83 FR 18060 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 80 (April 25, 2018)

The information collection requirements described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public comments on its proposal to extend for three years the current PRA clearance for information collection requirements pertaining to the Commission's administrative activities. That clearance expires on April 30, 2018, and consists of: (a) Requests to the Commission primarily under Parts I and IV of the Commission's Rules of Practice; (b) the FTC's consumer complaint systems; and (c) the FTC's program evaluation activities.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18060-18061]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08627]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Extension

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will 
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, 
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public 
comments on its proposal to extend for three years the current PRA 
clearance for information collection requirements pertaining to the 
Commission's administrative activities. That clearance expires on April 
30, 2018, and consists of: (a) Requests to the Commission primarily 
under Parts I and IV of the Commission's Rules of Practice; (b) the 
FTC's consumer complaint systems; and (c) the FTC's program evaluation 
activities.

DATES: Comments must be filed by May 25, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Paperwork Reduction 
Act: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/adminactivitiespra2, 
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 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: For purposes specific to this Federal 
Register Notice: (a) Requests to the Commission: Gary Greenfield 
(Office of the General Counsel), 202-326-2753; (b) Complaint Systems: 
Nicholas Mastrocinque (Nick M.) and Ami Dziekan (Ami D.) (Bureau of 
Consumer Protection); Nick M., 202-326-3188 and Ami D., 202-326-2648; 
and (c) Program Evaluations: Jennifer Lee (Divestiture Orders), 202-
326-2246; Derek Moore (Review of Competition Advocacy Program), 202-
326-3367.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 22, 2018, the FTC sought public 
comment on the information collection requirements associated with the 
Commission's administrative activities (``January 22, 2018 Notice'' 
\1\). As required by OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement 
the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the FTC is providing this second 
opportunity for public comment.
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    \1\ 83 FR 2988.
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    Most comments on the January 22, 2018 Federal Register Notice were 
non-germane, but five comments questioned the reliability of FTC 
randomly sampling consumer complainants for feedback regarding ftc.gov 
complaint sites.\2\ The public comments appear focused on the veracity 
and quality of the complaints and request that the FTC admit only 
complaints from consumers who are not ``misguided'' and who demonstrate 
``critical thinking skills.'' The FTC simply cannot verify the millions 
of complaints it receives and so it makes clear to law enforcement 
users of the system that the information is unverified. It is the role 
of the Sentinel user to judge the veracity of the complaints. For 
example, the FTC often seeks signed declarations to verify consumer 
experiences. Additionally, Bureau of Consumer Protection staff meets 
periodically with its law enforcement partners to help determine how 
Sentinel can provide the information needed to open and successfully 
prosecute civil or criminal consumer fraud cases.
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    \2\ Comments of Samuel Meyer; Anthony Clavien; Corey Bates (CEO, 
Auto Connection); Gary Jodat of Jodat Law Group; Aaron Leidler of 
Keller Williams Realty (Brentwood, CA).
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    The agency conducts surveys to determine consumer satisfaction with 
the complaint intake systems. The agency uses the American Consumer 
Satisfaction Index (ACSI) to conduct its survey of the Consumer 
Response Center. ACSI uses random samples of customer interviews as 
input to a multi-equation econometric model. Such sampling is a 
practical measure given the vast volume of consumer complaints entering 
Sentinel and the limited number of consumers who provide substantive 
feedback.
    For the ftc.gov complaint sites, the FTC uses a full-measure survey 
called ForeSee on the Complaint Assistant. When consumers complete the 
complaint form and hit ``Submit,'' they are given the invitation to 
take the survey. The consumer can choose to take the survey or not. The 
survey is not presented to anyone who does not complete and submit the 
complaint form. The survey's key goal is to enable a smooth consumer 
complaint reporting experience that will result in a consumer complaint 
entering Sentinel.
    Burden Statement: As detailed in the January 22, 2018 Notice, the 
FTC estimates cumulative annual burden on affected entities to be 
1,167,181 hours and $25,240 in labor costs. There are no capital, start 
up, operation, maintenance, or other similar costs to the affected 
entities.
    Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For 
the FTC to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before May 
25, 2018. Write ``Paperwork Reduction Act: FTC File No. P072108'' 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 website, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm.
    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, or to send them to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/adminactivitiespra2, by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. When this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, 
you also may file a comment through that website.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Paperwork Reduction Act: 
FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail it 
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,

[[Page 18061]]

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.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC 
website at https://www.ftc.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.
    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 May 25, 2018. 
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. For supporting documentation and other 
information underlying the PRA discussion in this Notice, see http://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/PRA/praDashboard.jsp.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent 
by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office 
Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, 
DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail, however, are 
subject to delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, 
comments instead can also be sent by email to [email protected].

David C. Shonka,
Principal Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-08627 Filed 4-24-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P