9726 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

1 16 CFR Part 610. 

2Section 603(p) of the FCRA defines a 

‘‘nationwide consumer reporting agency’’ as a 

consumer reporting agency that compiles and 

maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis. 

15 U.S.C. 1681a(p). At this time, there are three 

nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax 

Inc. (‘‘Equifax’’), Experian Information Solutions, 

Inc. (‘‘Experian’’), and TransUnion LLC 

(‘‘TransUnion’’). 3Nationwide specialty consumer reporting 

agencies are defined in section 603(w) of the FCRA. 

15 U.S.C. 1681a(w). Specifically, section 603(w) 

defines ‘‘nationwide specialty consumer reporting 

agency’’ as a CRA that compiles and maintains files 

on consumers on a nationwide basis relating to: (1) 

medical records or payments; (2) residential or 

tenant history; (3) check writing history; (4) 

employment history; or (5) insurance claims. 4 15 U.S.C. 1681j. 

5Pub. L. 111-24, 123 Stat. 1734 (May 22, 2009). 

6Prior to the FACT Act, consumers could 

purchase file disclosures from consumer reporting 

agencies, but could receive a free file disclosure 

only under limited circumstances. For example, 

section 615 of the FCRA provides that consumers 

denied credit or employment based upon 

information contained in a consumer report may 

obtain a free file disclosure from the CRA that 

provided the report. 15 U.S.C. 1681m. 7 16 CFR 610.2(h). The Commission staggered 

implementation of the original Rule across the 

country to manage requests for free annual file 

disclosures. 

8Most requests for free annual file disclosures 

through the centralized source occur through the 

AnnualCreditReport.com website. 

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only federally 

authorized website for obtaining free annual file 

disclosures. 

9 16 CFR 610.2(a). 

10 74 FR 52915 (Oct. 15, 2009). 

11 ‘‘FreeCreditReport.com’’ is owned and operated 

by Consumerinfo.com, Inc., an Experian company. 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 610 

RIN 3084–AA94 

Free Annual File Disclosures 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Section 205 of the Credit Card 

Accountability Responsibility and 

Disclosure Act of 2009 requires the 

Federal Trade Commission to issue a 

rule to prevent deceptive marketing of 

free credit reports. To that end, the 

Commission amends the Free Annual 

File Disclosures Rule to require certain 

advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

to include prominent disclosures 

designed to prevent consumers from 

confusing these ‘‘free’’ offers with the 

federally mandated free annual file 

disclosures available through the single 

centralized source. In addition, the final 

amended Rule requires nationwide 

consumer reporting agencies to delay 

advertisements for products and 

services through the centralized source 

until after consumers receive their free 

annual file disclosures, and prohibits 

other practices that may interfere with 

the free annual file disclosure process. 

The final amended Rule also 

implements certain technical changes to 

the original Rule. 

DATES: The effective date is April 2, 

2010, except for § 610.4(b)(1)(i) and (2), 

which are effective September 1, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the 

final amended Rule and this document 

should be sent to: Public Records 

Branch, Room 130, Federal Trade 

Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The 

public record of this proceeding is also 

available at that address. Relevant 

portions of the proceeding, including 

the final amended Rule and this 

document, are available at (http:// 

www.ftc.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Katherine Armstrong, Steven Toporoff, 

or Tiffany George, Attorneys, Division of 

Privacy and Identity Protection, Federal 

Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania 

Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580, 

(202) 326-2252. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

This final Rule amends the Free 

Annual File Disclosures Rule (‘‘Free 

Reports Rule’’ or ‘‘original Rule’’),1

which went into effect in 2004. The 

original Rule set out the procedures that 

nationwide consumer reporting agencies 

(‘‘CRAs’’)2 and nationwide specialty 

CRAs3 must follow to comply with 

section 612 of the Fair Credit Reporting 

Act (‘‘FCRA’’),4 which gives consumers 

the right to obtain free annual file 

disclosures from the nationwide CRAs 

through a single centralized source. The 

final amended Rule modifies the 

original Rule by implementing section 

205 of the Credit Card Accountability 

Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 

2009 (‘‘Act’’), which directs the Federal 

Trade Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or 

‘‘Commission’’) to promulgate a rule, 

within nine months from the date of 

enactment of the Act, requiring certain 

disclosures in the advertising for ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ to reduce consumer 

confusion.5 The final amended Rule 

also addresses certain practices that 

interfere with or detract from 

consumers’ ability to obtain their free 

annual file disclosures and makes 

certain technical changes to the original 

Rule described below. 

A. The Free Annual File Disclosures 

Rule 

The Fair and Accurate Credit 

Transactions Act of 2003 (‘‘FACT Act’’) 

amended the FCRA and directed the 

Commission to promulgate a rule 

specifying the procedures for consumers 

to obtain free annual file disclosures 

from nationwide CRAs and nationwide 

specialty CRAs.6 To carry out this 

directive, the Commission promulgated 

the Free Reports Rule, which took effect 

in a structured roll-out beginning on the 

West Coast in December 2004 and 

ending on the East Coast in September 

2005.7 The purpose of the original Rule 

was to enable consumers to detect and 

dispute inaccurate or incomplete 

information in the files of nationwide 

CRAs by providing consumers with the 

opportunity to obtain annual file 

disclosures free of charge. 

The original Rule required that the 

nationwide CRAs jointly establish and 

operate a centralized source from which 

consumers can obtain free annual file 

disclosures through a single dedicated 

Internet website 

(AnnualCreditReport.com),8 a toll-free 

telephone number, or a postal address.9

Consumers may request and obtain their 

free annual file disclosures from each 

nationwide CRA at one time or stagger 

their requests throughout the year. 

B. The Advertising of ‘‘Free Credit 

Reports’’ 

As discussed in the Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) in this 

proceeding,10 since issuance of the 

original Rule, there has been a 

proliferation of confusing advertising 

regarding where consumers can obtain 

their free annual file disclosures. Some 

nationwide CRAs and others have 

advertised ‘‘free credit reports’’ in 

connection with the purchase of 

products and services, such as credit 

scores and credit monitoring. Although 

some advertising predated the original 

Rule, the bulk of the advertising for ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ now takes advantage of 

consumers’ general knowledge that free 

annual file disclosures are available 

under federal law. These advertisements 

direct consumers not to 

AnnualCreditReport.com, the 

authorized source for free annual file 

disclosures, but to commercial websites 

operated by nationwide CRAs or others 

that sell a variety of products and 

services. Further, when a consumer uses 

an Internet search engine to locate the 

website for free annual file disclosures, 

the search engine will usually list 

‘‘sponsored’’ links – again, selling 

products and services – such as 

‘‘FreeCreditReport.com’’ first.11

As a result of this advertising, 

consumers are often misled and 

confused about where to obtain the free 

annual file disclosure mandated by 

federal law. Indeed, the Commission has 

received numerous consumer 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 9727 

12As discussed in the NPRM, the Commission 

has undertaken enforcement and extensive 

education to address these practices. For example, 

in 2005, the Commission filed an action against 

Consumerinfo.com, Inc., a marketer of ‘‘free credit 

reports.’’ FTC v. Consumerinfo.com, Inc., SACV05- 

801 AHS (MLGx) (C.D. Cal. Aug. 15, 2005). In that 

action, the Commission alleged that 

Consumerinfo.com, Inc., which advertised ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ to consumers on the Internet, 

through emails, and through television and radio 

advertisements, engaged in deceptive acts or 

practices in violation of section 5 of the FTC Act. 

15 U.S.C. 45(a). These deceptive practices included 

failing to disclose or to disclose adequately that the 

‘‘free’’ credit reports they were offering were not 

associated with the federally-mandated annual free 

credit report program, but rather were part of a 

commercial promotion. The settlement required 

Consumerinfo.com, Inc., to pay consumer redress, 

prohibited it from making deceptive and misleading 

claims about ‘‘free’’ reports, and required disclosure 

of the terms and conditions of any ‘‘free’’ offers. The 

defendant also agreed to forgo $950,000 in ill-gotten 

gains. Two years later, the Commission entered a 

second order with Consumerinfo.com, Inc., settling 

allegations that it violated the 2005 order. FTC v. 

Consumerinfo.com, Inc., SACV05-801 AHS (MLGx) 

(C.D. Cal., Jan. 8, 2007) (prohibiting defendant from 

failing to make required disclosures mandated by 

the 2005 order and requiring $300,000 payment for 

consumer redress). 

13 74 FR 52915 (Oct. 15, 2009). The Commission 

released a version of the NPRM on its website on 

October 7, 2009. 

14 Id. at 52918-22. 

15 Id. at 52922. 

16The comments are available at (http:// 

www.ftc.gov/os/comments/freeannualfilenprm/ 

index.shtm). 

17NCLC at 3; State of Florida at 4; State of 

Minnesota at 3. 

18Only a few consumers stated that Commission 

action is unnecessary. See M. Buckley; K. Hix; P. 

Johnson. 

19E.g., C. Thompson (‘‘I signed up for 

freecreditreport.com, and couldn’t find out [how] to 

cancel the membership I didn’t want in the first 

place because I had to join just to get 1 report, and 

never could get all 3 reports.’’); B. Meyer (‘‘Experian 

automatically signs you up for a $14.95/month 

credit report with the provision you have seven 

days to cancel the subscription . . . . Please end the 

ability of these companies to sign consumers to a 

contract/subscription they have no interest in.’’); E. 

Julbar (‘‘I was deceptively led into providing my 

credit card number (falsely understanding that it 

was needed to prove identity) and then received 

multiple billings on my credit card from the 

‘service’ provider.’’); K. Foster (‘‘I was charged 

$14.99. This is NOT FREE, this is a lie, I was 

deceived ....’’); L. Falk (‘‘I have a Master’s degree 

and I got scammed by these people. Free does not 

mean you pay $14.95!’’); LaRosa (‘‘I consider myself 

a generally savvy consumer, yet I still fell into their 

trap and was fraudulently charged over $100 by 

them before I realized what happened.’’). 

complaints demonstrating confusion 

and frustration about how and where to 

obtain a free annual file disclosure. As 

discussed below, comments received 

during this proceeding further illustrate 

both consumer confusion with and 

frustration in obtaining ‘‘free annual file 

disclosures’’ and ‘‘free credit reports.’’12

C. Section 205 of the Act 

To dispel this consumer confusion, 

Congress enacted section 205 of the Act 

(‘‘section 205’’). Section 205 directs the 

Commission to promulgate a rule, 

within nine months from the date of 

enactment of the Act, that would require 

advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

in any medium to include certain 

prominent disclosures. For television 

and radio advertisements, section 205 

specifies the language for the required 

disclosure: ‘‘This is not the free credit 

report provided for by Federal law.’’ 

This disclosure must appear in both the 

audio and visual portion of the 

advertisement. For all other media, 

section 205 directs the Commission to 

issue a rule determining the content and 

placement of the disclosures. Finally, 

section 205 requires the following 

interim advertising disclosure if a rule 

is not finalized within nine months: 

‘‘Free credit reports are available under 

Federal law at: 

AnnualCreditReport.com.’’ 

II. Overview of the Proposed Rule and 

Comments Received 

On October 15, 2009, the Commission 

published an NPRM, setting forth the 

text of a proposed amended Rule.13 The 

NPRM sought to achieve three goals. 

First, it implemented section 205 of 

the Act by proposing a new section 

610.4 in the Free Reports Rule that 

would require prominent disclosures to 

prevent consumer confusion and 

deceptive marketing of ‘‘free credit 

reports.’’14 The proposed section 610.4 

included general requirements to ensure 

that the disclosures were sufficiently 

prominent; it also included mediaspecific requirements for the 

disclosures. For example, the NPRM 

proposed that the required disclosures 

for Internet websites offering ‘‘free credit 

reports’’ appear on a separate landing 

page. 

Second, the NPRM proposed 

amendments to section 610.2 of the 

original Rule to prohibit practices that 

interfere with consumers’ ability to 

obtain free annual file disclosures from 

the centralized source. Specifically, it 

required a delay in advertising for 

products and services through the 

centralized source until after the 

consumer obtained his or her free 

annual file disclosure. It also: (1) 

prohibited the placement of hyperlinks 

to the nationwide CRAs’ websites that 

transported consumers away from the 

AnnualCreditReport.com website; (2) 

prohibited the nationwide CRAs from 

requiring consumers to establish an 

account to obtain a file disclosure 

through the centralized source; and (3) 

prohibited the nationwide CRAs from 

imposing any ‘‘terms and conditions’’ on 

consumers’ access to their file 

disclosures. 

Third, the NPRM proposed technical 

amendments that would eliminate now 

obsolete roll-out provisions in the 

original Rule.15

In response to the NPRM, the 

Commission received over 1,080 

comments, submitted by consumers; 

nationwide CRAs; consumer report 

resellers; businesses and trade 

organizations; State Attorneys General; 

consumer advocates; law firms; 

members of Congress; and academics.16

Of the comments submitted, over 1,000 

came from consumers. Appendix A 

contains a list of each of the nonconsumer commenters, with the 

abbreviations used to identify them in 

this document. Some general comments 

are summarized below. Comments 

addressing particular issues relating to 

the proposed Rule are discussed in 

greater detail in the Section-by-Section 

discussion below. 

Overall, industry and business 

groups, as well as Representatives 

Boozman and Ross, opposed one or 

more of the NPRM’s proposals, such as 

the delay in advertising on 

AnnualCreditReport.com until after the 

consumer has obtained a free annual file 

disclosure, the prohibition on 

hyperlinks on the 

AnnualCreditReport.com website, and 

the proposed separate landing page 

requirement for Internet websites. 

In contrast, consumer advocates, 

NAAG, the States of Florida and 

Minnesota, and Senators Levin and 

Schumer either supported the proposed 

Rule or urged the Commission to 

strengthen it. For example, some 

commenters asserted that the 

Commission should ban all advertising 

on AnnualCreditReport.com, rather than 

delaying it as the Commission had 

proposed.17 These commenters also 

generally supported the proposed 

disclosures for ‘‘free credit report’’ 

advertisements, as well as the separate 

landing page proposal for disclosures on 

Internet websites. 

Almost all individual consumers 

responding to the NPRM urged 

Commission action in this area.18 Many 

consumers explicitly supported the 

proposed Rule, in many instances 

relating personal stories of confusion 

when trying to obtain their free annual 

file disclosure. Similarly, many 

consumers said that they unwittingly 

paid various sums for unwanted 

services when they attempted to obtain 

what they thought was their free annual 

file disclosure.19 Other consumers 

stated that the current process for 


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9728 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

20E.g., M. Neal (‘‘The phony ‘free’ credit report 

come-ons are confusing and thwart citizens who are 

trying to exercise their right to obtain an annual 

credit report.’’); G. Albelo (‘‘[T]he free credit report 

site is guaranteed to manipulate one into paying for 

a service that should be free. The site is a maze of 

confusing sites, words and suggestions that the 

average person probably won’t get through without 

paying for something, or falling prey to identity 

theft.’’). 

21E.g., F. Colantuono (‘‘Have you ever tried to get 

your ‘free’ credit report online? . . . [Y]ou are 

bombarded with sales offers to sign up for ALL 

MANNER of products before you can request your 

credit report . . . . [B]anning all advertising until 

AFTER you make your request for your free report. 

This one is a winner!’’); J. Ellis (‘‘[A]gencies should 

be able to ask those requesting reports if they wish 

to receive additional information or services for a 

fee . . . only . . . after the fact ....’’); F. Martin (‘‘If 

advertising is allowed at all, it should be AFTER the 

consumer obtains the free report.’’). 

22E.g., J. Matey (‘‘The link from the main annual 

report page should NOT LINK to anything except 

the free report.’’). Mr. Matey added that he would 

agree to ‘‘a single link [on] the form ‘FOR 

ADDITIONAL SERVICES FOR WHICH YOU WILL 

BE CHARGED, PRESS THIS BUTTON.’’’ Otherwise, 

‘‘[t]here should be absolutely NO INTERWEAVING 

between the free report and any other service.’’); S. 

Ratkowski (‘‘There should be . . . no hyperlinks to 

commercial sites.’’); see also M. Neal (‘‘The links to 

the big three credit reporting agencies only serve to 

distract or confuse consumers in their quest to 

obtain their credit reports.’’); J. Nielsen (‘‘It should 

be criminal to attach links away from the free 

website.’’). 

23M. Neal (‘‘Any website purporting to offer a free 

credit report should be required to display a 

disclaimer that it is NOT the official site, and to 

give user a link to the real site.’’); see also K. Morris 

(‘‘Requiring ads for sites that are not the centralized 

free access site to carry prominent notice that they 

are advertising a for-profit site is a good idea.’’); C. 

Thompson (‘‘All advertisements for ‘free credit 

reporting’ should be clearly stated that they are 

private firms and not Government mandated.’’); D. 

Enfield (‘‘[T]here should be a clear warning to me 

that I have landed on a page that is irrelevant to 

the task of getting my free report.’’); Young (‘‘I also 

support that certain blatantly misleading ADS for 

‘free credit reports’ be required to include 

PROMINENT disclosures about the official source 

to prevent confusion and/or to stop indicating that 

the advertised credit reports are in fact free.’’). 

24E.g., M. Baldissero; Professor K. Guenther; S. 

McGechie; B. Miller; C. Peltz; M. Ronsonette; Dr. J. 

Sitomer (‘‘I support your proposal to require a 

separate landing page on sites that advertise free 

reports which explains that the reports are NOT the 

free reports guaranteed by the federal 

government.’’). 

25See, e.g., State of Minnesota at 3. Cf. Professor 

D. Friedman (attaching Free Offers: A New Look, 38 

N.M.L. Rev. 49 (2008), which suggests the 

Commission reconsider approaches addressing free 

offers). 

26W. Marciniak; see also T. Rusch (‘‘[I] find it 

personally disgusting and certainly unethical that 

some company can advertise ‘free credit reports’ on 

the backstop of a Dodgers’ baseball game when I 

know that there’s not much free about it.’’); D. 

Wadsworth (‘‘Websites that use the word ‘free’ 

should in fact be free, no charge for any services.’’); 

Miller (‘‘Either credit reports are free or they are not 

free. The current advertising which relates to ‘free 

credit reports’ is misleading at best, in truth such 

ads are disingenuous, false and dishonest on their 

face.’’); A. Drew (‘‘I REALLY don’t think the credit 

report companies should try and bamboozle people 

into paying for their free report!’’); M. Kramer 

(‘‘These services are NOT FREE and extremely 

DECEPTIVE.’’). Numerous other consumers 

complained about deceptive or misleading 

advertising by credit companies. E.g., H. Bagao 

(‘‘The hidden trap of a free trial with automatic 

charges is tantamount to fraud and thievery. In fact, 

deceiving names such as FreeCreditReport should 

be prohibited, as it is a clear, blatant form of false 

advertisement.’’); K. Noreen (‘‘Getting people to sign 

up for surprise credit-card charges is predatory 

lending, pure and simple.’’); M. Wunderli (‘‘False 

advertising regarding free financial services that are 

not free perpetuates mistrust of financial systems.’’). 

27Cf. FTC v. Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, 

Inc., No. 1:06-CV-51 (S.D. Ohio Feb. 2, 2006) 

(alleging that marketers offered consumers ‘‘free’’ 

samples of dietary supplements only to enroll them 

in an automatic shipment program and bill them 

without their authorization); FTC v. Conversion 

Marketing, Inc., No. SACV 04-1264 (C.D. Cal. Jan 

17, 2006) (alleging that advertisers offered ‘‘free 

samples’’ of weight loss and tooth-whitening 

products and then debited consumers’ accounts and 

enrolled them in automatic shipment programs 

without their knowledge or authorization). 

28See 155 Cong. Rec. S6178, S6179 (June 4, 2009) 

(statement of Sen. Levin) (‘‘Mandatory disclosures 

will help ensure that consumers are given accurate 

information about how to obtain a free credit report 

with no strings attached. It is an effort to end the 

deceptive activities of companies that attempt to 

trick people into buying something that they are 

entitled by Federal law to receive for free.’’). 

29Among other things, the Commission reasoned 

that the FACT Act required nationwide CRAs to 

inform consumers of the availability of credit scores 

when providing file disclosures to them and that 

there was a benefit to those consumers wishing to 

purchase a credit score to do so at the same time 

that they obtain their annual file disclosures. See 

Statement of Basis and Purpose for Original Free 

Reports Rule, 69 FR 35468, 35486 (June 24, 2004). 

30 16 CFR 610.2(g)(1). 

31The original restriction found in section 

610.2(g)(1) has been renumbered as section 

610.2(g)(2) in the final amended Rule. 

obtaining a free annual file disclosure is 

confusing.20

Many consumers agreed that there 

should be no advertising on 

AnnualCreditReport.com until after 

consumers have received the requested 

file disclosure.21 Consumers also agreed 

with the proposal that hyperlinks from 

AnnualCreditReport.com to the CRAs’ 

proprietary websites should be 

eliminated.22 In addition, several 

consumers agreed with the proposed 

Internet website disclosures for free 

credit reports.23 In particular, over 170 

consumers supported the proposed 

separate landing page for Internet 

websites offering free credit reports.24

In addition to commenting on the 

proposed changes and additions to the 

original Rule, many consumers, as well 

as certain States, urged the Commission 

to prohibit the advertising of ‘‘free’’ 

credit reports, unless such reports come 

with no strings attached.25 A typical 

consumer comment is: ‘‘These reports 

should not be marketed as ‘free’ if they 

are contingent upon the purchase of a 

product.’’26

The Commission acknowledges the 

many comments questioning the use of 

the word ‘‘free’’ when associated with 

the offer of ‘‘free credit reports’’ that 

require the purchase of additional 

products and services. In response, the 

Commission notes that it will continue 

to scrutinize offers for ‘‘free credit 

reports’’ on a case-by-case basis to 

determine whether such offers are 

unfair or deceptive under the FTC Act.27

The Commission does not, however, 

have the authority to ban advertising of 

‘‘free credit reports’’ altogether under the 

Act. Congress was aware of the 

consumer confusion in the marketplace 

over use of the phrase ‘‘free credit 

reports.’’28 It chose to enact a disclosure 

law, directing the Commission to 

prescribe specific disclosures in 

advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports.’’ 

Congress did not, however, prohibit the 

advertising of ‘‘free credit reports;’’ nor 

did it authorize the Commission to 

prohibit such advertising. Therefore, the 

Commission declines to do so. In any 

event, the Commission believes that the 

prominent disclosure requirements of 

section 610.4, as described below, will 

alleviate much of the consumer 

confusion in connection with the offer 

of ‘‘free credit reports.’’ 

III. Section-by-Section Discussion of 

Final Amended Rule 

A. Section 610.2(g): Communications 

provided through centralized source 

Section 610.2 of the original Free 

Reports Rule permitted the nationwide 

CRAs to advertise their proprietary 

products and services through the 

centralized source. When it 

promulgated the original Rule, the 

Commission recognized the potential for 

confusion from such advertising and 

marketing, but chose not to forbid it.29

Instead, to address concerns about 

confusion from such advertising, the 

Commission restricted communications 

on the centralized source to the extent 

that they ‘‘interfere with, detract from, 

contradict, or otherwise undermine the 

purpose of the centralized source.’’30

Section 610.2(g) of the proposed Rule 

retained this requirement from the 

original Rule.31 It proposed to modify 

the original Rule, however, by requiring 

that the nationwide CRAs delay 

advertising or marketing for products or 

services through the centralized source 

until after the consumer has obtained 

his or her free annual file disclosure. 

The final amended Rule adopts section 

610.2(g) as proposed with certain 

modifications discussed below. 

1. Delay in advertising 

The Commission’s proposal to amend 

section 610.2(g)(1) of the original Rule 

to delay advertising on the centralized 

source until after the consumer has 


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32See, e.g., NAAG at 2; see also Empire Justice 

at 4 (urging the Commission to ‘‘[r]emove all ‘popup ads’ and any other advertising on the pages that 

a consumer must use to access his or her credit 

report.’’). 

33N. Guzman. 

34B. Irwin; see also, J. Matey (‘‘There should be 

NO ADVERTISING on the free report pages.’’); R. 

Robinson (‘‘[P]lease make them take all forms of 

advertising for a paid service completely off the 

‘free’ website.’’); P. Wilson (‘‘There should be no 

selling involved with the request for a free credit 

file review. There is no need to sell anything. Let’s 

make the process transparent and just provide what 

is requested.’’); B. Meyer (‘‘AnnualCreditReport.com 

should be commercial free!’’); C. Epley (‘‘Remove all 

advertisements! This page exists for me, the public, 

not for the firms who sell credit reports.’’); Munsch 

(‘‘Remove all advertising and marketing by credit 

bureaus entirely before, during and after the process 

of getting the free credit report. One should be able 

to obtain the report(s) and exit without enduring 

sales pitches.’’). 

35TransUnion at 3. 

36 Id. 

37CDIA at 5. 

38 74 FR at 52917. The Commission also noted 

that consumers reported feeling compelled to 

purchase the advertised products or services in 

order to obtain their free annual file disclosure. 

39See T. Hillegass. 

40See W. Stuart; see also K. Graham (‘‘This site 

is currently the best example of ‘limiting access by 

obfuscation’ that I have ever seen.’’). 

41 15 U.S.C. 1681j(a)(1)(C)(ii)(III). CDIA asserted 

that the Commission lacks any statutory authority 

to implement the proposal to delay advertising. 

CDIA at 3 (‘‘The FTC lacks the authority to prescribe 

rules that prohibit the consumer reporting agency’s 

advertising or marketing of products or services 

after the consumer’s request has been received and 

when the consumer reporting agency is fulfilling 

that request.’’). In response, the Commission notes 

that its authority for amending this provision in the 

original Rule derives from the rulemaking authority 

in the FACT Act amendments to the FCRA and the 

Commission’s authority to amend its rules under 

the Administrative Procedure Act. 15 U.S.C. 1681j; 

5 U.S.C. 551(5) and 553. Congress initially 

authorized the Commission to promulgate the Free 

Reports Rule to establish the centralized source. In 

promulgating this Rule, Congress required the 

Commission to consider ‘‘the ease by which 

consumers should be able to contact consumer 

reporting agencies ....’’ The proliferation of 

distracting or confusing advertising and marketing 

on the centralized source affects its ‘‘ease’’ of use, 

and it is therefore within the Commission’s 

authority to amend the original Rule to address this 

issue. 

42As discussed below, the final amended Rule 

revises proposed section 610.2(g)(1) to restrict any 

request by a CRA to establish an account until after 

the consumer has obtained his or her file 

disclosure. 

43The Commission will monitor and evaluate the 

effectiveness of this provision and may take 

additional action, as necessary. 

44As stated in the NPRM, a file disclosure is 

‘‘delivered’’ for purposes of this section when it is 

provided in a form that permits the consumer to 

store, download, print, or otherwise maintain the 

Continued 

obtained his or her free annual file 

disclosure generated a substantial 

number of comments. Consumer 

advocates and many consumers either 

supported the proposal, or stated that it 

did not go far enough. For example, 

NAAG, as well as over 255 consumers, 

supported the proposal.32 Others, 

including NCLC, the States of Florida 

and Minnesota, as well as over 250 

consumers, recommended a complete 

ban of all advertising on the centralized 

source. A typical consumer comment 

stated: ‘‘The FTC should remove all 

advertising and marketing by the credit 

bureaus before, during and even after 

the process of getting a free credit 

report. People should be able to get their 

reports and exit the Web site without 

having to go through a gauntlet of sales 

pitches.’’33 Similarly, another consumer 

stated: ‘‘Why aren’t the free reports on 

a commercial-free site where I can go in, 

give the information I need without 

worrying who I’m giving it to, without 

a gauntlet of commercials and confusing 

links that send me to more places that 

want to get my money?’’34

Industry and business groups, in 

contrast, opposed the proposal. One 

CRA noted that the centralized source is 

a springboard for providing consumers 

with beneficial credit-related products 

and services.35 This commenter also 

argued that the proposed delay of 

advertising would prevent CRAs from 

complying with section 609(a)(6) of the 

FCRA, which requires CRAs to provide 

a statement that consumers can request 

a credit score when a consumer requests 

a credit file.36 CDIA suggested that a 

better approach would be to require that 

advertisements for additional products 

or services on the centralized source be 

‘‘no more conspicuous’’ than the 

centralized source’s features for 

obtaining free annual file disclosures.37

The Commission has carefully 

considered these comments and has 

retained the restriction on advertising 

until after the consumer has obtained 

his or her file disclosure. As noted in 

the NPRM, the general standard 

contained in the original Rule, that 

advertising not ‘‘interfere with, detract 

from, contradict, or otherwise 

undermine’’ the centralized source, has 

not been effective in ensuring that 

consumers have an unfettered, easy-touse mechanism for obtaining their free 

annual file disclosure. Consumers have 

been subjected to substantial amounts of 

advertising for the nationwide CRAs’ 

proprietary products or services while 

navigating AnnualCreditReport.com to 

obtain their free annual file disclosures. 

Indeed, when consumers access the 

website, they encounter offers for a 

variety of add-on goods or services – 

such as credit scores and credit 

monitoring services – which they must 

purchase or decline, one by one, before 

obtaining their free annual file 

disclosures. These advertisements make 

it cumbersome and time consuming for 

consumers to exercise their right to 

obtain their free annual file 

disclosures.38

A substantial number of commenters 

confirmed that existing advertising 

impedes consumers’ ability to obtain 

their free annual file disclosures on 

AnnualCreditReport.com. As one 

consumer noted, ‘‘[a]s a user of the 

annualcreditreport website, I feel it is 

like tiptoeing through a minefield to try 

to get past all the paid offers to the 

actual free credit report guaranteed by 

Federal law.’’39 Another consumer 

stated that ‘‘If you are not extremely 

careful it is almost impossible to avoid 

ordering a product that is available only 

for a fee.’’40 The comments confirm the 

problems the Commission articulated in 

the NPRM, and thus, the Commission 

continues to believe that a delay in 

advertising is necessary to ensure that 

consumers can exercise their federal 

right to obtain their free annual file 

disclosures, without unnecessary 

obstruction and delay. 

The Commission recognizes that 

prohibiting all advertising on 

AnnualCreditReport.com would 

advance the Commission’s interest in 

restricting aggressive advertising that 

impedes consumers’ ability to obtain 

free file disclosures. The Commission 

believes, however, that the less 

restrictive approach of delaying 

advertising would achieve its goal of 

improving ‘‘the ease by which 

consumers should be able to contact 

consumer reporting agencies with 

respect to access to such consumer 

reports.’’41 Delaying such advertising or 

other communications42 enables 

consumers to focus first on obtaining 

their free annual file disclosure and 

decide thereafter whether to purchase 

additional products or services, 

including credit scores pursuant to 

section 609(a)(6) of the FCRA.43

2. Definition of ‘‘obtained’’ 

Proposed section 610.2(g)(1)(i) 

clarified when consumers have 

‘‘obtained’’ a free annual file disclosure 

for purposes of the delay in advertising 

by providing that, for telephone and 

written requests for free annual file 

disclosures, the consumer ‘‘has 

obtained’’ the file disclosure when the 

file disclosure is mailed to the 

consumer. Similarly, proposed section 

610.2(g)(1)(ii) provided that, for free 

annual file disclosures requested 

through the Internet, the consumer ‘‘has 

obtained’’ the file disclosure when it is 

delivered to the consumer through the 

Internet.44


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9730 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

file disclosure for future reference. 74 FR at 52917- 

918. Cf. Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 436.6(b) 

(addressing disclosure in an online environment). 45Schwartz & Ballen at 3. 46NCLC at 4. 47TransUnion at 4. 48The Commission will continue to monitor 

carefully consumers’ experiences with the 

centralized source. If the Commission finds that the 

delayed advertising permitted by the final amended 

Rule results in significant consumer confusion, it 

will revisit the issue of a ban. 

49The Commission changed the language of 

proposed section 610.2(g)(1)(ii) to make it parallel 

with section 610.2(g)(1)(i). As in the proposed Rule, 

sections 610.2(g)(2) and (3) of the final amended 

Rule retain the original Rule requirement that any 

advertising on the centralized source shall not 

‘‘interfere with, detract from, contradict, or 

otherwise undermine the purpose of the centralized 

source.’’ 

50See, e.g., NAAG at 2; see also J. Smallwood (‘‘at 

every turn there were confusing links, questions, 

and other chaff tossed in my way all designed to 

confuse and confound a consumer who simply 

wanted what was promised: an honest to goodness 

free credit report.’’). 

51TransUnion at 5-6; CDIA at 5-6. 

52CDIA at 5. 

Some commenters objected to the 

NPRM’s proposed definition of when a 

consumer has ‘‘obtained’’ his or her free 

annual file disclosure. Schwartz & 

Ballen, a law firm, asserted that the 

CRAs should be prohibited from 

promoting additional products and 

services during the same telephone or 

website session or in the same envelope 

as the requested file disclosure because 

consumers may misinterpret the 

importance of material that 

accompanies information requested 

pursuant to a federally mandated 

right.45 NCLC asserted that, for Internet 

requests, consumers should only be 

shown advertising after they have their 

‘‘report in hand,’’ so that ‘‘there is a clear 

separation in time and activity that 

gives the consumer adequate chance to 

reflect on whether he or she really 

wants to purchase other products.’’46 In 

contrast, TransUnion objected to the 

proposal with respect to mail or 

telephone requests, asserting that CRAs 

should be permitted to advertise other 

products or services after the consumer 

has requested his or her file disclosure 

and the CRA has indicated that it will 

provide the file disclosure through the 

mail, asserting that it is easier for 

consumers to request products such as 

credit scores at the time of their request 

for their file disclosure.47

The final amended Rule adopts 

section 610.2(g)(1) as proposed. The 

Commission believes that the final 

amended Rule strikes the appropriate 

balance, by minimizing the risk that 

consumers may be misled before 

obtaining their free annual file 

disclosure, while still allowing the 

CRAs to offer additional products and 

services. The approach proposed by 

Schwartz & Ballen – that CRAs be 

prohibited from advertising during the 

same ‘‘website session’’ – would 

essentially ban advertising through the 

centralized source. As discussed above, 

the Commission believes a ban is more 

restrictive than necessary at this time.48

The approach proposed by NCLC would 

require a CRA to be sure that the 

consumer has his or her report ‘‘in hand’’ 

before delivering advertising to that 

consumer. The Commission questions 

the feasability of this approach, as it is 

unclear whether a CRA would be able 

to ascertain, in all instances, when the 

consumer has the report ‘‘in hand.’’ With 

respect to TransUnion’s request to 

modify the proposal for mail and 

telephone requests to allow advertising 

before the report is placed in the mail, 

the Commission believes that, for 

example, allowing advertising messages 

to be relayed in the same telephone call 

during which the free credit report order 

is placed would cause the same 

consumer confusion and obfuscation 

described above. In addition, the 

Commission notes that the final 

amended Rule applies a consistent 

approach regardless of how the 

consumer obtains his or her report – 

advertising may be provided at the time 

the report is delivered or later. 

Therefore, the final amended Rule 

adopts section 610.2(g)(1) as proposed, 

with minor non-substantive changes.49

B. Section 610.2(h): Additional 

prohibited practices 

Proposed section 610.2(h) prohibited 

three types of conduct on the 

centralized source: (1) hyperlinks to 

commercial or proprietary websites on 

the centralized source Internet website; 

(2) any request or requirement that 

consumers establish an account in order 

to obtain their free annual file 

disclosures; and (3) any request or 

requirement that consumers agree to 

terms and conditions in order to obtain 

their free annual file disclosures. In the 

NPRM, the Commission proposed to 

prohibit these types of conduct because 

they interfere with and undermine 

consumers’ ability to obtain their free 

annual file disclosures through the 

centralized source. The final amended 

Rule adopts section 610.2(h) with 

certain modifications discussed below. 

1. Section 610.2(h)(1): Prohibition on 

hyperlinks to commercial websites 

In the NPRM, the Commission noted 

that, currently, the initial page of 

AnnualCreditReport.com contains 

hyperlinks to the websites of the three 

nationwide CRAs. If a consumer clicks 

on one of the CRA’s hyperlinks on the 

initial page of AnnualCreditReport.com, 

the consumer is transported to that 

CRA’s commercial website, where the 

consumer is unable to obtain his or her 

free annual file disclosure provided by 

federal law. For these reasons, the 

Commission proposed to prohibit such 

hyperlinks to reduce the possibility that 

consumers attempting to obtain their 

free annual file disclosures will be 

transferred to commercial websites that 

do not provide the federally mandated 

free annual file disclosures but instead 

sell various products or services. 

A number of comments addressed the 

proposed prohibition of hyperlinks on 

the centralized source. Several 

commenters noted that the proposal will 

better protect consumers and reduce 

confusion as consumers attempt to 

access their free annual file 

disclosures.50 Industry commenters 

objected to the proposal, asserting that 

the hyperlinks do not confuse 

consumers.51 CDIA noted that, from a 

technical standpoint, the centralized 

source must transfer consumers to each 

of the CRA’s individual websites to 

facilitate the fulfillment of the free 

annual file disclosures requests.52

In response to the comments, the final 

amended Rule retains the prohibition of 

hyperlinks, with two clarifications. 

First, it permits hyperlinks to a 

fulfillment web page on which 

consumers can order their annual file 

disclosure. Aside from fulfillment, the 

Commission finds no reason why 

hyperlinks should appear on the 

centralized source web site before a 

consumer orders his or her annual file 

disclosure, and in view of the potential 

for confusion, believes that the 

restriction is necessary. Second, 

consistent with the provision allowing 

advertising after the consumer has 

obtained his or her annual file 

disclosure, the CRAs may include 

hyperlinks in such advertising. 

2. Section 610.2(h)(2): Prohibition on 

requiring the establishment of accounts 

Proposed section 610.2(h)(2) 

prohibited nationwide CRAs from 

requesting or requiring a consumer to 

establish an account as a prerequisite to 

obtaining a free annual file disclosure 

through the centralized source. A 

number of commenters, including the 

BBB and NAAG, supported this 

proposal. The BBB noted that it has 

received thousands of complaints from 

consumers who complain about having 

to set up accounts before obtaining their 

free annual file disclosure: ‘‘Permitting 

this practice to continue places an 


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53BBB at 3; see also NAAG at 2; E-Commerce at 

2 (supporting a provision barring sites from 

requiring consumers to register in order to obtain 

the annual file disclosure). 

54TransUnion at 6-7; see also CDIA at 6. 

55Requiring the establishment of an account is 

contrary to existing Commission commentary on 

the provision of file disclosures. See FTC 

Commentary on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 16 

CFR 600 Appendix, comment 610-2 (‘‘A consumer 

reporting agency may not add conditions not set out 

in the FCRA as a prerequisite to the required 

disclosure.’’). 

56NAAG at 2; Schwartz & Ballen at 3-4. 

57TransUnion at 7 (asserting that terms and 

conditions are justified because consumers are 

obtaining immediate access to file disclosure). 

58See 15 U.S.C. 1681h(a)(1). 

59 In response to TransUnion’s comment, if a 

consumer is determined to access someone else’s 

file disclosure, it is unclear how requiring that 

person to agree to terms and conditions will serve 

as a deterrent. In any event, TransUnion does not 

require terms and conditions for mail or telephone 

requests for free credit reports; thus, requiring such 

terms and conditions does not seem necessary for 

Internet transactions. 

60 16 CFR Part 642. 61 16 CFR Part 308. 

unnecessary barrier between consumers 

and their free annual credit report.’’53

In contrast, TransUnion and CDIA 

noted that the setting up of accounts 

could be beneficial to consumers. 

TransUnion stated that, among other 

things, establishing an account allows 

consumers to access their free annual 

file disclosure online for a period of 

time and makes the authentication 

process easier when consumers seek to 

obtain their file disclosures the 

following year.54

The Commission has determined that 

requiring the establishment of an 

account as a prerequisite to obtaining a 

free annual file disclosure interferes 

with the intent of the original Rule 

because it imposes a condition on the 

consumer’s ability to obtain free annual 

file disclosures.55 Further, because 

creating an account generally 

necessitates the collection of additional 

personally identifiable information, 

‘‘requiring’’ such an account runs 

counter to the prohibition in section 

610.2(2)(b)(ii) of the original Rule, 

which limits the collection of 

information to that which is reasonably 

necessary to properly identify the 

consumer and to process the consumer’s 

transaction(s). Accordingly, the 

Commission has determined to retain 

the proposed prohibition against CRAs 

requiring consumers to set up an 

account to obtain a free annual file 

disclosure. 

The Commission, however, agrees 

with TransUnion that consumers may 

derive a benefit from the establishment 

of accounts with CRAs when they 

obtain their free annual file disclosures 

and does not want to foreclose this 

option. As a result, the final amended 

Rule eliminates the NPRM’s proposed 

prohibition on ‘‘asking’’ consumers to set 

up an account and allows CRAs to give 

consumers the option to establish an 

account. The Commission believes that 

such an option should be provided only 

after the consumer has obtained his or 

her file disclosure, in order to reduce 

the potential that a consumer may be 

confused into believing that an account 

is required to access his or her free file 

disclosure. Accordingly, the 

Commission has amended section 

610.2(g)(1) to allow CRAs to provide an 

option to establish an account, but only 

after a consumer has obtained his or her 

file disclosure. 

3. Section 610.2(h)(3): Prohibition on 

requiring terms or conditions 

Proposed section 610.2(h)(3) 

prohibited CRAs from requesting or 

requiring consumers to agree to terms 

and conditions as a prerequisite to 

obtaining their free annual file 

disclosures through the centralized 

source. NAAG and Schwartz & Ballen 

supported prohibiting terms and 

conditions on consumers’ access to their 

file disclosures.56 CDIA and TransUnion 

objected to the proposal. TransUnion 

asserted that the terms and conditions 

required for consumers requesting their 

free annual file disclosure via the 

Internet are intended to deter consumers 

from accessing someone else’s file 

disclosure.57

The Commission believes that a 

consumer’s right to obtain a free annual 

file disclosure should be unfettered and 

without any restrictions or conditions, 

apart from providing appropriate 

identifying information, as is required 

under the FCRA.58 Further, after 

reviewing the comments, the 

Commission does not believe that there 

is any reason to permit CRAs to ask or 

require consumers, including those who 

attempt to access their free annual file 

disclosures through the Internet, to 

agree to terms and conditions.59 The 

Commission has determined, therefore, 

to retain the proposed Rule’s 

prohibition on requiring or requesting 

that consumers agree to terms and 

conditions in connection with obtaining 

a free annual file disclosure. 

The final amended Rule, however, 

revises the proposed language in two 

respects. First, consistent with 

comments received, it eliminates the 

term ‘‘prerequisite’’ to clarify that any 

request or requirement to agree to terms 

or conditions in connection with 

obtaining free annual file disclosures is 

prohibited, even one made after the 

consumer obtains his or her file 

disclosure. The Commission believes 

that, even if such terms and conditions 

are presented after the consumer obtains 

his or her file disclosure, the consumer 

might reasonably believe that accepting 

the terms and conditions is required. 

Second, the final amended Rule 

substitutes ‘‘terms or conditions’’ for 

‘‘terms and conditions.’’ The 

Commission believes this revision is 

necessary to clarify that the prohibition 

does not extend only to documents or 

text labeled ‘‘terms and conditions.’’ 

Rather, it extends to any legal 

impediment on consumers’ access to a 

free annual file disclosure, regardless of 

whether that impediment is presented 

as ‘‘terms and conditions,’’ ‘‘notice,’’ 

‘‘legal notice,’’ or another term. 

C. Section 610.4: Prevention of 

deceptive marketing of ‘‘free credit 

reports’’ 

Section 610.4 implements the 

Congressional directive in section 205 of 

the Act to combat the deceptive 

marketing of ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

through ‘‘prominent’’ disclosures in 

advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports.’’ 

Proposed section 610.4 included general 

requirements to ensure that the 

disclosures are sufficiently prominent, 

such as requiring that all audio 

disclosures be delivered in a slow and 

deliberate manner and providing 

specific guidance to ensure that visual 

disclosures are prominent. This section 

also included disclosure requirements 

specific to each of the various media in 

which advertising may occur. Where 

possible, the disclosure standards in the 

proposed Rule were drawn from 

comparable FTC or other federal law 

addressing the prominence of specific 

required disclosures – in particular the 

Prescreen Opt Out Notice Rule60 and the 

Trade Regulation Rule Pursuant to the 

Telephone Disclosure and Dispute 

Resolution Act of 1992 (‘‘Pay Per Call 

Rule’’).61 The standards also were drawn 

from relevant Commission law 

enforcement actions and business 

education materials. Proposed section 

610.4 consisted of three sections: 

definitions, general disclosure 

requirements, and media-specific 

requirements. These are discussed 

below in turn. 

1. Definitions 

a. Section 610.4(a)(1): The term 

‘‘AnnualCreditReport.com and 877-322- 

8228’’ 

Proposed section 610.4 defined the 

term ‘‘AnnualCreditReport.com and 877- 

322-8228’’ to mean the Uniform 

Resource Locator and toll-free telephone 

number currently used by the 


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9732 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

62CDIA at 9 (‘‘[T]he FTC should clarify in the 

Rule that covered entities will be provided with a 

reasonable opportunity to update the information.’’). 

63 74 FR at 52918. 

64NCLC at 4; TransUnion at 8. At the same time, 

NCLC noted that the disclosures set forth in the Act 

for nationwide CRAs would have to be modified if 

applied to nationwide specialty CRAs by omitting 

references to AnnualCreditReport.com. NCLC at 4. 

65TransUnion at 8. 

66NCLC at 4. 

67Experian at 28-29; see also Schwartz & Ballen 

at 2 (‘‘CRAs . . . offer their services in connection 

with their sponsorship of the website 

AnnualCreditReport.com, which is where 

consumers may obtain their free credit reports 

under Federal law.’’); CDIA at 8 (asserting that the 

proposed definition would ‘‘apply to many products 

and services that are not in direct competition with 

the credit file disclosures required to be made 

available through the centralized source because the 

Free Annual File Disclosures Rule cannot and does 

not require similar options.’’). 

68NAAG at 2-3. Similarly, the States of Florida 

and Minnesota urged that the definition cover trial 

offers or trial periods. State of Florida at 6 (‘‘The 

definition of ‘free credit report’ should encompass 

. . . trial subscriptions to make it abundantly clear 

that trial offers are covered.’’); State of Minnesota at 

3 (‘‘The FTC should adopt a broad definition of ‘free 

credit report’ that explicitly covers . . . ‘trial 

periods.’’’). Other commenters expressed confusion 

about the phrase ‘‘tied to’’ the purchase of a product 

or service. For example, NCLC noted that the term 

‘‘tied to’’ could be confused with the antitrust 

concept of ‘‘tying,’’ where a seller conditions the 

sale of one product or service on the customer’s 

agreement to take a second product or service. 

NCLC at 5. 

centralized source. Proposed section 

610.4 also provided that if the 

centralized source’s website (currently 

AnnualCreditReport.com) or toll-free 

telephone number (currently 877-322- 

8228) were to change, the centralized 

source must substitute the new website 

or toll-free telephone number in all 

disclosures required by this section of 

the Rule. In response to the NPRM, the 

Commission received only one 

comment. CDIA agreed with the 

proposed definition, but urged the 

Commission to include a reference to a 

‘‘reasonable time’’ in order to provide 

the centralized source an opportunity to 

update the disclosures.62 The 

Commission believes this modification 

is appropriate and has revised the 

proposed Rule accordingly. 

b. Section 610.4(a)(2): The term ‘‘free 

credit report’’ 

Proposed section 610.4 set forth the 

following definition of ‘‘free credit 

report’’: 

Free credit report. For the purposes of 

this section, ‘‘free credit report’’ means 

a consumer report or file disclosure 

that is prepared by or obtained, 

directly or indirectly, from a 

nationwide consumer reporting 

agency (as defined in section 603(p) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act); that is 

represented, either expressly or 

impliedly, to be available to the 

consumer free of charge; and that is, 

in any way, tied to the purchase of a 

product or service. 

As noted in the NPRM, the term ‘‘free 

credit report’’ is undefined in section 

205 of the Act, the FCRA, or the Free 

Reports Rule.63 The Commission 

defined the phrase in the proposed 

Rule, however, in order to clarify the 

scope of the Rule’s disclosure 

requirements. As explained more fully 

below, based on the comments received, 

the Commission has revised the 

proposed definition of ‘‘free credit 

reports’’ as follows: 

Free credit report means a file 

disclosure prepared by or obtained, 

directly or indirectly, from a 

nationwide consumer reporting 

agency (as defined in section 603(p) of 

the Fair Credit Reporting Act), that is 

represented, either expressly or 

impliedly, to be available to the 

consumer at no cost if the consumer 

purchases a product or service, or 

agrees to purchase a product or 

service subject to cancellation. 

i. Scope of the term ‘‘free credit report’’ 

Proposed section 610.4 defined ‘‘free 

credit report’’ to include ‘‘a consumer 

report or file disclosure prepared by or 

obtained . . . from a nationwide 

consumer reporting agency (as defined 

in section 603(p) of the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act).’’ NCLC and TransUnion 

urged the Commission to broaden the 

definition to include reports offered by 

nationwide specialty CRAs.64 In that 

regard, TransUnion stated: ‘‘As a general 

matter, it is not clear why this provision 

pertains to Free Reports involving only 

nationwide CRAs. If an entity is 

advertising a ‘free credit report,’ it 

would seem that the disclosures are 

appropriate regardless of the provider or 

source of information.’’65 NCLC also 

observed that the statutory language of 

the Act is not limited to nationwide 

CRAs.66

On the other hand, several 

commenters, including CDIA and 

Experian, urged the Commission to 

narrow the definition of ‘‘free credit 

report,’’ asserting that section 610.4 

should cover only file disclosures of the 

type that the nationwide CRAs must 

make available through the centralized 

source. For example, Experian’s 

comment states: 

[The statute] seeks to assure that 

consumers will be able to distinguish 

between a free credit report offered by 

a commercial entity and the free 

annual file disclosures available at 

[AnnualCreditReport.com]. The 

statute does not cover other aspects of 

the consumer credit system such as 

credit scores or the many other types 

of information that can qualify as 

‘consumer reports’ under the FCRA.67

The Commission agrees that the 

NPRM’s inclusion of the term 

‘‘consumer report’’ in the proposed 

definition of ‘‘free credit report’’ was too 

broad, sweeping in the offer of reports 

that go beyond the requirements of 

section 205 of the Act, and potentially 

adding to consumer confusion. Section 

205 was intended to address the 

confusion between the information 

offered through the centralized source 

and similar information offered from 

private or other commercial sources. 

Indeed, the disclosures contemplated by 

section 205 of the Act would not be 

useful, for example, for advertising of 

offers of consumer reports from 

nationwide specialty CRAs, as those 

reports are not available through the 

centralized source. Similarly, the term 

‘‘consumer report’’ would include 

‘‘credit scores;’’ thus, under the 

proposed Rule, an advertisement for a 

‘‘free credit score’’ would have triggered 

the requirement to disclose the 

existence of AnnualCreditReport.com. 

Consumers seeing an advertisement for 

a free credit score might be confused if 

they are directed to 

AnnualCreditReport.com, only to find 

that they could not get a free credit 

score on that site. Accordingly, section 

610.4 of the final amended Rule is 

limited in scope to reports of the type 

disseminated through the centralized 

source. 

ii. Applicability of the term ‘‘free credit 

report’’ to trial offers 

The definition of ‘‘free credit report’’ 

in proposed section 610.4 applied to an 

offer of free credit reports ‘‘that is, in any 

way, tied to the purchase of a product 

or service.’’ Several commenters 

objected to the use of the phrase ‘‘in any 

way, tied to the purchase of a product 

or service.’’ NAAG suggested that the 

term ‘‘purchase’’ might be interpreted to 

exclude negative option offers, where 

the consumer may cancel the purchase 

before having paid anything: ‘‘If a 

consumer receives a free credit report 

and cancels any service within the 

allotted time without paying anything, 

some may argue that the report is not 

technically ‘tied to the purchase of a 

product or service.’’’68

The Commission agrees and has 

changed the definition of ‘‘free credit 

report’’ to better clarify the types of ‘‘free 

credit report’’ offers intended to be 

covered by the Rule – those 

‘‘represented, either expressly or 


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69Section 610.4(a) of the final amended Rule 

makes clear that representations made both 

expressly and impliedly about an offer of a ‘‘free 

credit report’’ will trigger the Rule’s disclosure 

obligations. Schwartz & Ballen contended that the 

word ‘‘impliedly’’ is vague, ambiguous, and ‘‘will 

unnecessarily result in significant uncertainty in its 

application.’’ Schwartz & Ballen at 4. The 

Commission believes that the use of the term 

‘‘impliedly’’ is consistent with well-established 

advertising law under section 5 of the FTC Act. See 

generally FTC Policy Statement on Deception 

(‘‘Deception Statement’’), Appended to Cliffdale 

Associates, Inc., 103 F.T.C. 110, 174 (1984) (‘‘In 

cases of implied claims, the Commission will often 

be able to determine meaning through an 

examination of the representation itself, including 

an evaluation of such factors as the entire 

document, the juxtaposition of various phrases in 

the document, the nature of the claim, and the 

nature of the transactions. In other situations, the 

Commission will require extrinsic evidence that 

reasonable consumers reach the implied claims.’’). 

70See Intersections at 1; American Express at 2; 

Schwartz & Ballen at 4; TransUnion at 8. 

71CDIA at 9 (‘‘The FTC does not further the goal 

of preventing consumer confusion between the 

federally mandated annual disclosure and 

commercial ‘free credit report’ offers by applying 

these disclosures to advertisements for these 

packages.’’). 

72 Intersections at 2 and 7. 

73American Express at 1. 

74An offer of a ‘‘free credit report if you extend 

your membership’’ would be made ‘‘in connection 

with a purchase’’ and therefore covered by the Rule. 

75These general disclosure standards are drawn 

from several Commission trade regulation rules. See 

Pay Per Call Rule, 16 CFR Part 308; Rule 

Concerning Cooling-Off Period for Sales Made at 

Homes or at Certain Other Locations (‘‘Cooling-Off 

Rule’’), 16 CFR Part 429; Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 

Part 436; Business Opportunity Rule, 16 CFR Part 

437; and Regulations under the Fair Packaging and 

Labeling Act, 16 CFR Part 500. 

76The Commission also recognizes that States 

and individuals have the ability to enforce parts of 

the FCRA. By setting forth these requirements, 

section 610.4(a)(4) of the final amended Rule is 

intended to avoid a patchwork of differing 

interpretations of what constitutes ‘‘prominent’’ 

disclosures. 

77Commission precedent establishes that 

disclosures in fine print or buried in dense blocks 

of text are not prominent. The mandate that 

disclosures be ‘‘clear and conspicuous’’ or ‘‘clear and 

prominent’’ dates back more than 60 years. See, e.g., 

Hillman Periodicals v. FTC, 174 F.2d 122 (2d Cir. 

1949) (upholding Commission order that company 

selling shortened versions of books disclose that its 

publications are abridged ‘‘in immediate connection 

with the title and in clear, conspicuous type’’). 

78See also 16 CFR 429.1(a) (requiring disclosure 

of right to cancel door-to-door sales ‘‘in the same 

language, e.g., Spanish, as that principally used in 

the oral sales presentation’’). 

impliedly, to be available to the 

consumer at no cost if the consumer 

purchases a product or service, or agrees 

to purchase a product or service subject 

to cancellation.’’ This language clarifies 

that a ‘‘free credit report’’ offered in 

connection with a trial offer of another 

product or service will fall within the 

scope of the Rule and trigger the 

disclosure requirement.69

iii. Bundled offerings that include credit 

reports 

Several commenters urged the 

Commission to clarify that section 610.4 

does not apply to advertisements for 

every bundle of products or services 

that may include a ‘‘free credit report.’’70

For example, CDIA contended that 

‘‘where a company offers a package of 

services together with a credit report – 

such as combined credit monitoring, 

identity theft assistance, or other 

products or services – the disclosure 

requirements should not apply if a 

complimentary credit report is not a 

dominant part of the offer.’’71 These 

commenters asserted that there is no 

confusion between the offering of 

bundled products and services and the 

federally mandated dissemination of 

free annual file disclosures through the 

centralized source. In that regard, 

Intersections, a business commenter, 

stated: ‘‘If a consumer were to compare 

an offer for a free trial of Intersection’s 

Bundled Products with the annual 

federally mandated disclosure, it would 

be clear to the consumer even upon a 

cursory review that he or she was 

reviewing separate and wholly 

unrelated products.’’72 In addition, 

American Express noted that it offers a 

complimentary credit score and report 

once a year as part of a package of 

Cardmember services and that the 

disclosure requirement should not 

apply to this service.73

The Commission declines to modify 

the proposed Rule in response to these 

comments. The Commission disagrees 

that the types of bundled products 

mentioned by commenters do not cause 

consumer confusion. Indeed, the 

Commission believes that advertising 

for bundled products that promote free 

credit reports, in addition to other 

products and services, such as credit 

monitoring, is the very type of 

advertising that is likely to confuse 

consumers. Thus, the final amended 

Rule does not include any type of 

exemption for bundled products. With 

respect to the free credit reports offered 

by American Express as a benefit of 

membership, the Commission notes that 

the advertising of a free credit report to 

a non-member in this instance would 

fall within the Rule’s definition of ‘‘free 

credit report.’’ However, once a 

consumer becomes a member, a 

statement that a no-strings-attached 

‘‘free credit report’’ is a benefit of 

membership does not fall within the 

Rule’s definition because such a free 

credit report is not being advertised ‘‘in 

connection with the purchase of a 

product or service.’’74

2. Section 610.4(a)(3): General 

requirements for disclosures 

Section 610.4(a)(3) of the final 

amended Rule implements the Act’s 

mandate that the required disclosures 

for ‘‘free credit reports’’ be ‘‘prominent.’’ 

It also sets forth general requirements 

for, among other things, visual, audio, 

and program-length advertisements.75

These requirements are designed to 

ensure that the mandated disclosures 

can be readily seen and/or heard by 

consumers.76 In addition, the final 

amended Rule clarifies that the 

disclosures must be limited to the 

prescribed text with no other content to 

ensure that the consumer is not 

distracted from the message contained 

in the disclosure. 

a. Section 610.4(a)(3)(i): Prominent 

Section 610.4(a)(3)(i) of the final 

amended Rule revises the NPRM by 

adding a new section incorporating the 

statutory mandate that all disclosures 

for ‘‘free credit reports’’ be ‘‘prominent.’’ 

In response to the NPRM, the 

Commission received numerous 

comments on how the final Rule should 

address prominence, including 

comments on the placement, format, 

and timing of the required disclosures, 

as discussed in detail below. 

Accordingly, the Commission has added 

in the final amended Rule a general 

requirement that all disclosures must be 

‘‘prominent,’’ consistent with the 

language of section 205.77 This general 

‘‘prominence’’ requirement applies to all 

disclosures in any medium. 

b. Section 610.4(a)(3)(iii): Language 

usage 

Proposed section 610.4 required that 

any disclosure mandated by this section 

be provided in the same language as that 

principally used in the advertisement. 

The proposed requirement drew from 

identical language in section 308.3(a)(1) 

of the Pay Per Call Rule and the 

Commission’s belief that a disclosure in 

a language different from that which is 

principally used in an advertisement 

would be deceptive.78 No comments 

addressed this issue. Accordingly, the 

final amended Rule adopts this section, 

as proposed in the NPRM. 

c. Section 610.4(a)(3)(iii): Visual 

disclosures 

Proposed section 610.4(a)(4) provided 

that visual disclosures ‘‘shall be of a 

color or shade that readily contrasts 

with the background of the 

advertisement, in a font easily read by 

a reasonable consumer, and be parallel 

to the base of the advertisement.’’ The 

proposed section drew from the Pay Per 

Call Rule, which requires disclosures to 

be (1) in ‘‘a color or shade that readily 

contrasts with the background of the 


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79See also In re Swisher Int’l, Inc., C-3964 (2000) 

(requiring warnings on cigar advertisements to 

appear ‘‘parallel . . . to the base of the 

advertisement’’); Regulation under Section 4 of the 

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, 16 CFR 500.4 

(requiring statement of identity for packaged goods 

to appear ‘‘in lines generally parallel to the base on 

which the packaging or commodity rests as it is 

designed to be displayed’’). ‘‘Parallel to the base’’ 

means that a consumer need not turn his or her 

head in order to read the disclosure. Accordingly, 

swirling or diagonal text, for example, will not be 

parallel to the base of the advertisement or screen. 

80See State of Florida at 7. 

81See NYCPB at 2. 

82See Final Model Privacy Form Under the 

Gramm Leach Bliley Act, 74 FR 62889, at 62899 

-900 (Dec. 1, 2009) (setting forth general guidance 

for easily readable type). 

83The Pay Per Call Rule required only that the 

disclosure ‘‘readily contrast’’ with the background. 

In this rulemaking, modification of the Pay Per Call 

Rule standard is warranted in light of changes in 

technology that have developed since promulgation 

of that rule. Indeed, as CDIA noted, the Pay Per Call 

Rule does not address Internet disclosures at all. 

CDIA at 12-13. 

84See 16 CFR 642.3(a)(2). 

85As noted above, although text in, italics, or 

underlined may be ‘‘in a distinct type style,’’ if they 

are difficult to read, they would not satisfy the 

‘‘easily readable’’ requirement. 

86The final amended Rule also eliminates the 

term ‘‘color’’ in recognition of the fact that certain 

advertising, such as newspaper advertising, often 

contains no color. 

87See NAAG at 4 (suggesting that audio 

disclosure be made ‘‘every time the triggering term 

is used and at the same decibel’’); State of Florida 

at 7 (suggesting that ‘‘audio disclosures should 

parallel the volume and approximate pitch of the 

primary advertisement or be at least as audible as 

the primary advertisement’’). 

88See NAAG at 4 (suggesting that audio 

disclosure be made ‘‘every time the triggering term 

is used . . .’’). 

89The Commission notes that this provision is 

identical to section 308.3(a)(6) of the Pay Per Call 

Rule, and is designed to enable consumers tuning 

in to the program-length advertisement at different 

stages of the broadcast to receive the required 

disclosure. Cf. In re Synchronal Corp., 116 FTC 

1189 (1993) (requiring video or commercial 

advertisements 15 minutes or longer to disclose that 

program is a paid advertisement within the first 30 

seconds and immediately before presentation of 

ordering instructions). 

90Cf. Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 436.9(a) and 

Business Opportunity Rule, 16 CFR 437.1(a)(21) 

(prohibiting the making of any claim or 

representation, orally or visually, or in writing, that 

contradicts the information required to be disclosed 

by the Rule); Guides for Environmental Marketing 

Claims, 16 CFR 260.6(a) (noting that an absence of 

contrary claims will help make disclosures clear 

and prominent). 

91Schwartz & Ballen at 5. 

advertisement’’ and (2) ‘‘parallel to the 

base of the advertisement.’’79

Several commenters offered 

suggestions on how to add specificity to 

ensure that the visual disclosures are 

prominent. For example, the State of 

Florida recommended that print and 

Internet disclosures appear within ‘‘a 

border similar to the Surgeon General’s 

cigarette warning....’’80 NYCPB 

recommended that print disclosures ‘‘be 

presented in a box and/or in a 

contrasting color to help ensure its 

prominence.’’81 The Commission agrees 

that more specificity is required to 

ensure that all visual disclosures are 

prominent. 

Thus, the Commission has modified 

the proposed section to add specific 

requirements to strengthen the 

prominence of visual disclosures. First, 

the Commission has added a general 

requirement that visual disclosures be 

easily readable. For example, as noted 

in the NPRM, a disclosure in an Old 

English Text font would not be ‘‘easily 

readable,’’ even if it were sufficiently 

large. In addition, manipulating the 

letter width, letter spacing, word 

spacing, or line height so that the letters 

of the disclosure appear to be 

condensed in comparison to the rest of 

the text on the page or screen would 

violate the requirement for the 

disclosure to be ‘‘easily readable.’’82

Similarly, a disclosure presented in all 

italics or underlined would likely be 

difficult to read; if so, it would not 

comply with the requirement to be 

‘‘easily readable.’’ 

Second, instead of merely requiring 

visual disclosures that ‘‘readily contrast 

with the background’’ of the disclosure, 

the final amended Rule requires that 

there be a ‘‘high degree of contrast.’’ The 

Commission believes that such a 

clarification is necessary to ensure 

prominence. As an example, a 

disclosure in which the text contrasts 

slightly with the background (e.g., light 

gray on dark gray) would not constitute 

a sufficiently ‘‘high degree of contrast’’ 

to satisfy this requirement.83

Third, drawing from the 

Commission’s Prescreen Opt-Out Rule, 

the final amended Rule requires that 

visual disclosures be distinct from other 

text, such as inside a border.84 Fourth, 

the final Rule requires that the 

disclosure be ‘‘in a distinct type style, 

such as bold.’’85 Finally, because the 

final amended Rule addresses 

disclosures beyond print, such as 

television and Internet websites, the 

Commission has modified the 

requirement that the disclosure be 

‘‘parallel to the base of the 

advertisement’’ to state that the 

disclosure must be ‘‘parallel to the base 

of the advertisement or screen.’’86

d. Section 610.4(a)(3)(iv): Audio 

disclosures 

Proposed section 610.4 required that 

audio disclosures be delivered in a slow 

and deliberate manner and in a 

reasonably understandable volume. In 

response to the NPRM, a few 

commenters suggested additional 

specificity for this section, such as 

requirements for pitch and a particular 

volume level.87 The Commission agrees 

that adding a requirement that the audio 

disclosure be at a reasonable pitch will 

further ensure that audio disclosures 

can be heard by consumers. The 

Commission has modified the final 

amended Rule accordingly. The 

Commission, however, believes that 

adding a specific volume level is 

unnecessary, given that the Rule already 

requires the disclosure to be made at ‘‘a 

reasonably understandable volume.’’ 

One commenter suggested that the 

audio disclosure be made each time the 

triggering term ‘‘free credit report’’ is 

used.88 The Commission believes that 

multiple disclosures in a short audio 

advertisement could make all of the 

messages in the advertisement 

(including the disclosure) difficult for 

consumers to understand; therefore, the 

Commission declines to make this 

change. For program-length 

advertisements, however, section 

610.4(a)(3)(v) of the final amended Rule 

does require multiple audio disclosures, 

as discussed below. 

e. Section 610.4(a)(3)(v): Program-length 

advertisements 

Proposed section 610.4 required that 

any program-length television, radio, or 

Internet-hosted multi-media 

advertisement for ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

provide the required disclosures at the 

beginning, near the middle, and at the 

end of the advertisement. No 

substantive comments addressed this 

provision. Accordingly, the final 

amended Rule adopts this proposal.89

f. Section 610.4(a)(3)(vi): Inconsistent 

and contrary information 

Proposed section 610.4 provided that 

‘‘nothing contrary to, inconsistent with, 

or in mitigation of the required 

disclosures shall be used in any 

advertisement in any medium ....’’ The 

proposed section also prohibited any 

audio, visual, or print technique that is 

likely to detract significantly from the 

communication of any required 

disclosure. This provision was drawn 

from section 308.3(a)(5) of the Pay Per 

Call Rule and was designed to prevent 

circumvention of the Rule requirements 

through the conveyance of contrary or 

inconsistent information, or other 

actions that undermine the disclosures 

to consumers.90

In its comment, Schwartz & Ballen 

asserted that the phrase ‘‘in mitigation’’ 

fails to provide sufficient guidance as to 

what language is prohibited by this 

section.91 The Commission agrees that 

the term ‘‘in mitigation’’ is vague; thus, 

the final amended Rule substitutes the 


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92Further, the phrase ‘‘that undermines’’ is drawn 

from and parallel to other sections of the original 

Rule. See 16 CFR 610.2(g)(1), renumbered as section 

610.2(g)(2) in the final amended Rule (prohibiting 

‘‘communications . . . [that] undermine the purpose 

of the centralized source’’). 

93Section 205(a)(2): ‘‘In the case of an 

advertisement broadcast by television or radio, the 

disclosure required under paragraph (1) ’’shall be 

included in the audio and visual part of such 

advertisement.’’ 

94See 11 CFR 110.11(c)(3)(iii)(B). 

95NAAG at 3. 

96Schwartz & Ballen at 5. 

97State of Florida at 7. 

98NYCPB at 2. 

99NAAG at 3. 

100See Federal Trade Commission Guidance, Dot 

Com Disclosures: Information about Online 

Advertising, at 6, available at (http://www.ftc.gov/ 

bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus41.pdf) 

(‘‘Dot Com Disclosures’’). 

101 In response to commenters’ additional 

suggestions to address prominence in television 

advertising, the Commission notes that, rather than 

adding specific requirements to this section, it has 

tried to tighten the prominence requirements for all 

disclosures, as discussed above. 

102NAAG at 3. 

103 Id. In addition, NAAG and the State of Florida 

offered suggestions regarding the placement and/or 

audibility of the disclosures. These comments are 

addressed in the discussion of the general 

requirements for prominent advertising disclosures 

above. 

104NYCPB at 2. 

phrase ‘‘that undermines’’ for the phrase 

‘‘in mitigation.’’92 Accordingly, the 

relevant portion of section 

610.4(a)(3)(vi) of the final amended Rule 

reads, ‘‘nothing that is contrary to, 

inconsistent with, or undermines the 

required disclosures shall be used in 

any advertisement in any medium ....’’ 

3. Section 610.4(b): Medium-specific 

advertising disclosures 

Proposed section 610.4(b) set forth the 

statutory requirements relating to 

prominence in specific media. The 

wording and presentation of required 

disclosures for each medium are 

described below. 

a. Section 610.4(b)(1): Disclosures for 

television advertisements 

Section 205 of the Act prescribes the 

specific wording of the disclosures for 

television, requires that the disclosures 

be made in both audio and video 

formats, and requires the audio and 

video disclosures to be made at the 

same time.93 Accordingly, consistent 

with the Act, proposed section 

610.4(b)(1) required that all 

advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

broadcast on television include the 

following disclosure: ‘‘This is not the 

free credit report provided for by 

Federal law’’ in the audio and visual 

parts of the advertisement at the same 

time. Proposed section 610.4(b)(1) also 

required that the disclosure be at least 

four percent of the vertical picture 

height, and appear for a minimum of 

four seconds. This requirement is 

consistent with comparable Federal 

Election Commission requirements for 

the disclosure of the funding source of 

a political advertisement on 

television.94

The Commission received few 

comments on this proposed section. 

NAAG suggested that the Commission 

add the following statement to the 

disclosure: ‘‘This report is only free if 

you make a purchase.’’95 As noted 

above, however, the statute specifies the 

wording of the disclosure for television 

and radio advertisements, and the 

Commission’s Rule follows this 

wording. 

One commenter disagreed with the 

proposed Rule’s use of the Federal 

Election Commission requirements for 

the size of the visual disclosure, 

asserting that the standard is ‘‘overly 

rigid and excessively burdensome.’’96

The commenter did not provide any 

additional information or support; nor 

did it offer an alternative standard. The 

Commission continues to believe that 

the Federal Election Commission 

requirements provide a useful standard 

for prominent disclosures in television 

advertisements. Accordingly, the 

Commission retains this standard in the 

final amended Rule. 

In addition, NAAG, the State of 

Florida, and NYCPB offered several 

suggestions regarding the timing of the 

disclosure. For example, the State of 

Florida suggested that the visual 

disclosure appear throughout the entire 

advertisement and that the size of the 

disclosure be at least as large as the 

company name.97 NYCPB suggested that 

the disclosure ‘‘should be provided at 

the front or beginning of the 

advertisement’’ to be consistent with the 

proposed Internet website disclosure.98

NAAG suggested that the disclosure be 

‘‘equally prominent and in close 

proximity to the triggering claim ....’’99

The Commission agrees that, 

consistent with long-standing 

Commission interpretations of 

prominence, the audio and video 

disclosure should appear in close 

proximity to the first mention of a free 

credit report. Indeed, as FTC staff has 

stated in its prior business guidance, ‘‘[a] 

disclosure is more effective if it is 

placed near the claim it qualifies or 

other relevant information. Proximity 

increases the likelihood that consumers 

will see the disclosures and relate it to 

the relevant claim or product.’’100 In 

keeping with this principle, section 

610.4(b)(1)(i) now reads, ‘‘all 

advertisements for free credit reports 

broadcast on television shall include the 

following disclosure in close proximity 

to the first mention of a free credit 

report: ‘This is not the free credit report 

provided for by Federal law.’’’101

b. Section 610.4(b)(2): Disclosures for 

radio advertisements 

Proposed section 610.4(b)(2) also 

incorporated the section 205 disclosure 

for all advertisements for ‘‘free credit 

reports’’ broadcast on radio: ‘‘This is not 

the free credit report provided for by 

Federal law.’’ 

Similar to the television disclosure, 

NAAG suggested that the Commission 

add to the disclosure the following 

statement: ‘‘This report is only free if 

you make a purchase.’’102 As noted 

above, the statute specifies the wording 

of the disclosure for television and radio 

advertisements, and the Commission’s 

Rule follows this wording. 

With respect to the timing of the 

disclosure, NAAG suggested that it 

appear ‘‘in close proximity to the 

triggering claim ....’’103 Another 

commenter suggested that the disclosure 

‘‘should be provided at the front or 

beginning of the advertisement’’ to be 

consistent with the proposed Internet 

website disclosure.104 The Commission 

agrees that a timing requirement would 

be appropriate. Rather than mandating 

the disclosure up front, however, the 

Commission has decided to add a 

requirement that the disclosure be made 

in close proximity to the first mention 

of ‘‘free credit report,’’ consistent with 

the requirement for television 

advertising discussed above. Thus, the 

final amended Rule section 610.4(b)(2) 

states that ‘‘all advertisements for free 

credit reports broadcast on radio shall 

include the following disclosure in 

close proximity to the first mention of 

free credit report: ‘This is not the free 

credit report provided for by Federal 

law.’’’ 

c. Section 610.4(b)(3): Disclosures for 

print advertisements 

Proposed section 610.4(b)(3) provided 

that all print advertisements for ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ include the following 

disclosure: ‘‘This is not the free credit 

report provided for by Federal law. To 

get your free report, visit 

(www.AnnualCreditReport.com) or call 

877-322-8228.’’ Further, it required that 

each letter of the disclosure be, at a 

minimum, one half the size of the 

largest letter or numeral used in the 

name of the website or the telephone 

number to which consumers are referred 


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9736 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

105As noted in the NPRM, this approach is 

identical to that of the Pay Per Call Rule, section 

308.3(b)(v)(2)(i). 106NAAG at 4. 107State of Florida at 7; NYCPB at 2. 

108NCLC at 5. 

109Schwartz & Ballen at 6. Section 205(b)(3) of 

the Act provides that the interim disclosure shall 

include ‘‘Free credit reports are available under 

Federal law at: ‘AnnualCreditReport.com’.’’. In 

addition, CDIA commented that the proposed 

disclosure exceeds the Commission’s statutory 

authority because of the inclusion of the first 

sentence and suggested that the disclosure should 

be limited to the second sentence. CDIA at 13. As 

stated in the NPRM, section 205 of the Act does not 

specify the wording of the advertising disclosure 

required in print advertisements. Rather, it only 

requires that the disclosure be ‘‘prominent’’ and 

authorizes the Commission to determine the 

appropriate wording of the advertising disclosure 

through this rulemaking. 

110For example, a print advertisement that 

features a ‘‘free credit report’’ offer at the top of the 

page, intervening text, and the disclosure at the 

bottom of the page would not satisfy the close 

proximity requirement. 

111See, e.g., Cooling Off Rule, 16 CFR Part 429 

(requiring a form captioned either ‘‘NOTICE OF 

RIGHT TO CANCEL’’ or ‘‘NOTICE OF 

CANCELLATION’’); Prescreen Rule, 16 CFR Part 

642 (requiring a form captioned ‘‘PRESCREEN AND 

OPT-OUT NOTICE’’). 

112The potential for confusion with the 

disclosure in the proposed Rule text is also 

discussed in the section on Internet website 

disclosures below. The text of the disclosure for all 

media, except for television and radio (for which 

the text of the disclosure is statutorily mandated), 

has been modified in a similar way, for consistency. 

113 74 FR at 52927. 

to receive what is advertised as a free 

credit report.105

States and consumer advocates 

generally supported the proposal and 

offered suggestions to make the 

disclosure more prominent. For 

example, NAAG suggested that the 

disclosure should be equally prominent 

and in close proximity to the triggering 

claim of ‘‘free’’ or ‘‘free credit report.’’106

The State of Florida and NYCPB 

suggested that the Rule include 

formatting requirements, such as the use 

of a border or contrasting color.107

NCLC suggested that the Rule include 

placement requirements for the 

disclosure, such as near the most 

prominent listing of the website or 

telephone number for the commercial 

entity and, for multi-page 

advertisements, on the front side of the 

first page of the principal promotional 

document.108 In addition, Schwartz & 

Ballen suggested that the second 

sentence of the disclosure should be the 

same as the language for the interim 

disclosure specified in the Act because 

it is more clear than the disclosure 

proposed in the NPRM.109

The Commission agrees that the print 

disclosures should be made more 

prominent, and accordingly has 

modified the proposal in several ways. 

First, the Commission has added a 

general prominence requirement and 

strengthened the general requirements 

for visual disclosures in the final 

amended Rule, as discussed above. All 

of these requirements apply to print 

advertising. 

Second, proposed section 610.4(d)(3) 

required only that the disclosure text be 

one-half the size of the largest letter or 

numeral used in the website address or 

telephone number to which consumers 

are referred to obtain their ‘‘free credit 

report’’ listed in the print advertisement. 

Section 610.4(b)(3) of the final amended 

Rule provides that each letter of the 

disclosure text shall be, at minimum, 

one-half the size of the largest character 

used in the advertisement. Linking the 

type size of the disclosure to the largest 

character used in the entire 

advertisement (as opposed to only the 

website address or the telephone 

number), combined with the general 

requirements of section 610.4(a) of the 

final amended Rule, will strengthen the 

prominence of the print disclosure. 

Third, the Commission agrees with 

the comments suggesting inclusion of a 

requirement that the disclosure be in 

close proximity to the free report claim. 

As with the radio and television 

disclosures, this modification is 

consistent with longstanding FTC 

practice requiring disclosures be made 

in close proximity to the triggering 

claim. Thus, the final amended Rule 

provides that the required disclosure 

appear in close proximity to the first 

mention of a ‘‘free credit report.’’110

With respect to the comment on the 

text of the disclosure, the Commission 

agrees that the text could be clearer. 

Particularly when the disclosure is 

made in close proximity to the offer of 

a free credit report, the consumer might 

be confused by conflicting messages. 

For example, a consumer might see an 

advertisement saying ‘‘get a free credit 

report’’ and, in close proximity, the 

consumer would see the disclosure that 

begins with the phrase ‘‘This is not the 

free credit report ....’’ The Commission 

believes that the juxtaposition of the 

two messages – particularly when 

placed in close proximity – would likely 

cause consumer confusion, and has 

changed the disclosure text in two 

respects to address this issue. 

First, the Commission has added a 

requirement that the disclosure include 

the following header centered on the 

first line of the disclosure: ‘‘THIS 

NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW.’’ This 

header clarifies that the disclosure is 

coming from a source other than the 

commercial entity advertising a free 

credit report. In addition, the 

requirement to include a header is 

consistent with numerous other 

Commission rules that title disclosures 

to alert consumers to the importance of 

the message delivered.111

Second, rather than starting the 

disclosure with the sentence ‘‘This is not 

the free credit report provided by 

federal law.’’, the final amended Rule’s 

disclosure includes only the affirmative 

statement: ‘‘You have the right to a free 

credit report from 

AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322- 

8228, the ONLY authorized source 

under federal law.’’ The Commission 

notes that beginning the disclosure with 

the phrase ‘‘This is not the free credit 

report’’ could be confusing in that it may 

be unclear what the term ‘‘this’’ refers to. 

Thus, the Commission believes that 

these changes make the required 

disclosure clearer for consumers.112

d. Section 610.4(b)(4): Disclosures for 

Internet websites 

Proposed section 610.4(b)(4) required 

any website offering ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

to first display on a separate landing 

page the following visual disclosure: 

‘‘This is not the free credit report 

provided for by Federal law. To get your 

free report, visit 

(www.AnnualCreditReport.com) or call 

877-322-8228.’’ Proposed section 

610.4(b)(4) also required that the 

separate landing page contain no other 

information aside from the statement: 

‘‘Go to [hyperlink to company’s 

website.]’’ Further, the disclosure was 

to: (1) be visible to consumers without 

requiring them to scroll down the 

webpage; (2) contain an operational 

hyperlink directing consumers to 

(www.AnnualCreditReport.com) that 

appears before the hyperlink to the 

advertised company’s commercial 

website; and (3) be in a type at least 

twice the size as the hyperlink to the 

company’s website or display of the 

company’s Uniform Resource Locator. 

Finally, proposed section 610.4(b)(4) 

provided that the separate landing page 

must occupy the full screen and that no 

other information, graphics, or material 

could be shown to the consumer unless 

and until the consumer affirmatively 

selected one of the two hyperlinks 

described above.113

Consumer advocates such as NCLC, as 

well as NAAG, the States of Florida and 

Minnesota, Senator Levin, and many 

individual consumers generally 

supported the proposed separate 

landing page requirement. Some 

consumer advocates recommended 

strengthening the proposed separate 

landing page. For example, NCLC 

commented that the separate landing 

page should appear in multiple 


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114NCLC at 6; see also State of Florida at 8. 

115See, e.g., Experian, CDIA, TransUnion, IAB, 

ANA, Intersections, Schwartz & Ballen, ECommerce, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 

Representatives Boozman and Ross. 

116Experian at 9-12; see also AOL, Microsoft, 

Yahoo! (jointly) at 2 (‘‘Because the separate landing 

page is unprecedented and unfamiliar, it will 

perplex consumers who visit an affected website for 

the first time.’’); DMA at 2 (‘‘[R]equiring a separate 

landing page . . . could actually increase consumer 

confusion.’’); Schwartz & Ballen at 6 (‘‘[S]eparate 

landing page will prove confusing to consumers.’’); 

IAB at 5 (asserting that a separate landing page ‘‘will 

likely confuse and annoy consumers.’’); TransUnion 

at 9 (asserting that consumers seeing an ‘‘unrelated 

splash page’’ will be confused). 

117Representatives Boozman and Ross at 1; CDIA 

at 11 (asserting that consumers may simply think 

that they clicked on a faulty link, or even a phishing 

site, and shut down their browser); U.S. Chamber 

of Commerce at 3 (‘‘When presented with such a 

landing page that covers the entire screen, 

consumers could think they run [sic] into a scam 

or could be concerned that such a page is 

malware.’’). 

118The Commission notes that the decision to 

abandon the separate landing page in this 

rulemaking is based on the existing record at this 

time. It may revisit the concept of a separate 

landing page in this or other contexts at a later time. 

119Although the Act contemplated that the 

disclosures could appear on Internet 

advertisements, the Commission believes that a 

disclosure on the website would be more useful to 

consumers in this instance. As noted in the NPRM, 

based on its experience in designing disclosures, 

the Commission has found that certain disclosures 

are most effective when given at the moment that 

a consumer is making a decision regarding a 

product or service. 74 FR at 52920. In addition, 

some Internet advertising, such as buttons, 

‘‘sponsored links,’’ and banner ads, are size 

restricted. In light of such restrictions, it would be 

difficult to design a disclosure in this context that 

would satisfy the statutory ‘‘prominence’’ 

requirement. The Commission notes, however, that 

Internet-hosted multi-media advertising will require 

disclosures under section 610.4(b)(5), as this type 

of advertising is similar to television advertising 

because it contains both audio and visual 

components. Finally, the Commission will monitor 

and evaluate the effectiveness of disclosures on 

Internet websites and will consider additional 

changes as necessary, including requiring 

disclosures on Internet advertisements, to achieve 

the purpose of the Act. 

120See Dot Com Disclosures at 11 (disclosures are 

more likely to be effective if they are provided 

when the consumer is considering the purchase). 

121See generally FTC v. TALX Corp., Civ. No. 

4:09-cv-01071 (E.D. Mo. 2009) (requiring ‘‘clear and 

prominent’’ disclosures on the principal website 

screen or landing page where the disclosures are 

most relevant). 

122The requirement that the disclosure appear on 

the first page of the ordering process applies to any 

website, including order fulfillment websites, 

where a request for a ‘‘free credit report’’ is 

processed. 

123See NCLC at 6 (‘‘The proposed rule should 

have a goal of placing the disclosure in multiple 

locations so as to prevent concealment of the 

consumer’s right to obtain a free consumer report 

from the centralized source. . .’’). 

124Michael B. Mazis and Louis A. Morris, 

Channel, in Warnings and Risk Communication, 

106 (Michael S. Wogalter, et al., eds., 1999) 

(citations omitted). 

125See Dot Com Disclosures at 3 (noting that 

general advertising law principles apply regardless 

of the medium used). 

locations, including on the purchase 

confirmation page, to prevent 

circumvention.114

Businesses and industry groups, as 

well Representatives Boozman and 

Ross, opposed the separate landing 

page.115 These commenters raised one 

or more arguments, including that 

requiring a separate landing page: (1) 

exceeds the FTC’s statutory authority; 

(2) impermissibly restricts truthful 

commercial speech, thereby implicating 

First Amendment concerns; (3) departs 

from longstanding FTC policy on 

‘‘prominent’’ disclosures in close 

proximity to the relevant advertised 

claim; and (4) would confuse consumers 

or may discourage them from seeking 

their file disclosure. As to this final 

point, Experian submitted market 

research that tested consumers’ 

experiences with a separate landing 

page similar to what was proposed in 

the NPRM. Experian presented research 

suggesting a high rate of consumer 

confusion as evidenced by, among other 

things, consumers spending a long time 

on the landing page, few consumers 

continuing on to 

AnnualCreditReport.com, and indeed, 

many consumers abandoning the 

separate landing page without 

continuing on either to 

AnnualCreditReport.com or Experian’s 

commercial website.116 In addition, 

some commenters noted that consumers 

unfamiliar with a separate landing page 

may believe it is suspect, such as an 

illegal ‘‘phishing site.’’117

The Commission is particularly 

concerned with the data suggesting that 

the separate landing page, as proposed, 

would cause consumer confusion. 

Indeed, based on the comments 

submitted, the Commission is 

persuaded that the separate landing 

page, which would not be in close 

proximity to the relevant claims, has the 

potential to confuse consumers and 

create suspicion about the legitimacy of 

the disclosure in this context.118

Because the very purpose of section 205 

of the Act and the amendments to 

section 610.2 of the original Rule is to 

reduce such confusion, the Commission 

has determined to eliminate the separate 

landing page in favor of a prominent 

disclosure on the website page(s) where 

the free credit report claim appears, as 

well as on each page of the ordering 

process.119

As described below, the Commission 

also has added certain specific 

requirements to ensure the prominence 

of the Internet website disclosures. 

Given that the final amended Rule does 

not require a separate landing page, the 

disclosure will now compete with 

additional content on an existing 

Internet web page, such as eye-catching 

graphics, banners, buttons, images, 

colors, and text. Thus, the final 

amended Rule contains several 

additional requirements, which are 

necessary to strengthen prominence. 

Finally, as with print disclosures, the 

Commission has modified the text of the 

disclosure to make it clearer for 

consumers. Taken together, the 

Commission believes that the 

requirements for Internet website 

disclosures in the final amended Rule 

provide clearer, more prominent, and, 

ultimately, a more effective disclosure 

than that of the proposed Rule. 

(i) Placement of the disclosure 

With respect to placement, section 

610.4(b)(4) of the final amended Rule 

requires that any website offering free 

credit reports make the required 

disclosure on ‘‘each page that mentions 

a free credit report and on each page of 

the ordering process.’’ As discussed in 

the NPRM, based on its experience, the 

Commission has found that certain 

disclosures are most effective when 

given at the moment that a consumer is 

making a decision regarding a product 

or service.120 Here, the disclosure will 

occur both at the moment that a vendor 

is making a claim about a ‘‘free credit 

report’’121 and at the moment that a 

consumer is seeking to place an order 

for a ‘‘free credit report’’ online122 – 

critical times to prevent deception and 

the possible purchase of unwanted 

goods and services. The final amended 

Rule’s requirement that the disclosure 

appear on each page mentioning ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ also ensures that 

consumers seeking a ‘‘free credit report’’ 

will see the disclosure regardless of 

their point of entry into a website.123

The requirement to provide the 

disclosure on each page of the ordering 

process will further ensure that 

consumers receive a prominent 

disclosure. Requiring the disclosure to 

be displayed to the consumer at 

multiple locations on the website is 

similar to the Act’s requirement for 

dual-modality disclosures for television 

advertisements, which ‘‘have been found 

to achieve much higher levels of 

message recall than single-modality 

disclosures.’’124 The Commission has 

determined that the required disclosures 

for Internet websites must reflect the 

same clarity and prominence that are 

the hallmarks of the dual-modality 

disclosure Congress mandated for 

television advertisements.125

Further, section 610.4(b)(4) requires 

that the disclosure be visible across the 

top of each web page where the 


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126The Commission has deleted the requirement 

that the disclosure be ‘‘visible to consumers without 

requiring them to scroll down the webpage.’’ The 

Commission believes that the general ‘‘prominence’’ 

requirement addresses this point; in addition, the 

Commission understands that, as computer devices 

get smaller, consumers may have to scroll to view 

any content on a web page. 

127See 155 Cong. Rec. S6178, S6179 (June 4, 

2009) (statement of Sen. Levin) (‘‘The goal of section 

205 is to eliminate consumer confusion and 

deception by preventing commercial promotions 

from posing as the Federal free annual report 

program, and by ensuring that consumers know 

how to get their truly free annual reports.’’). 

128See Final Model Privacy Form Under the 

Gramm Leach Bliley Act, 74 FR 62889, at 62898 

(stating that ‘‘the guidance from communications 

experts and form designers is that appropriate white 

space between the text and the margins . . . make a 

more effective, readable notice’’). 

129See Empire Justice at 4 (urging the 

Commission to exert oversight of the centralized 

source and to use a .gov domain name for the 

centralized source); see also R. Lang (noting 

generally that a .gov URL ‘‘would help people to 

know for certain that they are on the correct site’’). 

130See 15 U.S.C. 1681j(a)(1)(B). 

131The size of the disclosure header varies 

between print advertisements and Internet websites. 

For print advertisements, the main disclosure text 

can be half the size of the largest character in the 

advertisement; for Internet websites, the disclosure 

is required to be larger, in relation to other 

characters on the page. Because the main disclosure 

text on print advertisements can be smaller, the 

Commission is concerned that the header might not 

be readable if it were smaller than the main 

disclosure text. 

132As in the proposed Rule, the reference to 

AnnualCreditReport.com shall be an operational 

hyperlink to the centralized source. 

disclosure is required to appear.126

‘‘Visible’’ means that the disclosure must 

be unavoidable. Thus, it must appear in 

the viewable portion of the screen when 

the consumer opens the web page. 

Similarly, it must not be obscured by 

other features such as pop-ups or 

graphics and cannot be a flashing or 

dissolving image. ‘‘Across the top’’ 

means that the disclosure shall appear 

before any content, such as 

advertisements, other text, images, 

logos, or navigation links. 

(ii) Content of the disclosure 

In order to ensure that the disclosure 

is prominent, consumers must be drawn 

to it and must be able to distinguish the 

federally mandated free credit report 

contained in the disclosure from the 

competing commercial offers on the 

website. To achieve these goals, the 

Commission has modified the content of 

the disclosure, as described below.127

To assist in designing disclosures that 

will comply with this section, the 

Commission has provided examples for 

Internet website disclosures at 

(www.ftc.gov/freereportsdisclosure). 

First, the final amended Rule requires 

that the disclosure appear inside a box; 

that the background of the box be a solid 

color in a high degree of contrast from 

the background of the web page; and 

that the color of the box not appear 

elsewhere on the page. These 

requirements strengthen prominence of 

the disclosure. If the disclosure were not 

in a box, or if the background color of 

the box were to blend in with other 

colors on the page, the Commission 

believes that the disclosure would likely 

not catch the viewer’s eye. Second, the 

Rule requires that all text contained in 

the disclosure be displayed as plain 

text, not as an image or banner, and be 

in a sans serif font, such as Arial. This 

requirement ensures that entities subject 

to the Rule do not use highly-stylized or 

highly-condensed fonts that would be 

difficult to read. Third, the Rule 

includes specific requirements for line 

spacing and top, bottom, left, and right 

margins for the disclosures, to ensure 

readability.128 Finally, all text contained 

in the box must be in a high degree of 

contrast with the immediate background 

on which it is placed, to strengthen 

prominence and readability. 

Beyond these requirements, the 

disclosure contained in the final 

amended Rule consists of three 

elements: a disclosure header, 

disclosure text, and a disclosure button. 

This section describes requirements 

applicable to each in turn. 

(A) Disclosure Header 

As set forth in paragraph 

610.4(b)(4)(i), the first element of the 

disclosure shall consist of the following 

header: ‘‘THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED 

BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV’’. The 

reference to FTC.GOV shall be an 

operational hyperlink to (www.ftc.gov/ 

freereports). As discussed in the print 

disclosures section above, the use of a 

header: (1) alerts the viewer that the 

message being delivered is from a 

source other than the commercial entity 

offering free credit reports on the page; 

and (2) is consistent with other 

Commission rules that title disclosures 

to alert consumers to the importance of 

the message delivered. 

In addition, for Internet websites, the 

Commission has added a second 

sentence to the header informing 

consumers that they can ‘‘Read more at 

FTC.GOV’’. The Rule requires that 

FTC.GOV be an operational hyperlink to 

an FTC web page where consumers can 

obtain more information about the 

availability of free credit reports under 

federal law. The Commission believes 

that adding a .gov domain name in the 

header – that consumers can click 

immediately to reach an official 

government website – will add to 

consumer confidence that the disclosure 

is coming from the federal government. 

Indeed, in arguing that the centralized 

source itself should use a .gov domain 

name, several commenters suggested 

that the .gov domain name creates 

legitimacy.129 Although the centralized 

source is operated by the nationwide 

CRAs and is thus not eligible for a .gov 

domain name,130 the Commission is 

persuaded that adding a .gov domain 

name to the disclosure will bolster the 

legitimacy of the message. 

The header must be centered on its 

own line and be one-half the size of the 

rest of the required disclosure text. 

These requirements are intended to 

enhance readability of the disclosure in 

a medium where there will be a 

multiplicity of competing text, fonts, 

content, and images. A smaller header 

centered on its own line will ensure 

sufficient negative space around the text 

to enhance readability of the header, 

and at the same time, will ensure that 

the header does not overpower the text 

of the disclosure.131 Having most of the 

text of the header in all capital letters, 

in contrast with the actual disclosure 

text, which will be primarily in lowercase, will further enhance readability of 

the header. 

(B) Disclosure Text 

As set forth in paragraph 

610.4(b)(4)(ii), the second element of the 

disclosure shall contain the following 

language and appear below the header: 

‘‘You have the right to a free credit 

report from AnnualCreditReport.com or 

877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized 

source under federal law.’’132 The 

Commission believes that the text of this 

disclosure – which is identical to the 

disclosure for print advertisements – is 

clearer than that of the proposed Rule, 

for the reasons stated above. In 

particular, because the Internet website 

disclosure requirement has moved from 

a separate landing page to an existing 

web page, the disclosure will be in close 

proximity to other mentions of ‘‘free’’ 

reports; to avoid confusion, the 

Commission believes the more 

straightforward, simpler disclosure 

telling consumers where they can obtain 

the free annual file disclosures 

authorized by law will be more 

effective. 

The final amended Rule contains two 

additional requirements applicable 

specifically to the disclosure text. First, 

to emphasize the hyperlink to 

AnnualCreditReport.com, the final 

amended Rule requires it to be 

underlined and in a color that is in a 

high degree of contrast to both the color 


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133A few commenters questioned the different 

type size requirements for print advertisements and 

Internet websites. See AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo! at 2; 

IAB at 4. The Commission reviewed these 

comments and concludes that the different nature 

of these media demands different type size 

requirements for the disclosure. Specifically, an 

Internet website requires a larger type size for the 

disclosure because it is the location from which 

consumers have the ability to place an order for a 

‘‘free credit report.’’ In contrast, print 

advertisements direct consumers to another source, 

such as a telephone number or Internet website, to 

order a ‘‘free credit report’’ and consumers will 

receive another disclosure at that time. In addition, 

there may be greater space limitations in some print 

media that do not exist on Internet websites. 

The final amended Rule also clarifies that 

‘‘characters’’ includes those in an image or graphic 

banner – not just characters technically coded on 

the Internet website as text. 

134The final amended Rule already requires that 

the hyperlink to AnnualCreditReport.com be in a 

high degree of contrast to the background of the box 

containing the disclosure; linking the color of the 

button to the color of the hyperlink will ensure that 

both elements will appear in high contrast to the 

background color of the box. In addition, tying the 

two colors together will create a visual cue that 

clicking on either link will get the consumer to the 

authorized source. The Commission notes further 

that the requirement that the two links be the same 

color applies to the page as the consumer initially 

views it. For example, the Rule is not violated if the 

two links appear initially in the same color, a 

consumer clicks the hyperlink, returns to the site, 

and finds that the hyperlink subsequently appears 

in a different color. 

135This requirement will ensure the prominence 

of the button because the button must be large 

enough to accommodate the required text in the 

required size. 

136As discussed in the NPRM, Congress’ use of 

the word ‘‘prominent’’ must be viewed as an 

expression of intent that the new disclosures be 

more noticeable and more effective than those 

currently required or used in advertising for ‘‘free 

credit reports.’’ 

137NAAG at 4-5. 

138NCLC at 6. 

139 In response to Schwartz & Ballen’s comment 

about the inconsistencies between the size of the 

television and multi-media disclosures, the 

Commission notes that the Internet-hosted multimedia disclosures will likely be on smaller screens; 

therefore, the differences in the specific type-size 

requirements are appropriate. 

of the other disclosure text and 

background of the box. Second, because 

the disclosure will now appear with 

other text and eye-catching graphics on 

an existing web page, the Commission 

has determined that the best way to 

ensure prominence is to require that the 

text be at least as large as the largest 

character on the page. For example, if 

the largest character on the page is 24 

point type size, then all of the characters 

in the disclosure must be at a minimum 

24 point type size.133

(C) Disclosure Button 

As set forth in paragraph 

610.4(b)(4)(v), the third element of the 

disclosure shall be a distinct button 

below the disclosure text, which 

hyperlinks to AnnualCreditReport.com. 

The Commission has added this 

requirement, recognizing that websites 

may use distinctive ‘‘order’’ buttons to 

draw the viewer’s eye. Because the 

disclosure now must appear on an 

existing web page, it may compete with 

these ‘‘order’’ buttons for the viewer’s 

attention. To compete effectively, the 

Commission believes that including a 

button in the disclosure is necessary. 

The final amended Rule requires that 

the button contain the text ‘‘Take me to 

the authorized source’’. This text, in 

conjunction with the disclosure text 

described above, will inform consumers 

that they can click to obtain easily the 

free credit report they are entitled to 

under federal law. The text’s specific 

reference to ‘‘the authorized source’’ will 

also avoid the possibility of having two 

identical buttons on the page, which 

might lead a consumer to believe that 

clicking on either button will take him 

or her to the same place. 

Finally, the final amended Rule 

includes additional requirements to 

strengthen prominence of the button, 

including requirements that: (1) the 

background of the button must be the 

same color as the hyperlink to 

AnnualCreditReport.com contained in 

the disclosure;134 (2) the text ‘‘Take me 

to the authorized source’’ must be in a 

high degree of contrast to the 

background of the button; (3) the button 

must be centered on its own line; and 

(4) the text of the button must be the 

same size as the disclosure text (i.e., at 

least the same size as the largest 

character on the web page).135

In sum, the Commission believes that 

the placement, content and size 

requirements of the Internet website 

disclosure, coupled with the general 

requirements for visual disclosures, will 

help ensure prominence.136 Further, 

these requirements will make it easier 

for consumers to distinguish the 

disclosure from competing messages on 

a website and will enable consumers to 

easily access AnnualCreditReport.com. 

The Commission will monitor and 

evaluate the effectiveness of the 

disclosure required under the final 

amended Rule and will consider 

additional changes, including revisiting 

the separate landing page concept, as 

necessary to achieve the statutory 

purpose and minimize consumer 

confusion. 

e. Section 610.4(b)(5): Disclosures for 

Internet-hosted multi-media advertising 

Proposed section 610.4(b)(5) required 

Internet-hosted multi-media 

advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

disseminated in both audio and visual 

formats to include the same disclosure 

as proposed for Internet websites. It 

further required that the disclosure 

appear simultaneously in the audio and 

visual part of the advertisement and that 

the visual disclosure be in a type at least 

the same size as the largest hyperlink to 

the company’s website, display of the 

Uniform Resource Locator of the 

company’s website, or display of the 

company’s telephone number. This 

section was intended to address 

innovative forms of advertising for ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ in multi-media platforms, 

such as smart phone applications, 

YouTube.com, and comparable visual 

and audio mechanisms, that may not be 

captured by other medium-specific 

provisions of the Rule. 

Several commenters offered 

suggestions regarding placement and 

format of disclosures for Internet-hosted 

multi-media. For example, NAAG 

suggested that the disclosure should be 

equally prominent and in close 

proximity to the triggering claim of 

‘‘free’’ or ‘‘free credit report.’’137 NCLC 

suggested that the visual disclosures 

should be displayed for the entire 

duration of the advertisement due to the 

wide variation in the duration of 

advertisements in this medium.138 In 

addition, Schwartz & Ballen opposed 

the type size requirement because it is 

inconsistent with the requirement for 

television advertisements. 

In response to the comments, the 

Commission has modified the proposal 

in a number of ways. Consistent with 

changes to the other sections, the 

Commission has added a requirement 

that the disclosure be made in close 

proximity to the first mention of a free 

credit report. In addition, the 

Commission notes that the strengthened 

requirements for prominence in section 

610.4(a) of the final amended Rule 

address the comments offering 

placement, format, and timing 

suggestions.139

Further, the Commission has 

modified the language of the disclosure 

to be consistent with the changes to the 

print and Internet website disclosures 

discussed in detail above. Accordingly, 

the Commission has determined that the 

disclosure must include ‘‘THIS NOTICE 

IS REQUIRED BY LAW’’ as a header 

followed by: ‘‘You have the right to a 

free credit report from 

AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322- 

8228, the ONLY authorized source 

under federal law.’’ Finally, the 

Commission notes that not all Internethosted multi-media ads will include 

text; thus, the final amended Rule 

clarifies that the specific size 

requirement for the visual disclosure 

applies only if there are characters on 

the advertisement. In other instances, 


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140The Commission notes that this section 

applies to Internet-hosted multi-media advertising, 

as opposed to Internet websites. Internet websites 

with audio and visual components must comply 

with the disclosures for Internet websites. 

141The timing requirement drew from the 

Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, which, 

among other things, prohibits telemarketers from 

failing to disclose that the purpose of the call is to 

sell goods or services and the nature of the goods 

or services. 16 CFR 310.3. 

142Schwartz & Ballen at 7 (asserting that 

consumers will likely interpret the required 

disclosure at the beginning of a telephone call to 

mean that they have dialed an incorrect telephone 

number and will likely terminate the telephone 

call). 

143The Commission notes that the word ‘‘free’’ 

was inadvertently omitted in the proposed Rule. 

Indeed, the Section-by-Section discussion of the 

NPRM correctly defined the trigger as ‘‘the first 

mention of ‘free credit report.’’’ 74 FR 52921-22. In 

addition, as with the language for telephone 

requests, the language of the disclosure required by 

this section has been modified consistent with the 

changes for print advertisements. 

144 In addition to the proposed revisions and 

additions discussed above, proposed section 

610.2(b)(2)(iv)(D) removes an erroneous reference to 

‘‘national credit reporting agencies.’’ 145Manatt, Phelps & Phillips at 4-5. 

the Rule’s general prominence 

requirement applies.140

The Commission will monitor and 

evaluate the effectiveness of this section 

and innovations in technology and 

advertising and will consider additional 

changes as necessary to achieve the 

statutory mandate. 

f. Section 610.4(b)(6): Disclosures for 

telephone requests 

Proposed section 610.4(b)(6) 

addressed the content and timing of the 

disclosures for when consumers call any 

telephone number, other than the 

number of the centralized source, 

appearing in an advertisement for ‘‘free 

credit reports.’’ Proposed section 

610.4(b)(6) required that companies 

offering ‘‘free credit reports’’ via 

telephone make the disclosure at the 

beginning of the telephone call and 

include the introductory sentence: ‘‘You 

have reached [name of company or 

service].’’141

One commenter opposed the timing of 

the disclosure, asserting that a 

telephone disclosure should be 

provided not at the beginning of the 

call, but at the first mention of a ‘‘free 

credit report,’’ which triggers the need 

for the disclosure.142 The Commission 

agrees. In certain circumstances 

consumers may be making telephone 

requests about advertisements for 

bundled products, and may want to ask 

about an advertised product other than 

the ‘‘free credit report.’’ In this case, a 

disclosure about ‘‘free credit reports’’ at 

the outset of the call could be confusing. 

Instead, the Commission has decided to 

modify the proposed section to make it 

consistent with the approach taken 

throughout section 610.4 of the final 

amended Rule, which requires the 

disclosure in close proximity to the 

triggering claim. Thus, section 

610.4(b)(6) now requires the disclosures 

for inbound telemarketing to be made at 

the first mention of a ‘‘free credit report.’’ 

In addition, the final amended Rule 

modifies the language of the disclosure 

consistent with the changes for print 

advertisements and Internet websites, 

with one minor change. The required 

disclosure for inbound telemarketing is: 

‘‘The following notice is required by 

law. You have the right to a free credit 

report from AnnualCreditReport.com or 

877-322-8228, the only authorized 

source under federal law.’’ The Internet 

website and print disclosure text begins 

with the header ‘‘This notice is required 

by law’’. Because the disclosure here is 

an audio one, it would be difficult for 

the consumer to understand what the 

‘‘this’’ in ‘‘this notice’’ is referring to. The 

‘‘following notice’’ language will provide 

a cue for the consumer that he or she is 

about to hear a message required by law. 

g. Section 610.4(b)(7): Telemarketing 

solicitations 

Proposed section 610.4(b)(7) also 

required outbound telemarketers to 

include the required disclosures at the 

beginning of their telemarketing 

solicitations. Similar to the 

modifications made to section 

610.4(b)(6), the final amended Rule 

requires that any telemarketing call 

made to a consumer that offers a ‘‘free 

credit report’’ include, at the first 

mention of a ‘‘free credit report,’’ the 

following disclosure: ‘‘The following 

notice is required by law. You have the 

right to a free credit report from 

AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322- 

8228, the only authorized source under 

federal law.’’143

D. Elimination of Obsolete ‘‘Roll-out’’ 

Provisions of the Original Rule 

As proposed in the NPRM, the final 

amended Rule eliminates the ‘‘roll-out’’ 

provisions contained in sections 610.2(i) 

and 610.3(g) of the original Rule. When 

the Commission promulgated the 

original Rule, it provided for a 

structured ‘‘roll-out’’ of the availability 

of free annual file disclosures, beginning 

in the western states on December 1, 

2004, and concluding with eastern 

states on September 1, 2005. This 

original Rule provision is now obsolete 

and serves no useful purpose. No 

comments were submitted on this issue. 

Accordingly, the final amended Rule 

deletes sections 610.2(i) and 610.3(g) of 

the original Rule.144

E. Effective Date and Interim 

Disclosures 

The effective date of the Rule 

amendments shall be April 1, 2010, 

except for the wording of the 

disclosures for television and radio 

advertisements in sections 610.4(b)(1)(i) 

and (2), which shall be September 1, 

2010. 

Section 205(b)(3) of the Act provides 

for interim disclosures for 

advertisements in the event that the 

Rule is not ‘‘finalized’’ before the ninemonth deadline specified in the Act: 

If an advertisement subject to section 

612(g) of the [FCRA], as added by this 

section, is made public after the 9- 

month deadline specified in 

paragraph (1), but before the rule . . . is 

finalized, such advertisements shall 

include the disclosure: ‘‘Free credit 

reports are available under Federal 

law at: ‘AnnualCreditReport.com.’’’ 

The Commission has determined that 

the final amended Rule is ‘‘finalized’’ 

upon its effective date. The effective 

date is April 1, 2010, except for the 

wording of the disclosures for television 

and radio advertisements. Prior to April 

1, 2010, covered entities must make the 

interim disclosures required by the Act 

in a prominent manner, as required by 

the statute. 

The Commission believes that a delay 

in the effective date for the wording of 

the disclosures in television and radio 

advertisements is warranted beyond 

April 2010. As one commenter noted, 

compliance with the required interim 

disclosures followed by compliance 

with the different final disclosures will 

impose additional costs for television 

and radio advertisers: ‘‘[I]t would 

require advertisers and advertising 

agencies to create two sets of 

commercials: one set to run beginning 

on February 22, 2010, and the second 

set to run when the Rule goes into 

effect. This would substantially and 

unnecessarily increase the costs to 

provide television and radio 

commercials.’’145

In order to reduce the cost burden on 

television and radio advertisers, the 

Commission believes flexibility is 

warranted, and has provided a later 

effective date for the wording of the 

disclosures for television and radio 

advertisements. Accordingly, prior to 

September 1, 2010, television and radio 

advertisers must make the interim 

disclosures required by the Act in a 

prominent manner, as required by the 

statute and the final amended Rule. On 

and after September 1, 2010, all 

television and radio advertisements 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 9741 

146Manatt, Phelps & Phillips urged the 

Commission to make clear that only the section 

610.4(b)(1) and (2) disclosures – drawn from section 

205(a)(2) of the Act – should apply during the 

interim period. The statute, however, sets forth the 

disclosures required during the interim period. 

Further, the Commission believes that the delayed 

effective date will ensure that television and radio 

advertisers have ample time to come into 

compliance with the final amended Rule, thus 

reducing compliance costs. 

147 5 U.S.C. 601-612. 

148 5 U.S.C. 603-605. 

must include only the disclosures set 

forth in section 610.4(b)(1) and (2) of the 

final amended Rule. The Commission 

notes, however, that because the other 

provisions of the final amended Rule 

take effect on April 1, 2010, television 

and radio advertisers must comply with 

those provisions as of that date.146

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 

(‘‘RFA’’)147 requires the Commission to 

provide an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (‘‘IRFA’’) with a proposed rule, 

and a Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (‘‘FRFA’’) with a final rule, 

unless the Commission certifies that the 

rule will have no significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities.148

The Commission anticipates that the 

final amended Rule will have no 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. As 

discussed above, section 610.2 of the 

amended final Rule will apply 

exclusively to the nationwide CRAs that 

currently operate and maintain the 

centralized source pursuant to section 

612(a) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681j(a). 

None of the three nationwide CRAs is a 

small entity. Further, section 610.4 of 

the final amended Rule sets forth 

disclosures concerning the advertising 

or marketing of ‘‘free credit reports,’’ 

pursuant to section 205 of the Act. The 

Commission believes that the universe 

of entities offering ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

is likely to be small, comprised mostly 

of the three nationwide CRAs and their 

subsidiaries and affiliates. As explained 

more fully below, the Commission 

believes the number of small entities 

offering ‘‘free credit reports’’ is likely to 

be insubstantial and, therefore, the 

overall economic impact of the final 

amended Rule is not likely to have a 

significant impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Accordingly, 

the Commission certifies that the final 

amended Rule will have no significant 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. Nonetheless, to ensure that no 

such impact, if any, has been 

overlooked, the Commission had 

conducted the following FRFA, as 

follows. 

A. Need for and objectives of the final 

amended Rule 

The final amended Rule implements 

section 205 of the Act, which mandates 

that advertisements offering ‘‘free credit 

reports’’ contain prominent disclosures 

informing consumers that federally 

mandated free annual file disclosures 

are available at 

AnnualCreditReport.com. Further, the 

Free Reports Rule requires, among other 

things, a centralized source through 

which consumers may request a free 

annual file disclosure from each 

nationwide CRA. Amendments to the 

Rule eliminate practices that interfere 

with consumers’ ability to obtain free 

annual file disclosures through the 

centralized source, in violation of 

section 610.2(g) of the original Rule. 

Finally, the final amended Rule 

eliminates obsolete provisions from the 

original Rule that no longer serve any 

purpose. 

B. Significant issues raised by public 

comment, summary of agency’s 

assessment of these issues, and changes, 

if any, made in response to such 

comments 

The Commission received over 1,080 

comments in response to the NPRM, 

mostly from consumers who either 

supported the proposed Rule, or urged 

the Commission to take additional 

action to stem the deceptive and 

confusing marketing of ‘‘free credit 

reports.’’ In particular, many consumers 

and consumer advocates supported the 

proposed delay in advertising of ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ on the centralized source 

until after consumers received their free 

annual file disclosures. Although the 

Commission considered the view of 

business interests opposing a delay in 

advertising on the centralized source, 

the Commission has adopted this 

proposal in the final amended Rule 

because the record reveals that 

consumers seeking their free credit 

report are confused by such advertising. 

The Commission, however, did not ban 

advertising in connection with the 

dissemination of free annual file 

disclosures, a position advocated by 

some consumers and consumer 

advocates. As explained in the 

Statement of Basis and Purpose, 

delaying advertising is a less restrictive 

means of addressing consumer 

confusion. Accordingly, the 

Commission believes that the delay in 

advertising on the centralized source 

strikes the appropriate balance between 

ensuring consumers’ unfettered right to 

receive free annual file disclosures and 

the desire on the part of business to 

advertise other useful products and 

services (such as credit scores) to 

consumers. 

The Commission also received 

comments both supporting and 

opposing the proposal that disclosures 

in connection with Internet 

advertisements appear on a separate 

landing page. The arguments for and 

against such a requirement are 

discussed in depth above in the Sectionby-Section discussion. After considering 

these comments, the Commission agreed 

with many of the commenters that the 

‘‘separate landing page’’ requirement 

may be confusing to consumers, some of 

whom may believe the unexpected 

appearance of such a page means it is 

a scam, such as an unauthorized pop-up 

or, worse, a ‘‘phishing’’ website – one 

that mimics a true website in order to 

capture consumers’ information. The 

Commission has decided that the 

‘‘separate landing page’’ requirement is 

unnecessary to accomplish the goal of 

reducing deceptive marketing of ‘‘free 

credit reports;’’ rather, for Internet 

websites, disclosures on each page on 

which the triggering claims for ‘‘free 

credit reports’’ appear, as well as on 

each page of the ordering process, are 

sufficient to accomplish that goal. 

The Commission also received 

comments on the scope of the proposed 

definition of ‘‘free credit report,’’ as well 

as the language of the specific proposed 

required disclosures. The Commission 

has revised both the definition of ‘‘free 

credit report’’ and the required 

disclosures in light of these comments. 

Specifically, the definition of ‘‘free 

credit report’’ in the final amended Rule 

makes clear that it pertains only to file 

disclosures obtained directly or 

indirectly from a nationwide CRA (as 

opposed to a specialty CRA, for 

example) and that the definition covers 

free credit reports bundled with trial 

offers of other products. Further, as 

discussed at length in the Section-bySection discussion above, the language 

of the required disclosures has been 

clarified in several instances, adding 

greater consistency and precision and 

tracking more closely Commission 

precedent in this field. 

C. Description and estimate of the 

number of small entities subject to the 

final amended Rule or explanation why 

no estimate is available 

As noted above, section 610.2 of the 

final amended Rule limits advertising 

through the centralized source and 

prohibits other conduct in connection 

with the provision of annual file 

disclosures to consumers. By its terms, 

amended section 610.2 will apply 

exclusively to the nationwide CRAs that 

currently operate and maintain the 


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9742 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

149Covered entities are classified as small 

businesses if they satisfy the Small Business 

Administration’s relevant size standards, as 

determined by the Small Business Size Standards 

component of the North American Industry 

Classification System (‘‘NAICS’’). The closest NAICS 

size standard relevant to the final amended Rule is 

for ‘‘credit bureaus,’’ which is $7 million maximum 

in annual receipts. See (http://www.sba.gov/idc/ 

groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/ 

serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf). See also 69 FR 34568, at 

35494-95 (June 24, 2004) (‘‘[T]he Commission is 

aware of three entities that meet the rule definition 

. . . . of a ‘nationwide consumer reporting agency.’ 

The Commission has concluded that none of these 

is a small entity.’’). In the original Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking for the Free Reports Rule, the 

Commission specifically asked several questions 

related to the existence, number and nature of small 

business entities covered by the proposed Free 

Reports Rule. The Commission received no 

comments responsive to those questions. 69 FR 

35495. No additional data has been provided in 

response to the NPRM. 

150 74 FR at 52923-24. 

centralized source pursuant to section 

612(a) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681j(a). 

None of the three nationwide CRAs is a 

small entity.149

In addition, section 610.4 of the final 

amended Rule sets forth disclosures 

concerning the advertising or marketing 

of ‘‘free credit reports,’’ pursuant to 

section 205 of the Act. The universe of 

entities offering ‘‘free credit reports’’ is 

small, comprised mostly of the three 

nationwide CRAs and their subsidiaries 

and affiliates. Based upon its knowledge 

of industry practices and members, 

Commission staff estimates that there 

may also be a small number of 

independently operating CRAs or 

resellers of consumer reports that, in 

theory, might offer ‘‘free credit reports’’ 

subject to the final amended Rule. For 

example, when the original Rule was 

first implemented, several resellers of 

reports appeared, using imposter 

websites, such as those misspelling 

AnnualCreditReport.com, or using 

sound-alike websites names that did not 

link to AnnualCreditReport.com. In 

2005, the Commission staff sent warning 

letters to the known operators of those 

suspect sites, totaling 29 operators. This 

suggests that the total number of 

independent resellers of reports may be 

small and that the number of small 

entities offering ‘‘free credit reports’’ is 

likely to be insubstantial. 

Nonetheless, the Commission 

specifically sought comment in the 

NPRM ‘‘on the number of entities likely 

to be affected by the proposed section 

610.4 to the Rule and the number of 

those, if any, that are small entities.’’150

The Commission received no responsive 

comments. The lack of additional 

evidence on both the number of small 

entities offering ‘‘free credit reports’’ and 

how the proposed Rule might impact 

small entities, tends to support the 

Commission staff’s initial assessment 

that few, if any, independently 

operating sellers or resellers of credit 

reports are likely to be small entities. 

D. Description of the projected 

reporting, recordkeeping, and other 

compliance requirements of the final 

amended Rule, including an estimate of 

the classes of small entities that will be 

subject to the final amended Rule and 

the type of professional skills that will 

be necessary to comply 

Section 610.2 of the final amended 

Rule limits advertising by the CRAs on 

the centralized source until after 

consumers have obtained their free 

annual file disclosures, and prohibits 

practices that interfere with consumers’ 

ability to obtain free annual file 

disclosures through the centralized 

source. As discussed more fully below 

in connection with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, these amendments to the 

Rule will impose no more than a de 

minimis, one-time burden of 12 hours to 

be completed by professional technical 

personnel and/or management 

personnel. 

Further, section 610.4 of the final 

amended Rule sets forth statutorilymandated advertising disclosures for 

offering of ‘‘free credit reports’’ in 

television and radio advertisements, as 

well as other media, including print and 

Internet advertising. The amendments to 

the original Rule pertain to all 

advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports’’: 

the Act does not distinguish between 

large and small entities that advertise 

for ‘‘free credit reports,’’ nor does the Act 

contemplate any exemptions to the 

disclosure requirements. Most likely, 

these disclosures will be prepared by 

professional and management 

personnel. At the same time, section 

610.4 imposes no reporting or 

recordkeeping obligations. 

E. Steps the agency has taken to 

minimize any significant economic 

impact on small entities, consistent with 

the stated objectives of the applicable 

statutes, including the factual, policy, 

and legal reason(s) for selecting 

alternative(s) finally adopted, and why 

each of the significant alternatives, if 

any, was rejected. 

The Commission believes that the 

Rule amendments are likely to have an 

insignificant impact on small entities. 

Nonetheless, the Commission solicited 

comment on alternatives that would 

minimize compliance costs. The 

Commission received no information or 

suggestions in response to those 

questions. As explained in the statement 

of basis and purpose above, however, 

the Commission has made certain 

changes to the amended Rule that will 

reduce costs for all covered entities, 

including any small entities that may be 

subject to the final amended Rule. These 

include elimination of the proposed 

separate landing page requirement for 

advertisements for free annual file 

disclosures on Internet websites. 

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act 

In conjunction with the NPRM, the 

Commission submitted the proposed 

amended Rule and a Supporting 

Statement for Information Collection 

Provisions to the Office of Management 

and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for review under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’), 

44 U.S.C. 3501-3521. The OMB has 

approved the Rule’s information 

collection requirements through 

November 30, 2012 (OMB Control No. 

3084-0128). 

In the NPRM, the Commission invited 

comments to: (1) evaluate whether the 

proposed collections of information are 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the Commission, 

including whether the information will 

serve a useful purpose; (2) evaluate the 

accuracy of the Commission’s estimate 

of the burden of the proposed collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (4) minimize the burden 

of the collections of information on 

those who must comply, including 

through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological techniques, or other 

forms of information technology. While 

commenters questioned the 

appropriateness of various proposals in 

the NPRM, no commenters specifically 

sought to answer the data collection 

questions posed above. 

A. Original Rule 

The original Rule required nationwide 

CRAs and nationwide specialty CRAs to 

disclose information to third parties by 

requiring those consumer reporting 

agencies to provide to consumers, upon 

request, one free annual file disclosure. 

It also required the nationwide CRAs to 

provide consumers with the ability to 

request this disclosure through a 

centralized Internet website, a toll-free 

telephone number, and a postal address. 

In addition, the original Rule required 

the nationwide CRAs to establish a 

standardized form for Internet and mail 

requests, and it provided a model 

standardized form that may be used to 

comply with that requirement. 


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151See 5 CFR 1320.3(c)(2) (excluding from the 

definition of ‘‘collection of information’’ the ‘‘public 

disclosure of information originally supplied by the 

Federal government to the recipient for the purpose 

of disclosure to the public’’). 

152This figure derives from consultation with 

FTC staff experienced in web design and 

operations. 

153See (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ 

ncswage2008.htm#Wage_Tables) (National 

Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in 

the United States 2008, US Department of Labor 

released August 2009, Bulletin 2720, Table 3) 

(‘‘Full-time civilian workers,’’ mean and median 

hourly wages). The above amount is an average of 

the mean hourly wages of administrative services 

managers, computer and information systems 

managers, computer systems analysts, and network 

and computer systems administrators. 

B. Section 610.4 of the Final Amended 

Rule 

Section 610.4 of the final amended 

Rule requires all advertisements for 

‘‘free credit reports’’ to contain certain 

prescribed disclosures tailored to the 

medium used. As such, these 

disclosures do not constitute a 

collection of information, as defined by 

OMB’s regulations that implement the 

PRA.151 Accordingly, implementation of 

section 205 of the Act presents no 

associated PRA collection of 

information burden. 

C. Amended Section 610.2 of the Final 

Amended Rule 

Section 610.2 of the final amended 

Rule is designed to prevent interference 

with consumers’ ability to obtain their 

free annual file disclosures through the 

centralized source, as permitted by law. 

Amended section 610.2 does not modify 

the nationwide CRAs’ original 

obligation to provide consumers with 

free annual file disclosures upon 

request. Nor is amended section 610.2 

likely to increase or decrease the 

estimated number of annual file 

disclosures made available to 

consumers, whether through the 

Internet, telephone, or mail. Rather, the 

amendments are intended to make it 

easier for consumers to obtain their free 

annual file disclosures from the 

centralized source without distracting 

advertising, including advertising 

leading consumers to commercial 

websites. 

Moreover, amended section 610.2 is 

unlikely to increase significantly the 

administrative burden on the 

nationwide CRAs providing consumers 

with annual file disclosures through the 

centralized source. As discussed above, 

amended section 610.2 requires the 

nationwide CRAs to remove links on the 

initial page of the centralized source 

website to their commercial or 

proprietary websites. Finally, if a 

nationwide CRA chooses to advertise 

products and services – such as credit 

scores or credit monitoring – through 

the centralized source, it can do so only 

after the consumer has obtained his or 

her free annual file disclosure. 

Accordingly, in order to advertise 

through the centralized source, the 

nationwide CRAs must establish a 

mechanism to verify that consumers 

have completed their transaction. 

1. Estimated Hours Burden and 

Associated Labor Cost 

The above-noted administrative 

amendments to section 610.2 will 

impose no more than a de minimis, onetime burden, as the three nationwide 

CRAs reconfigure the centralized source 

and their own proprietary websites. 

Commission staff estimates that these 

steps will take approximately 12 hours 

to complete per CRA.152

Commission staff estimates labor costs 

by applying appropriate estimated 

hourly cost figures to the burden hours 

described above. It is difficult to 

calculate with precision the labor costs 

associated with the final amended Rule, 

because they entail varying 

compensation levels of management 

(e.g., administrative services, computer 

and information systems, systems 

analysts, and network and computer 

system administrators). Commission 

staff assumes that professional technical 

personnel and/or management 

personnel will implement the 

amendments, at an hourly rate of 

$39.42.153

Based upon the above estimates and 

assumptions, the total labor cost for 

each of the three nationwide CRAs to 

comply with the amendments to the 

Rule is $473.00 (12 hours x $39.42) or, 

cumulatively, $1,419. 

2. Estimated Capital/Other Non-Labor 

Cost Burden 

Commission staff believes that the 

Rule amendments will not impose any 

capital or other non-labor costs. 

Commission staff assumes that the 

nationwide CRAs will continue their 

current practice of using third-party 

contractors (instead of their own 

employees) to fulfill consumer requests 

for annual file disclosures, pursuant to 

the Rule. Because of the way these 

contracts are typically established, these 

costs will likely be incurred on a 

continuing basis, and will be calculated 

based on the number of annual file 

disclosures requested by consumers. As 

discussed above, Commission staff 

believes that the amendments, while 

making it easier for consumers to obtain 

their free annual file disclosures from 

the centralized source, will not increase 

the burden on industry to supply such 

file disclosures, nor affect the overall 

number of file disclosures provided to 

consumers annually, because consumers 

will likely be redirected from websites 

that require consumers to pay for their 

‘‘free credit report’’ to the centralized 

source. 

Appendix A 

List of Non-Consumer NPRM Commenters 

American Express Company (‘‘American 

Express’’) 

AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo! (‘‘AOL, Microsoft, 

Yahoo!’’) 

Association of National Advertisers (‘‘ANA’’) 

Representative John Boozman 

(‘‘Representative Boozman’’) 

Chamber of Commerce of the United States 

of America (‘‘U.S. Chamber of Commerce’’) 

Consumer Data Industry Association 

(‘‘CDIA’’) 

Council of Better Business Bureaus (‘‘BBB’’) 

Direct Marketing Association (‘‘DMA’’) 

Empire Justice Center (‘‘Empire Justice’’) 

Evergreen Credit Reporting, Inc. 

(‘‘Evergreen’’) 

Experian Information Solutions, Inc. 

(‘‘Experian’’) 

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, State of 

Florida (‘‘State of Florida’’) 

Professor David A. Friedman (‘‘Friedman’’) 

Interactive Advertising Bureau (‘‘IAB’’) 

Intersections Inc. (‘‘Intersections’’) 

Senator Carl Levin (‘‘Senator Levin’’) 

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, State of 

Minnesota (‘‘State of Minnesota’’) 

Mannatt, Phelps & Phillips (‘‘Mannatt, Phelps 

& Phillips’’) 

National Association of Attorneys General 

(‘‘NAAG’’) 

National Business Coalition for E-Commerce 

and Privacy (‘‘E-Commerce’’) 

National Consumer Law Center (‘‘NCLC’’) 

Mindy A. Bockstein, Chairperson and 

Executive Director, State of New York, 

Consumer Protection Board (‘‘NYCPB’’) 

Representative Mike Ross (‘‘Representative 

Ross’’) 

Senator Charles Schumer (‘‘Senator 

Schumer’’) 

Schwartz & Ballen LLP (‘‘Schwartz & Ballen’’) 

TransUnion (‘‘TransUnion’’) 

FINAL RULE 

List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 610 

Consumer reporting agencies, 

Consumer reports, Credit, Fair Credit 

Reporting Act, Trade practices. 

Authority and Issuance 

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

statement of basis and purpose, the 

Federal Trade Commission amends title 


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9744 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

16, Chapter I, Subchapter F, of the Code 

of Federal Regulations, part 610, as 

follows: 

PART 610—FREE ANNUAL FILE 

DISCLOSURES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 610 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1681a, g, and h; sec. 

211(a) and (d), Pub. L. 108-159, 117 Stat. 

1968 and 1972 (15 U.S.C. 1681j); Pub. L. 111- 

24. 

■ 2. Revise § 610.2 to read as follows: 

§ 610.2 Centralized source for requesting 

annual file disclosures from nationwide 

consumer reporting agencies. 

(a) Purpose. The purpose of the 

centralized source is to enable 

consumers to make a single request to 

obtain annual file disclosures from all 

nationwide consumer reporting 

agencies, as required under section 

612(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 

15 U.S.C. 1681j(a). 

(b) Establishment and operation. All 

nationwide consumer reporting agencies 

shall jointly design, fund, implement, 

maintain, and operate a centralized 

source for the purpose described in 

paragraph (a) of this section. The 

centralized source required by this part 

shall: 

(1) Enable consumers to request 

annual file disclosures by any of the 

following request methods, at the 

consumers’ option: 

(i) A single, dedicated Internet 

website, 

(ii) A single, dedicated toll-free 

telephone number; and 

(iii) Mail directed to a single address; 

(2) Be designed, funded, 

implemented, maintained, and operated 

in a manner that: 

(i) Has adequate capacity to accept 

requests from the reasonably anticipated 

volume of consumers contacting the 

centralized source through each request 

method, as determined in accordance 

with paragraph (c) of this section; 

(ii) Collects only as much personally 

identifiable information as is reasonably 

necessary to properly identify the 

consumer as required under the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act, section 610(a)(1), 

15 U.S.C. 1681h(a)(1), and other 

applicable laws and regulations, and to 

process the transaction(s) requested by 

the consumer; 

(iii) Provides information through the 

centralized source website and 

telephone number regarding how to 

make a request by all request methods 

required under § 610.2(b)(1) of this part; 

and 

(iv) Provides clear and easily 

understandable information and 

instructions to consumers, including, 

but not necessarily limited to: 

(A) Providing information on the 

progress of the consumer’s request 

while the consumer is engaged in the 

process of requesting a file disclosure; 

(B) For a website request method, 

providing access to a ‘‘help’’ or 

‘‘frequently asked questions’’ screen, 

which includes specific information 

that consumers might reasonably need 

to request file disclosures, the answers 

to questions that consumers might 

reasonably ask, and instructions 

whereby a consumer may file a 

complaint with the centralized source 

and with the Federal Trade 

Commission; 

(C) In the event that a consumer 

requesting a file disclosure through the 

centralized source cannot be properly 

identified in accordance with the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act, section 610(a)(1), 

15 U.S.C. 1681h(a)(1), and other 

applicable laws and regulations, 

providing a statement that the 

consumers’ identity cannot be verified; 

and directions on how to complete the 

request, including what additional 

information or documentation will be 

required to complete the request, and 

how to submit such information; and 

(D) A statement indicating that the 

consumer has reached the website or 

telephone number for ordering free 

annual credit reports as required by 

federal law; and 

(3) Make available to consumers a 

standardized form established jointly by 

the nationwide consumer reporting 

agencies, which consumers may use to 

make a request for an annual file 

disclosure, either by mail or on the 

Internet website required under 

§ 610.2(b)(1) of this part, from the 

centralized source required by this part. 

The form provided at 16 CFR Part 698, 

Appendix D, may be used to comply 

with this section. 

(c) Requirement to anticipate. The 

nationwide consumer reporting agencies 

shall implement reasonable procedures 

to anticipate, and to respond to, the 

volume of consumers who will contact 

the centralized source through each 

request method, to request, or attempt to 

request, a file disclosure, including 

developing and implementing 

contingency plans to address 

circumstances that are reasonably likely 

to occur and that may materially and 

adversely impact the operation of the 

nationwide consumer reporting agency, 

a centralized source request method, or 

the centralized source. 

(1) The contingency plans required by 

this section shall include reasonable 

measures to minimize the impact of 

such circumstances on the operation of 

the centralized source and on 

consumers contacting, or attempting to 

contact, the centralized source. 

(i) Such reasonable measures to 

minimize impact shall include, but are 

not necessarily limited to: 

(A) The extent reasonably practicable 

under the circumstances, providing 

information to consumers on how to use 

another available request method; 

(B) The extent reasonably practicable 

under the circumstances, 

communicating, to a consumer who 

attempts but is unable to make a 

request, the fact that a condition exists 

that has precluded the centralized 

source from accepting all requests, and 

the period of time after which the 

centralized source is reasonably 

anticipated to be able to accept the 

consumers’ request for an annual file 

disclosure; and 

(C) Taking all reasonable steps to 

restore the centralized source to normal 

operating status as quickly as reasonably 

practicable under the circumstances. 

(ii) Reasonable measures to minimize 

impact may also include, as appropriate, 

collecting request information but 

declining to accept the request for 

processing until a reasonable later time, 

provided that the consumer is clearly 

and prominently informed, to the extent 

reasonably practicable under the 

circumstances, of when the request will 

be accepted for processing. 

(2) A nationwide consumer reporting 

agency shall not be deemed in violation 

of § 610.2(b)(2)(i) of this part if a 

centralized source request method is 

unavailable to accept requests for a 

reasonable period of time for purposes 

of conducting maintenance on the 

request method, provided that the other 

required request methods remain 

available during such time. 

(d) Disclosures required. If a 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

has the ability to provide a consumer 

report to a third party relating to a 

consumer, regardless of whether the 

consumer report is owned by that 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

or by an associated consumer reporting 

agency, that nationwide consumer 

reporting agency shall, upon proper 

identification in compliance with 

section 610(a)(1) of the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681h(a)(1), 

provide an annual file disclosure to 

such consumer if the consumer makes a 

request through the centralized source. 

(e) High request volume and 

extraordinary request volume – (1) High 

request volume. Provided that a 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

has implemented reasonable procedures 

developed in accordance with 

paragraph (c) of this section, entitled 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 9745 

‘‘requirement to anticipate,’’ the 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

shall not be deemed in violation of 

paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section for any 

period of time in which a centralized 

source request method, the centralized 

source, or the nationwide consumer 

reporting agency experiences high 

request volume, if the nationwide 

consumer reporting agency: 

(i) Collects all consumer request 

information and delays accepting the 

request for processing until a reasonable 

later time; and 

(ii) Clearly and prominently informs 

the consumer of when the request will 

be accepted for processing. 

(2) Extraordinary request volume. 

Provided that the nationwide consumer 

reporting agency has implemented 

reasonable procedures developed in 

compliance with paragraph (c) of this 

section, entitled ‘‘requirement to 

anticipate,’’ the nationwide consumer 

reporting agency shall not be deemed in 

violation of paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this 

section for any period of time during 

which a particular centralized source 

request method, the centralized source, 

or the nationwide consumer reporting 

agency experiences extraordinary 

request volume. 

(f) Information use and disclosure. 

Any personally identifiable information 

collected from consumers as a result of 

a request for annual file disclosure, or 

other disclosure required by the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act, made through the 

centralized source, may be used or 

disclosed by the centralized source or a 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

only: 

(1) To provide the annual file 

disclosure or other disclosure required 

under the FCRA requested by the 

consumer; 

(2) To process a transaction requested 

by the consumer at the same time as a 

request for annual file disclosure or 

other disclosure; 

(3) To comply with applicable legal 

requirements, including those imposed 

by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and 

this part; and 

(4) To update personally identifiable 

information already maintained by the 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

for the purpose of providing consumer 

reports, provided that the nationwide 

consumer reporting agency uses and 

discloses the updated personally 

identifiable information subject to the 

same restrictions that would apply, 

under any applicable provision of law 

or regulation, to the information 

updated or replaced. 

(g) Communications provided through 

centralized source. 

(1) Any advertising or marketing for 

products or services, any 

communications or instructions that 

advertise or market any products or 

services, or any request to establish an 

account through the centralized source 

must be delayed until after the 

consumer has obtained his or her 

annual file disclosure. 

(i) In the case of requests made by 

mail or telephone, the consumer ‘‘has 

obtained his or her annual file 

disclosure’’ when the file disclosure is 

mailed, and the nationwide consumer 

reporting agency may include 

advertising for other products or 

services with the file disclosure. 

(ii) In the case of requests made 

through the centralized source Internet 

website, the consumer ‘‘has obtained his 

or her annual file disclosure’’ when the 

file disclosure is delivered to the 

consumer through the Internet, and the 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

may include advertising for other 

products or services with the file 

disclosure. 

(2) Any communications, 

instructions, or permitted advertising or 

marketing shall not interfere with, 

detract from, contradict, or otherwise 

undermine the purpose of the 

centralized source stated in paragraph 

(a) of this section. 

(3) Examples of interfering, detracting, 

inconsistent, and/or undermining 

communications include: 

(i) Centralized source materials that 

represent, expressly or by implication, 

that a consumer must purchase a paid 

product or service in order to receive or 

to understand the annual file disclosure; 

(ii) Centralized source materials that 

represent, expressly or by implication, 

that annual file disclosures are not free, 

or that obtaining an annual file 

disclosure will have a negative impact 

on the consumers’ credit standing; and 

(iii) Centralized source materials that 

falsely represent, expressly or by 

implication, that a product or service 

offered ancillary to receipt of a file 

disclosure, such as a credit score or 

credit monitoring service, is free, or fail 

to clearly and prominently disclose that 

consumers must cancel a service, 

advertised as free for an initial period of 

time, to avoid being charged, if such is 

the case. 

(h) Other practices prohibited through 

the centralized source. The centralized 

source shall not: 

(1) Contain hyperlinks to commercial 

or proprietary websites until after the 

consumer has obtained his or her 

annual file disclosure, except for 

technical transfers to a web page on 

which consumers can request their free 

annual file disclosure; provided, 

however, that no hyperlinks to 

commercial websites shall appear on the 

initial page of the centralized source. 

(2) Require consumers to set up an 

account in connection with obtaining an 

annual file disclosure; or 

(3) Ask or require consumers to agree 

to terms or conditions in connection 

with obtaining an annual file disclosure. 

§ 610.3 [Amended] 

■ 3. In § 610.3, remove paragraph (g). 

■ 4. Add § 610.4 to read as follows: 

§ 610.4 Prevention of deceptive marketing 

of free credit reports. 

(a) For purposes of this section: 

(1) AnnualCreditReport.com and 877- 

322-8228 means the Uniform Resource 

Locator address 

‘‘AnnualCreditReport.com’’ and toll-free 

telephone number, 877-322-8228. These 

are the locator address and toll-free 

telephone number currently used by the 

centralized source. If the locator address 

or toll-free telephone number changes in 

the future, the new address or telephone 

number shall be substituted within a 

reasonable time. 

(2) Free credit report means a file 

disclosure prepared by or obtained 

from, directly or indirectly, a 

nationwide consumer reporting agency 

(as defined in section 603(p) of the Fair 

Credit Reporting Act), that is 

represented, either expressly or 

impliedly, to be available to the 

consumer at no cost if the consumer 

purchases a product or service, or agrees 

to purchase a product or service subject 

to cancellation. 

(3) General requirements for 

disclosures. The disclosures covered by 

paragraph (b) of this section shall 

contain only the prescribed content and 

comply with the following 

requirements: 

(i) All disclosures shall be prominent; 

(ii) All disclosures shall be made in 

the same language as that principally 

used in the advertisement; 

(iii) Visual disclosures shall be easily 

readable; in a high degree of contrast 

from the immediate background on 

which it appears; in a format so that the 

disclosure is distinct from other text, 

such as inside a border; in a distinct 

type style, such as bold; and parallel to 

the base of the advertisement or screen; 

(iv) Audio disclosures shall be 

delivered in a slow and deliberate 

manner and in a reasonably 

understandable volume and pitch; 

(v) Program-length television, radio, 

or Internet-hosted multi-media 

advertisement disclosures shall be made 

at the beginning, near the middle, and 

at the end of the advertisement; and 


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9746 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

(vi) Nothing contrary to, inconsistent 

with, or that undermines the required 

disclosures shall be used in any 

advertisement in any medium, nor shall 

any audio, visual, or print technique be 

used that is likely to detract 

significantly from the communication of 

any disclosure. 

(b) Medium-specific disclosures. All 

offers of free credit reports shall 

prominently include the disclosures 

required by this section. 

(1) Television advertisements. 

(i) All advertisements for free credit 

reports broadcast on television shall 

include the following disclosure in 

close proximity to the first mention of 

a free credit report: ‘‘This is not the free 

credit report provided for by Federal 

law.’’ 

(ii) The disclosure shall appear at the 

same time in the audio and visual part 

of the advertisement. The visual 

disclosure shall be at least four percent 

of the vertical picture height and appear 

for a minimum of four seconds. 

(2) Radio advertisements. All 

advertisements for free credit reports 

broadcast on radio shall include the 

following disclosure in close proximity 

to the first mention of a free credit 

report: ‘‘This is not the free credit report 

provided for by Federal law.’’ 

(3) Print advertisements. All 

advertisements for free credit reports in 

print shall include the following 

disclosure in the form specified below 

and in close proximity to the first 

mention of a free credit report. The first 

line of the disclosure shall be centered 

and contain only the following 

language: ‘‘THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED 

BY LAW’’. Immediately below the first 

line of the disclosure the following 

language shall appear: ‘‘You have the 

right to a free credit report from 

AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322- 

8228, the ONLY authorized source 

under federal law.’’ Each letter of the 

disclosure text shall be, at minimum, 

one-half the size of the largest character 

used in the advertisement. 

(4) Internet websites. Any website 

offering free credit reports must display 

the disclosure set forth in paragraphs 

610.4(b)(4)(i), (ii), and (v) of this section 

on each page that mentions a free credit 

report and on each page of the ordering 

process. This disclosure shall be visible 

across the top of each page where the 

disclosure is required to appear; shall 

appear inside a box; and shall appear in 

the form specified below: 

(i) The first element of the disclosure 

shall be a header that is centered and 

shall consist of the following text: ‘‘THIS 

NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read 

more at FTC.GOV’’. Each letter of the 

header shall be one-half the size of the 

largest character of the disclosure text 

required by 610.4(b)(4)(ii). The reference 

to FTC.GOV shall be an operational 

hyperlink to (www.ftc.gov/freereports), 

underlined, and in a color that is a high 

degree of contrast from the color of the 

other disclosure text and background 

color of the box; 

(ii) The second element of the 

disclosure shall appear below the 

header required by paragraph 

610.4(b)(4)(i) and shall consist of the 

following text: ‘‘You have the right to a 

free credit report from 

AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322- 

8228, the ONLY authorized source 

under federal law.’’ The reference to 

AnnualCreditReport.com shall be an 

operational hyperlink to the centralized 

source, underlined, and in the same 

color as the hyperlink to FTC.GOV 

required in paragraph 610.4(b)(4)(i); 

(iii) The color of the text required by 

paragraphs 610.4(b)(4)(i) and (ii) shall 

be in a high degree of contrast with the 

background color of the box; 

(iv) The background of the box shall 

be a solid color in a high degree of 

contrast from the background of the 

page and the color shall not appear 

elsewhere on the page; 

(v) The third element of the disclosure 

shall appear below the text required by 

paragraph 610.4(b)(4)(ii) and shall be an 

operational hyperlink to 

AnnualCreditReport.com that appears as 

a centered button containing the 

following language: ‘‘Take me to the 

authorized source’’. The background of 

this button shall be the same color as 

the hyperlinks required by paragraphs 

610.4(b)(4)(i) and (ii) and the text shall 

be in a high degree of contrast to the 

background of the button; 

(vi) Each character of the text in 

paragraphs 610.4(b)(4)(ii) and (v) shall 

be, at minimum, the same size as the 

largest character on the page, including 

characters in an image or graphic 

banner; 

(vii) Each character of the disclosure 

shall be displayed as plain text and in 

a sans serif font, such as Arial; and 

(viii) The space between each element 

of the disclosure required in paragraphs 

610.4(b)(i), (ii), and (v) shall be, at 

minimum, the same size as the largest 

character on the page, including 

characters in an image or graphic 

banner. The space between the 

boundaries of the box and the text or 

button required in paragraphs 

610.4(b)(i), (ii), and (v) shall be, at 

minimum, twice the size of the vertical 

height of the largest character on the 

page, including characters in an image 

or graphic banner. 

(5) Internet-hosted multi-media 

advertising. All advertisements for free 

credit reports disseminated through 

Internet-hosted multi-media in both 

audio and visual formats shall include 

the following disclosure in the form 

specified below and in close proximity 

to the first mention of a free credit 

report. The first line of the disclosure 

shall be centered and contain only the 

following language: ‘‘THIS NOTICE IS 

REQUIRED BY LAW.’’. Immediately 

below the first line of the disclosure the 

following language shall appear: ‘‘You 

have the right to a free credit report 

from AnnualCreditReport.com or 877- 

322-8228, the ONLY authorized source 

under federal law.’’ The disclosure shall 

appear at the same time in the audio and 

visual part of the advertisement. If the 

advertisement contains characters, the 

visual disclosure shall be, at minimum, 

the same size as the largest character on 

the advertisement. 

(6) Telephone requests. When 

consumers call any telephone number, 

other than the number of the centralized 

source, appearing in an advertisement 

that represents free credit reports are 

available at the number, consumers 

must receive the following audio 

disclosure at the first mention of a free 

credit report: ‘‘The following notice is 

required by law. You have the right to 

a free credit report from 

AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322- 

8228, the only authorized source under 

federal law.’’ 

(7) Telemarketing solicitations. When 

telemarketing sales calls are made that 

include offers of free credit reports, the 

call must include at the first mention of 

a free credit report the following 

disclosure: ‘‘The following notice is 

required by law. You have the right to 

a free credit report from 

AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322- 

8228, the only authorized source under 

federal law.’’ 

(c) Effective date. This section is 

effective April 2, 2010, except for the 

wording of the disclosures for television 

and radio advertisements (paragraphs 

610.4(b)(1)(i) and (2)), which are 

effective on September 1, 2010. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Donald S. Clark 

Secretary 

[FR Doc. 2010–4273 Filed 3–2–10: 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–S 


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