83 FR 49557 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 191 (October 2, 2018)

Page Range		49557-49559
FR Document		2018-21377

The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') to extend for an additional three years the current Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for information collection requirements contained in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule (``COPPA Rule'' or ``Rule''), which will expire on January 31, 2019.

Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 191 (Tuesday, October 2, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49557-49559]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21377]

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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget
(``OMB'') to extend for an additional three years the current Paperwork
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for information collection
requirements contained in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
Rule (``COPPA Rule'' or ``Rule''), which will expire on January 31,
2019.

DATES: Comments must be filed by December 3, 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 ``COPPA Rule: Paperwork
Comment, FTC File No. P155408'' on your comment, and file your comment
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/coppapra, 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: Requests for additional information
should be addressed to Peder Magee, Attorney, (202) 326-3538, Division
of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection,
Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The COPPA Rule, 16 CFR part 312, requires
commercial websites to provide notice and obtain parents' consent
before collecting, using, and/or disclosing personal information from
children under age 13, with limited exceptions. The COPPA Rule contains
certain statutorily required notice, consent, and other requirements
that apply to operators of any commercial website or online service
directed to children, and operators of any commercial website or online
service with actual knowledge of collecting personal information from
children. Covered operators must: provide online notice and direct
notice to parents of how they collect, use, and disclose children's
personal information; obtain the prior consent of the child's parent in
order to engage in such collection, use, and disclosure, with limited
exceptions; provide reasonable means for the parent to obtain access to
the information and to direct its deletion; and, establish procedures
that protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of personal
information collected from children.

Burden Statement

1. Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 17,500 Hours

(a) New Entrant Web Operators' Disclosure Burden
Based on public comments received by the Commission during its 2013
COPPA Rule amendments rulemaking,\1\ FTC staff estimates that the Rule
affects approximately 280 new operators per year.\2\ Staff maintains
its longstanding estimate that new operators of websites and online
services will require, on average, approximately 60 hours crafting a
privacy policy, designing mechanisms to provide the required online
privacy notice and, where applicable, the direct notice to parents.\3\
Applied to the estimated number of new operators per year, this yields
a cumulative yearly total of 16,800 hours (280 new operators x 60 hours
each).
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\1\ 78 FR 3971 at 4005 (Jan. 17, 2013).
\2\ This consists of certain traditional website operators,
mobile app developers, plug-in developers, and advertising networks.
\3\ See, e.g., 78 FR at 4006; 76 FR 31334 (May 31, 2011); 73 FR
35689 (June 24, 2008); 70 FR 21107 (Apr. 22, 2005); 80 FR 57818
(Sept. 25, 2015); 80 FR 76491 (Dec. 9, 2015).
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(b) Safe Harbor Applicant Reporting Requirements
Operators can comply with the COPPA Rule by meeting the terms of
industry self-regulatory guidelines that the Commission approves after
notice and comment.\4\ While the submission of industry self-regulatory
guidelines to the agency is voluntary, the COPPA Rule sets out the
criteria for approval of guidelines and the materials that must be
submitted as part of a safe harbor application. Staff estimates that it
would require, on average, 265 hours per new safe harbor program
applicant to prepare and submit its safe harbor proposal in accordance
with Section 312.11(c) of the Rule.\5\ In the past, industry sources
have confirmed that this estimate is reasonable. Given that several
safe harbor programs are already available to website operators, FTC
staff believes that it is unlikely that more than one additional safe
harbor applicant will submit a request within the next three years of
PRA clearance

[[Page 49558]]

sought. Thus, annualized burden attributable to this requirement would
be approximately 88 hours per year (265 hours / 3 years) or, roughly,
100 hours, for the estimated one additional safe harbor applicant.
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\4\ See Section 312.11(c). Approved self-regulatory guidelines
can be found on the FTC's website at http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens_shp.html.
\5\ Staff believes that most of the records submitted with a
safe harbor request would be those that these entities have kept in
the ordinary course of business. Under 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2), OMB
excludes from the definition of PRA burden the time and financial
resources needed to comply with agency-imposed recordkeeping,
disclosure, or reporting requirements that customarily would be
undertaken independently in the normal course of business.
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(c) Annual Audit and Report for Safe Harbor Programs
The COPPA Rule requires safe harbor programs to audit their members
at least annually and to submit annual reports to the Commission on the
aggregate results of these member audits. The burden for conducting
member audits and preparing these reports likely will vary for each
safe harbor program depending on the number of members. Commission
staff estimates that conducting audits and preparing reports will
require approximately 100 hours per program per year. Aggregated for
one new safe harbor (100 hours) and seven existing (700 hours) safe
harbor programs, this amounts to an estimated cumulative reporting
burden of 800 hours per year.
(d) Safe Harbor Program Recordkeeping Requirements
FTC staff believes that most of the records listed in the COPPA
Rule's safe harbor recordkeeping provisions consist of documentation
that such parties have kept in the ordinary course of business
irrespective of the COPPA Rule. As noted above, OMB excludes from the
definition of PRA burden, among other things, recordkeeping
requirements that customarily would be undertaken independently in the
normal course of business. In staff's view, any incremental burden,
such as that for maintaining the results of independent assessments
under section 312.11(d), would be marginal.

2. Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $5,768,900

(a) New Entrant Web Operators' Disclosure Burden
Consistent with its past estimates and based on its 2013 rulemaking
record, FTC staff assumes that the time spent on compliance for new
operators covered by the COPPA Rule would be apportioned five to one
between legal (outside counsel lawyers or similar professionals) and
technical (e.g., computer programmers, software developers, and
information security analysts) personnel. Staff therefore estimates
that outside counsel costs will account for 14,000 of the estimated
16,800 hours required as estimated in 1(a) above. Regarding outside
counsel costs, FTC staff believes it reasonable to assume that the
workload among law firm partners and associates for COPPA compliance
questions would be distributed among attorneys at varying levels of
seniority, and be weighted most heavily to junior attorneys. Assuming
two-thirds of such work is done by junior associates at a rate of
approximately $300 per hour, and one-third by senior partners at
approximately $600 per hour, the weighted average of outside counsel
costs would be about $400 per hour.\6\ Computer programmers responsible
for posting privacy policies and implementing direct notices and
parental consent mechanisms would account for the remaining 2,800
hours. FTC staff estimates an hourly wage of $44 for technical
assistance, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (``BLS'') data.\7\
Accordingly, associated annual labor costs would be $5,723,200 [(14,000
hours x $400/hour) + (2,800 hours x $44/hour)] for the estimated 280
new operators.
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\6\ These estimates are drawn from the ``Laffey Matrix.'' The
Laffey Matrix is a fee schedule used by many United States courts
for determining the reasonable hourly rates in the District of
Columbia for attorneys' fee awards under federal fee-shifting
statutes. It is used here as a proxy for market rates for litigation
counsel in the Washington, DC area. For 2018, rates in table range
from $302 per hour for most junior associates to $602 per hour for
most senior partners. See Laffey Matrix, Civil Division of the
United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, United
States Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, Laffey Matrix B
2015-2018, available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/file/796471/download.
\7\ The estimated mean hourly wages for technical labor support
($44) is based on an average of the salaries for computer
programmers, software developers, information security analysts, and
web developers as reported by the Bureau of Labor statistics. See
Occupational Employment and Wages--May 2017, Table 1 (National
employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics
survey by occupation, May 2017), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.nr0.htm (hereinafter, ``BLS Table 1'').
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(b) Safe Harbor Applicant Reporting Requirements
Previously, industry sources have advised that all of the labor to
comply with new safe harbor applicant requirements would be
attributable to the efforts of in-house lawyers. To determine in-house
legal costs, FTC staff applied an approximate average between the BLS
reported mean hourly wage for lawyers ($68.22),\8\ and a rough
approximation of in-house hourly attorney rates ($300) that staff
believes more generally reflects the costs associated with Commission
information collection activities, which yields an approximate hourly
rate of $185. Accordingly, applying the estimated time for these tasks
(100 hours) for the one new safe harbor applicant estimated in 1(b)
above to the assumed hourly wage for in-house counsel ($185) yields
$18,500 in labor costs per year.
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\8\ See BLS Table 1 (attorneys).
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(c) Annual Audit and Report for Safe Harbor Programs
Commission staff assumes that compliance officers, at a labor rate
of $34, will prepare annual reports.\9\ Accordingly, applied to the 800
hours estimated per year in 1(c) above for all safe harbor programs,
this amounts to $27,200 in aggregate yearly labor costs.
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\9\ See BLS Table 1 (compliance officers, $32.69).
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(d) Safe Harbor Program Recordkeeping Requirements
For the reasons stated in 1(d) above, associated labor costs, for
PRA purposes, would be marginal.

3. Estimated Annual Non-Labor Costs: $0

Because websites will already be equipped with the computer
equipment and software necessary to comply with the Rule's notice
requirements, the predominant costs incurred by the websites are the
aforementioned estimated labor costs. Similarly, industry members
should already have in place the means to retain and store the records
that must be kept under the Rule's safe harbor recordkeeping
provisions, because they are likely to have been keeping these records
independent of the Rule. Capital and start-up costs associated with the
Rule are minimal.

Request for Comments

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). 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 PRA clearance for the COPPA Rule (OMB Control
Number 3084-0117).
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites
comments on: (1) Whether the collection of information 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) how to improve the
quality, utility, and clarity

[[Page 49559]]

of the disclosure requirements; and (4) how to minimize the burden of
providing the required information to consumers.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or before December 3, 2018. Write
``COPPA Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P155408'' 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. As a matter of discretion, the
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from
comments before placing them on the Commission 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, 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/coppapra, 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 ``COPPA Rule: Paperwork
Comment, FTC File No. P155408'' 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, 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 December 3,
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.

Heather Hippsley,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-21377 Filed 10-1-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 2, 2018 / Notices 49557

assets or the ownership of, control of, or Comments must be filed by
DATES: Burden Statement
the power to vote shares of a bank or December 3, 2018.
1. Estimated Annual Hours Burden:
bank holding company and all of the
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a 17,500 Hours
banks and nonbanking companies
owned by the bank holding company, comment online or on paper, by (a) New Entrant Web Operators’
including the companies listed below. following the instructions in the Disclosure Burden
The applications listed below, as well Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
Based on public comments received
as other related filings required by the by the Commission during its 2013
Board, are available for immediate below. Write ‘‘COPPA Rule: Paperwork
COPPA Rule amendments rulemaking,1
inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank Comment, FTC File No. P155408’’ on FTC staff estimates that the Rule affects
indicated. The applications will also be your comment, and file your comment approximately 280 new operators per
available for inspection at the offices of online at https://ftcpublic.commen year.2 Staff maintains its longstanding
the Board of Governors. Interested tworks.com/ftc/coppapra, by following estimate that new operators of websites
persons may express their views in the instructions on the web-based form. and online services will require, on
writing on the standards enumerated in If you prefer to file your comment on average, approximately 60 hours
the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the paper, mail your comment to the crafting a privacy policy, designing
proposal also involves the acquisition of following address: Federal Trade mechanisms to provide the required
a nonbanking company, the review also Commission, Office of the Secretary, online privacy notice and, where
includes whether the acquisition of the 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite applicable, the direct notice to parents.3
nonbanking company complies with the CC–5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC Applied to the estimated number of new
standards in section 4 of the BHC Act 20580, or deliver your comment to the operators per year, this yields a
(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise cumulative yearly total of 16,800 hours
following address: Federal Trade
noted, nonbanking activities will be (280 new operators x 60 hours each).
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
conducted throughout the United States.
Unless otherwise noted, comments Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, (b) Safe Harbor Applicant Reporting
regarding each of these applications 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Requirements
must be received at the Reserve Bank Washington, DC 20024.
Operators can comply with the
indicated or the offices of the Board of FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: COPPA Rule by meeting the terms of
Governors not later than October 29, Requests for additional information industry self-regulatory guidelines that
2018. should be addressed to Peder Magee, the Commission approves after notice
A. Federal Reserve Bank of New York Attorney, (202) 326–3538, Division of and comment.4 While the submission of
(Ivan Hurwitz, Vice President) 33 industry self-regulatory guidelines to
Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau
Liberty Street, New York, New York the agency is voluntary, the COPPA
of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade
10045–0001. Comments can also be sent Rule sets out the criteria for approval of
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue
electronically to guidelines and the materials that must
Comments.applications@ny.frb.org: NW, Washington, DC 20580.
be submitted as part of a safe harbor
1. USB Bancorp Inc., Danbury, SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The application. Staff estimates that it would
Connecticut; to become a bank holding COPPA Rule, 16 CFR part 312, requires require, on average, 265 hours per new
company by acquiring 100 percent of commercial websites to provide notice safe harbor program applicant to
the voting shares of Union Savings and obtain parents’ consent before prepare and submit its safe harbor
Bank, Danbury, Connecticut. collecting, using, and/or disclosing proposal in accordance with Section
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve personal information from children 312.11(c) of the Rule.5 In the past,
System, September 27, 2018. under age 13, with limited exceptions. industry sources have confirmed that
Yao-Chin Chao, The COPPA Rule contains certain this estimate is reasonable. Given that
Assistant Secretary of the Board. statutorily required notice, consent, and several safe harbor programs are already
[FR Doc. 2018–21419 Filed 10–1–18; 8:45 am] other requirements that apply to available to website operators, FTC staff
BILLING CODE 6210–01–P operators of any commercial website or believes that it is unlikely that more
online service directed to children, and than one additional safe harbor
operators of any commercial website or applicant will submit a request within
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION online service with actual knowledge of the next three years of PRA clearance
collecting personal information from 1 78
Agency Information Collection FR 3971 at 4005 (Jan. 17, 2013).
children. Covered operators must: 2 This consists of certain traditional website
Activities; Proposed Collection;
provide online notice and direct notice operators, mobile app developers, plug-in
Comment Request developers, and advertising networks.
to parents of how they collect, use, and
3 See, e.g., 78 FR at 4006; 76 FR 31334 (May 31,
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission disclose children’s personal
2011); 73 FR 35689 (June 24, 2008); 70 FR 21107
(‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’). information; obtain the prior consent of (Apr. 22, 2005); 80 FR 57818 (Sept. 25, 2015); 80
ACTION: Notice. the child’s parent in order to engage in FR 76491 (Dec. 9, 2015).
such collection, use, and disclosure, 4 See Section 312.11(c). Approved self-regulatory
SUMMARY: The FTC intends to ask the with limited exceptions; provide guidelines can be found on the FTC’s website at
Office of Management and Budget http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/
reasonable means for the parent to childrens_shp.html.
(‘‘OMB’’) to extend for an additional
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1

obtain access to the information and to 5 Staff believes that most of the records submitted
three years the current Paperwork with a safe harbor request would be those that these
Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’) clearance for direct its deletion; and, establish
entities have kept in the ordinary course of
information collection requirements procedures that protect the business. Under 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2), OMB excludes
contained in the Children’s Online confidentiality, security, and integrity of from the definition of PRA burden the time and
Privacy Protection Act Rule (‘‘COPPA personal information collected from financial resources needed to comply with agency-
children. imposed recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting
Rule’’ or ‘‘Rule’’), which will expire on requirements that customarily would be undertaken
January 31, 2019. independently in the normal course of business.

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49558 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 2, 2018 / Notices

sought. Thus, annualized burden firm partners and associates for COPPA applicant estimated in 1(b) above to the
attributable to this requirement would compliance questions would be assumed hourly wage for in-house
be approximately 88 hours per year (265 distributed among attorneys at varying counsel ($185) yields $18,500 in labor
hours ÷ 3 years) or, roughly, 100 hours, levels of seniority, and be weighted costs per year.
for the estimated one additional safe most heavily to junior attorneys.
Assuming two-thirds of such work is (c) Annual Audit and Report for Safe
harbor applicant.
done by junior associates at a rate of Harbor Programs
(c) Annual Audit and Report for Safe approximately $300 per hour, and one- Commission staff assumes that
Harbor Programs third by senior partners at compliance officers, at a labor rate of
The COPPA Rule requires safe harbor approximately $600 per hour, the $34, will prepare annual reports.9
programs to audit their members at least weighted average of outside counsel Accordingly, applied to the 800 hours
annually and to submit annual reports costs would be about $400 per hour.6 estimated per year in 1(c) above for all
to the Commission on the aggregate Computer programmers responsible for safe harbor programs, this amounts to
results of these member audits. The posting privacy policies and $27,200 in aggregate yearly labor costs.
burden for conducting member audits implementing direct notices and
(d) Safe Harbor Program Recordkeeping
and preparing these reports likely will parental consent mechanisms would
Requirements
vary for each safe harbor program account for the remaining 2,800 hours.
depending on the number of members. FTC staff estimates an hourly wage of For the reasons stated in 1(d) above,
Commission staff estimates that $44 for technical assistance, based on associated labor costs, for PRA
conducting audits and preparing reports Bureau of Labor Statistics (‘‘BLS’’) data.7 purposes, would be marginal.
will require approximately 100 hours Accordingly, associated annual labor 3. Estimated Annual Non-Labor Costs:
per program per year. Aggregated for costs would be $5,723,200 [(14,000 $0
one new safe harbor (100 hours) and hours × $400/hour) + (2,800 hours ×
seven existing (700 hours) safe harbor $44/hour)] for the estimated 280 new Because websites will already be
programs, this amounts to an estimated operators. equipped with the computer equipment
cumulative reporting burden of 800 and software necessary to comply with
(b) Safe Harbor Applicant Reporting the Rule’s notice requirements, the
hours per year. Requirements predominant costs incurred by the
(d) Safe Harbor Program Recordkeeping Previously, industry sources have websites are the aforementioned
Requirements advised that all of the labor to comply estimated labor costs. Similarly,
FTC staff believes that most of the with new safe harbor applicant industry members should already have
records listed in the COPPA Rule’s safe requirements would be attributable to in place the means to retain and store
harbor recordkeeping provisions consist the efforts of in-house lawyers. To the records that must be kept under the
of documentation that such parties have determine in-house legal costs, FTC staff Rule’s safe harbor recordkeeping
kept in the ordinary course of business applied an approximate average provisions, because they are likely to
irrespective of the COPPA Rule. As between the BLS reported mean hourly have been keeping these records
noted above, OMB excludes from the wage for lawyers ($68.22),8 and a rough independent of the Rule. Capital and
definition of PRA burden, among other approximation of in-house hourly start-up costs associated with the Rule
things, recordkeeping requirements that attorney rates ($300) that staff believes are minimal.
customarily would be undertaken more generally reflects the costs
associated with Commission Request for Comments
independently in the normal course of
information collection activities, which Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521,
business. In staff’s view, any
yields an approximate hourly rate of federal agencies must obtain approval
incremental burden, such as that for
$185. Accordingly, applying the from OMB for each collection of
maintaining the results of independent
estimated time for these tasks (100 information they conduct or sponsor.
assessments under section 312.11(d),
hours) for the one new safe harbor ‘‘Collection of information’’ means
would be marginal.
agency requests or requirements that
2. Estimated Annual Labor Costs: 6 These estimates are drawn from the ‘‘Laffey members of the public submit reports,
$5,768,900 Matrix.’’ The Laffey Matrix is a fee schedule used keep records, or provide information to
by many United States courts for determining the
a third party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3), 5 CFR
(a) New Entrant Web Operators’ reasonable hourly rates in the District of Columbia
for attorneys’ fee awards under federal fee-shifting 1320.3(c). As required by section
Disclosure Burden
statutes. It is used here as a proxy for market rates 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC is
Consistent with its past estimates and for litigation counsel in the Washington, DC area. providing this opportunity for public
based on its 2013 rulemaking record, For 2018, rates in table range from $302 per hour
for most junior associates to $602 per hour for most comment before requesting that OMB
FTC staff assumes that the time spent on senior partners. See Laffey Matrix, Civil Division of extend the existing PRA clearance for
compliance for new operators covered the United States Attorney’s Office for the District the COPPA Rule (OMB Control Number
by the COPPA Rule would be of Columbia, United States Attorney’s Office, 3084–0117).
District of Columbia, Laffey Matrix B 2015–2018,
apportioned five to one between legal available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/file/ Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of
(outside counsel lawyers or similar 796471/download. the PRA, the FTC invites comments on:
professionals) and technical (e.g., 7 The estimated mean hourly wages for technical (1) Whether the collection of
computer programmers, software labor support ($44) is based on an average of the information requirements are necessary,
developers, and information security salaries for computer programmers, software
including whether the information will
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1

developers, information security analysts, and web
analysts) personnel. Staff therefore developers as reported by the Bureau of Labor be practically useful; (2) the accuracy of
estimates that outside counsel costs will statistics. See Occupational Employment and our burden estimates, including
account for 14,000 of the estimated Wages—May 2017, Table 1 (National employment whether the methodology and
16,800 hours required as estimated in and wage data from the Occupational Employment
Statistics survey by occupation, May 2017),
assumptions used are valid; (3) how to
1(a) above. Regarding outside counsel available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ improve the quality, utility, and clarity
costs, FTC staff believes it reasonable to ocwage.nr0.htm (hereinafter, ‘‘BLS Table 1’’).
assume that the workload among law 8 See BLS Table 1 (attorneys). 9 See BLS Table 1 (compliance officers, $32.69).

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Document Created: 2018-10-02 01:18:52
Document Modified: 2018-10-02 01:18:52

Category		Regulatory Information
Collection		Federal Register
sudoc Class		AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:
Publisher		Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
Section		Notices
Action		Notice.
Dates		Comments must be filed by December 3, 2018.
Contact		Requests for additional information
FR Citation		83 FR 49557