Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

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Published

October 18, 2023

Issuing agencies

Federal Trade Commission

Abstract

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) is seeking public comment on its proposal to extend for an additional three years the Office of Management and Budget clearance for information collection requirements in the Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Rule (Privacy Rule or Rule). This clearance expires on January 31, 2024.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 200 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71861-71864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22965]

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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) is seeking public
comment on its proposal to extend for an additional three years the
Office of Management and Budget clearance for information collection
requirements in the Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Rule
(Privacy Rule or Rule). This clearance expires on January 31, 2024.

DATES: Comments must be filed by December 18, 2023.

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 ``Privacy Rule, PRA
Comment, P085405,'' on your comment, and file your comment online at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Rimm, Attorney, Division of
Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal
Trade Commission, (202) 326-2277, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a10081317173a1c0e19541d150c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dfb5adb6b2b29fb9abbcf1b8b0a9">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: Privacy of Consumer Financial Information
(Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Privacy Rule), 16 CFR part 313.
OMB Control Number: 3084-0121.
Type of Review: Extension without change of currently approved
collection.
Affected Public: Private Sector: Businesses and other for-profit
entities.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 1,454,850.

[[Page 71862]]

Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $35,820,366.
Abstract: The Privacy Rule is designed to ensure that customers and
consumers, subject to certain exceptions, will have access to the
privacy policies of the covered financial institutions with which they
conduct business--namely, motor vehicle dealers that do not routinely
extend credit to consumers directly without assigning the credit to
unaffiliated third parties (hereafter, ``motor vehicle dealers''). As
mandated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (``GLBA''), 15 U.S.C. 6801-6809,
the Rule requires motor vehicle dealers to disclose to consumers: (1)
initial notice of the financial institution's privacy policy when
establishing a customer relationship with a consumer and/or before
sharing a consumer's nonpublic personal information with certain
nonaffiliated third parties; (2) notice of the consumer's right to opt
out of information sharing with such parties; (3) annual notice of the
institution's privacy policy to any continuing customer; \1\ and (4)
notice of changes in the institution's practices on information
sharing. These requirements are subject to the PRA. The Rule does not
require recordkeeping. For PRA burden calculations, the FTC shares the
PRA burden with the CFPB for financial institutions over which both
agencies have enforcement authority under the CFPB's regulation
corresponding to the Privacy Rule, titled Privacy of Consumer Financial
Information (Regulation P), 12 CFR part 1016, and attributes to itself
the burden for all motor vehicle dealers. See 12 U.S.C. 5519.
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\1\ On December 4, 2015, Congress amended the GLBA as part of
the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (``FAST Act''). The
FAST Act included a subsection titled Eliminate Privacy Notice
Confusion (FAST Act, Pub. L. 114-094, section 75001) that added new
GLBA section 503(f). This subsection provides an exception under
which financial institutions that meet certain conditions are not
required to provide annual privacy notices to customers. Section
503(f) requires that to qualify for this exception, a financial
institution must not share nonpublic personal information about
customers except as described in certain statutory exceptions, under
which sharing does not trigger a customer's statutory right to opt
out of the sharing. In addition, section 503(f)(2) requires that the
financial institution must not have changed its policies and
practices with regard to disclosing nonpublic personal information
from those that the institution disclosed in the most recent privacy
notice the customer received. On December 9, 2021, the Privacy Rule
was amended at 16 CFR 313.5(e) to incorporate this exception. The
amendments were effective January 10, 2022. 86 FR 70020 (Dec. 9,
2021).
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As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A), the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment
before requesting that OMB extend the existing clearance for the
information collection requirements contained in the Rule.
Burden Estimates: FTC staff estimates that approximately 29,500
non-motor vehicle dealer financial institutions are subject to FTC
jurisdiction under Regulation P, consisting of approximately 29,000
established entities and 500 new entrants annually during the renewal
period. The complete burden estimates for new entrants and established
entities are detailed in the charts below.

1. Established Financial Institutions

For established entities, staff believes that the model privacy
form and the Online Form Builder reduce the time associated with
providing required initial and annual notices. Businesses who have not
changed their privacy notice since the last notice sent and who do not
share information with non-affiliated third parties outside of certain
statutory exceptions are not required to issue annual notices to their
customers under the Rule. FTC staff thus estimates that at least 80% of
businesses covered by Regulation P that have continuing relationships
with customers exceeding one year will not be required to issue annual
notices because they do not make changes to their policies or share
nonpublic information outside of the statutory exceptions. Finally,
staff estimates that no more than 1% of the estimated 29,000
established-entity respondents would make additional changes to privacy
policies at any time other than the occasion of the annual notice.

2. New Entrant Financial Institutions

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Approx. number
Activity Hours per of respondents Approx. total FTC Hourly wage and labor category Approx. total
respondent \2\ annual hrs. portion \3\ labor costs
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Reviewing internal policies and developing GLB 4 29,000 116,000 58,000 $39.52 Professional/Technical... $2,292,160
Act-implementing instructions \4\.
Disseminating initial notices to new customers 15 29,000 435,000 217,500 $19.67 Clerical................. 4,278,225
Disseminating annual disclosure to pre- 15 4,060 60,900 30,450 $19.67 Clerical................. 598,952
existing customers. 5 4,060 20,300 10,150 $39.52 Professional/Technical... 401,128
Updating privacy policies and related 7 290 2,030 1,015 $19.67 Clerical................. 19,965
disclosures. 3 290 870 435 $39.52 Professional/Technical... 17,191
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Totals.................................... ........... .............. 635,100 317,550 ................................ 7,607,621
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New entrant financial institutions subject to FTC jurisdiction
under Regulation P must provide initial disclosure notices to their
consumers, including taking the time to develop implementing policies
and procedures and create disclosure documents to effectuate the
disclosure requirements. Staff's estimates of annual burden for
established entities are as follows:
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\2\ The estimate of respondents which are required to
disseminate annual notices is based on the following assumptions:
(1) 29,000 established respondents; (2) of those, approximately 70%
maintain customer relationships exceeding one year (20,300), and no
more than 20% of those (together, 4,060) make changes to their
policies and share nonpublic information outside of the statutory
exceptions, and therefore are required to provide annual notices
under the Rule (this is consistent with the main text above that at
least 80% of businesses covered by Regulation P that have continuing
relationships with customers exceeding one year will not be required
to issue annual notices because they do not make changes to their
policies or share nonpublic information outside of the statutory
exceptions); (3) and no more than 1% (290) of established
respondents make additional changes to privacy policies at any time
other than the occasion of the annual notice; and (4) such changes
will occur no more often than once per year.
\3\ Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly
cost figures to burden hours. The hourly rates used were based on
median wages for Financial Examiners and for Office and
Administrative Support, corresponding to professional/technical time
(e.g., compliance evaluation and planning, designing and producing
notices, reviewing and updating information systems), and clerical
time (e.g., reproduction tasks, filing, and, where applicable to the
given event, typing or mailing) respectively. See U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022, at
<a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm">https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm</a>.
\4\ This includes all efforts performed by or for the respondent
to determine whether and to what extent the respondent is covered by
an agency collection of information, understand the nature of the
request, and determine the appropriate response (including the
creation and dissemination of documents and/or electronic
disclosures).

[[Page 71863]]

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Hours per Approx. number Approx. total FTC Hourly wage and labor category Approx. total
Activity respondent of respondents annual hrs. portion \5\ labor costs
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Reviewing internal policies and developing GLB 20 500 10,000 5,000 $39.52 Professional/Technical... $197,600
Act-implementing instructions.
Creating disclosure document or electronic 1 500 500 250 $19.67 Clerical................. 4,918
disclosure (including initial, annual, and 2 500 1,000 500 $39.52 Professional/Technical... 19,760
opt-out disclosures).
Disseminating initial disclosure (including 15 500 7,500 3,750 $19.67 Clerical................. 73,763
opt-out notices). 10 500 5,000 2,500 $39.52 Professional/Technical... 98,800
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Totals.................................... ........... .............. 24,000 12,000 ................................ 394,841
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3. Established Motor Vehicle Dealers
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\5\ Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly
cost figures to burden hours, as described in footnote 3 above.
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FTC has sole authority over motor vehicle dealers subject to the
Rule. Staff estimates that approximately 49,000 auto dealers are
subject to the Rule's requirements, consisting of 47,000 established
dealers and 2,000 new entrants annually during the renewal period. FTC
staff provides the following burden estimates for established motor
vehicle dealers:

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Approx. number
Activity Hours per of respondents Approx. total Hourly wage and Approx. total
respondent \6\ annual hrs. labor category \7\ labor costs
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Reviewing internal policies and 4 47,000 188,000 $39.52 $7,429,760
developing GLB Act- Professional/
implementing instructions. Technical.
Disseminating initial notices 15 47,000 705,000 $19.67 Clerical... 13,867,350
to new customers.
Disseminating annual disclosure 15 6,580 98,700 $19.67 Clerical... 1,941,429
5 6,580 32,900 $39.52 1,300,208
Professional/
Technical.
Updating privacy policies and 7 470 3,290 $19.67 Clerical... 64,714
related disclosures. 3 470 1,410 $39.52 55,723
Professional/
Technical.
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Totals..................... ........... .............. 1,029,300 .................. 24,659,184
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4. New Entrant Motor Vehicle Dealers
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\6\ Commission staff relies on industry estimates of the total
number of motor vehicle dealers in the United States, based on
Census data and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Commission staff
did not separately estimate the number of such dealers who may be
covered by the Rule because they do not routinely extend credit to
consumers directly without assigning the credit to unaffiliated
third parties.
\7\ Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly
cost figures to the burden hours described above. See BLS
Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022, at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm">https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm</a>.
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FTC staff provides the following burden estimates for new entrant
motor vehicle dealers:

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Hours per Approx. number Approx. total Hourly wage and Approx. total
Activity respondent of respondents annual hrs. labor category labor costs
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Reviewing internal policies and 20 2,000 40,000 $39.52 $1,580,800
developing GLB Act- Professional/
implementing instructions. Technical.
Creating disclosure document or 1 2,000 2,000 $19.67 Clerical... 39,340
electronic disclosure 2 2,000 4,000 $39.52 158,080
(including initial, annual, Professional/
and opt-out disclosures). Technical.
Disseminating initial 15 2,000 30,000 $19.67 Clerical... 590,100
disclosure (including opt-out 10 2,000 20,000 $39.52 790,400
notices). Professional/
Technical.
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Totals..................... ........... .............. 96,000 .................. 3,158,720
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Estimated Non-Labor Costs: Staff believes that capital or other
non-labor costs associated with these information collection
requirements are minimal. Staff anticipates that covered entities are
already equipped to provide written notices (e.g., computers with word
processing programs, copying machines, mailing capabilities). In
addition, staff anticipates that entities that offer consumers the
choice to receive notices via electronic format will already have an
online presence to support this option. As such, these entities will
already be equipped with the computer equipment and software necessary
to disseminate the required disclosures via electronic means.

Request for Comment

Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites
comments on: (1) whether the disclosure and recordkeeping 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.
For the FTC to consider a comment, we must receive it on or before
December 18, 2023. Your comment, including your name and your state,
will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including the
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website.
You can file a comment online or on paper. Due to heightened
security screening, postal mail addressed to the Commission will be
subject to delay. We encourage you to submit your comments online
through the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website.

[[Page 71864]]

If you file your comment on paper, write ``Privacy Rule, PRA
Comment, P085405,'' 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. If possible, submit your paper comment to the
Commission by overnight service.
Because your comment will become publicly available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, 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 (1) be filed in paper form, (2) be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and (3) 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 publicly at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, we cannot redact or remove
your comment 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 18,
2023. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy">https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy</a>.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-22965 Filed 10-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P

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