order or to modify the 
order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-20809 Filed 8-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P