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

Issuing agencies

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 information collection requirements contained in the agency's rule governing Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information (the Safeguards Rule). The current clearance expires on December 31, 2026.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 163 (Tuesday, August 25, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 25, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54872-54873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-17331]


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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 
information collection requirements contained in the agency's rule 
governing Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information (the 
Safeguards Rule). The current clearance expires on December 31, 2026.

DATES: Comments must be filed by October 26, 2026.

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 Comment: FTC File No. R021101,'' 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, Mail 
Stop H-144 (Annex E), Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine McCarron, Attorney, Division 
of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 
Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20580, (202) 326-2333; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#076c6a646466757568694761736429606871"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a111719191b080815143a1c0e19541d150c">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information (the 
Safeguards Rule), 16 CFR part 314.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0171.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Background: The Gramm Leach Bliley Act, Public Law 106-102, 113 
Stat. 1338 (1999), required the FTC and other federal agencies to 
establish standards for financial institutions relating to 
administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for certain 
information.\1\ Pursuant to this directive, the Commission promulgated 
the Safeguards Rule in 2002, which requires financial institutions, 
among other things, to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive 
written information security program that contains administrative, 
technical, and physical safeguards that are appropriate to the 
institution's size and complexity, the nature and scope of the 
institution's activities, and the sensitivity of any customer 
information at issue. The Safeguards Rule became effective on May 23, 
2003. The Commission amended the Safeguards Rule in 2021 and again in 
2023.
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    \1\ See 15 U.S.C. 6801(b), 6805(b)(2).
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    The Safeguards Rule as amended requires financial institutions to 
report to the Commission a notification event where unencrypted 
customer information involving 500 or more consumers is acquired 
without authorization.\2\ This reporting requirement constitutes a 
``collection of information'' for purposes of the PRA.\3\
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    \2\ 16 CFR 314.4(j).
    \3\ 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A)(i).
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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 this 
information collection requirement contained in the Safeguards Rule.

Burden Statement

    Total annual hours burden: 815.
    FTC staff estimates that the reporting requirement will affect 
approximately 163 financial institutions each year.\4\

[[Page 54873]]

FTC staff estimates that compliance with this reporting requirement 
will require approximately five hours for affected financial 
institutions, for a total annual burden of approximately 815 hours (163 
responses x 5 hours). FTC staff anticipates that the burden associated 
with the reporting requirement will consist of the time necessary to 
compile and report the requested information via the electronic form 
located on the Commission's website. The Commission does not expect 
that the reporting requirement will impose any new investigative costs 
on financial institutions, because the information requested by the 
reporting requirement is (1) information that financial institutions 
acquire in the normal course of responding to a security event, and (2) 
similar to information entities are already required to disclose under 
states' data breach notification laws.
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    \4\ Financial institutions must report to the Commission when 
unencrypted customer information involving 500 or more consumers is 
acquired without authorization. In 2025, the Commission received 
approximately 163 breach notifications.
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    Total annual labor cost: $60,310.
    The estimated labor cost reflects the hourly wages necessary to 
prepare the required reports. FTC staff anticipates that the required 
information will be compiled by information security analysts in the 
course of assessing and responding to a notification event, resulting 
in 3 hours of labor at a mean hourly wage of $63.71 (3 hours x $63.71 = 
$191.13).\5\ FTC staff also anticipates that affected financial 
institutions may use attorneys to formulate and submit the required 
report, resulting in 2 hours of labor at a mean hourly wage of $89.35 
(2 hours x $89.35 = $178.70).\6\ Accordingly, FTC staff estimates the 
approximate labor cost to be $370 per report (rounded to the nearest 
dollar). This yields a total annual cost burden of $60,310 (163 annual 
responses x $370).
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    \5\ This figure is derived from the mean hourly wage for 
information security analysts. See ``Occupational Employment and 
Wages-May 2025,'' Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of 
Labor (May 15, 2026), Table 1 (``National employment and wage data 
from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, 
May 2025''), available at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm</a>.
    \6\ This assumed hourly rate is based on the mean wage for 
lawyers, which according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics was 
$89.35 in 2025. See ``Occupational and Employment Wages-May 2025,'' 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor (May 15, 2026), 
Table 1 (``National employment and wage data from the Occupational 
Employment and Wage Statistics survey by occupation, May 2025''), 
available at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm</a>. 
Although the reporting requirement will largely be administrative, 
the Commission understands that affected financial institutions may 
engage attorneys to comply with the reporting requirement.
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    Total annual capital or other non-labor costs: De minimis.
    Covered financial institutions are not likely to require any 
significant capital costs to comply with the reporting requirement. To 
reduce burden on affected financial institutions, the Commission 
provides an online reporting form on the Commission's website to 
facilitate reporting of qualifying security events. As a result, the 
Commission does not anticipate that covered financial institutions will 
incur any new capital or non-labor costs in complying with the 
reporting requirement.

Request for Comment

    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information, 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 
October 26, 2026. 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.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Paperwork Reduction Act 
Comment: FTC File No. R021101,'' 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, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex 
E), Washington, DC 20580.
    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 October 26, 
2026. 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. 2026-17331 Filed 8-24-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P


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