Federal Trade Commission 

Privacy Impact Assessment 

Redress Enforcement Database 

(RED) 

June 2019 

Reviewed February 2023 
1 System Overview.................................................................................................................... 1 

2 Data Type, Sources, and Use .................................................................................................. 3 

3 Data Access and Sharing ........................................................................................................ 8 

4 Notice and Consent............................................................................................................... 10 

5 Data Accuracy and Security.................................................................................................. 11 

6 Data Retention and Disposal................................................................................................. 13 

7 Website Privacy Evaluation.................................................................................................. 13 

8 Privacy Risks and Evaluation ............................................................................................... 13 

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1 System Overview 

1.1 Describe the project/system and its purpose. 

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC or Commission) Bureau of Consumer Protection 

(BCP) enforces many of the nation’s consumer protection laws and works to protect 

consumers from a variety of fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair practices in the marketplace. 

To further its consumer protection mission, BCP brings law enforcement actions in federal 

court and in administrative proceedings, and provides consumer and business education to 

enable the public to avoid common harms. 

BCP’s Division of Enforcement (DE) and Office of Claims and Refunds (OCR) jointly 

working with the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and with OCIO’s 

contractors, created the Redress and Enforcement Database System (RED). The RED 

collects and maintains information, including personally identifiable information (PII), 

relating to defendants against whom the FTC has obtained judgments and/or injunctive orders 

in legal proceedings brought under the FTC Act and other statutes and rules enforced by the 

FTC. The information enables the Commission to monitor compliance with injunctive 

orders, collect outstanding judgments, and, when possible, return recovered funds to 

victimized consumers and businesses. 

Division of Enforcement 

DE uses the RED to support its mission of enforcing judgments and orders obtained in FTC 

consumer protection actions. The RED collects, secures, and permits authorized FTC staff to 

review records concerning defendants who are subject to judgments and/or orders obtained in 

FTC actions, details of final judgments or orders entered as to those defendants, actions 

undertaken by DE (and other FTC staff, where applicable) in monitoring defendants’ 

compliance with those orders and collecting upon judgments and other orders providing for 

monetary relief, and the status of those activities. The RED contains related information that 

improves DE’s ability to enforce judgments and orders, including contact information for 

defendants; their attorneys, agents, employers, successors, and associates; and entities who 

have facilitated defendants’ financial transactions. These entities may possess information 

about defendants’ activities or be required by law to comply with orders issued in FTC 

actions. (For example, successors may be required to comply with an order as successors-ininterest, and associates and other entities may be required to comply with orders pursuant to 

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65.) DE also uses the RED to maintain contact information 

for other law enforcement authorities who have expressed an interest in FTC actions and to 

locate contact information for federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities who may 

also be interested in investigating entities within their jurisdictions that are under FTC order. 

Additionally, DE uses the RED to collect and maintain information pertaining to bankruptcy 

actions initiated by or pertaining to FTC defendants. 

Redress Administration 

OCR uses the RED to collect and track information related to redress, and to conduct 

oversight of the contractors who assist the FTC in administering redress to consumers and 

businesses. OCR collects the estimated dollar loss and number of affected consumers in the 

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RED and uses the information to estimate the cost for distributing redress payments and/or 

mailing consumer education material. If redress is practicable, OCR uses the RED to prepare 

cost estimates, generate work assignments, and approve administrative invoices. OCR enters 

data from bank statements that contain money obtained by the FTC for refunds to consumers. 

The RED also imports the following financial data from the FTC’s Financial Management 

Office (FMO) accounting system – money collected, distributed, and expensed, and unused 

redress funds. Finally, the RED also contains contact information and related data regarding 

receivers appointed in FTC actions, which may be used to help identify potential receivers for 

future FTC actions. 

RED System 

The RED uses the Oracle Relational Database Management System to create a secure data 

repository. The RED is accessible on the FTC network via a secure internal web-based interface and is hosted in the FTC’s General Support System (GSS).

1 The RED minimizes 

the manual keying and re-keying of relevant data in several ways. First, it sends an 

automated email to a case manager containing a link to an internal, web-based questionnaire 

(E-Survey), enabling the case manager to input relevant data. The questionnaire can only be 

accessed and completed after the case manager enters their RED login credentials, and the 

link cannot be forwarded or used by unapproved recipients. Second, RED transfers relevant 

data from existing FTC systems using database links, including the Matter Management 

2 System (MMS) and the agency’s Financial Management Office (FMO) accounting system. 

Data travels in only one direction, from MMS/FMO to RED, and RED employs private 

database links and is limited to read-only access to MMS and FMO. Additionally, 

information from the RED system may be compared with information in the Consumer 

Sentinel Network (CSN) system to determine whether any relationships may exist involving 

likely recidivists. An automated search between the two systems is performed to determine if 

relevant matter-related words or individual names appear in RED that overlap with data in 

CSN. If a match appears, an emailed notice may be sent to the FTC staff person working on 

that particular matter. There is no direct connection between the two systems; for more 

information about CSN, refer to the Sentinel Network Services PIA. 

RED limits the access rights to the administrative interface solely to OCR, DE staff and other 

FTC users specifically authorized to access the interface. Authorized users have the ability to 

read or modify data only if they have been specifically granted such rights within the RED 

for business purposes, and all modifications, revisions, and deletions of data are logged. 

Finally, DE provides information from the RED to FTC data analysts who assist with the 

mission of enforcing judgments and orders obtained in FTC consumer protection actions. 

While there is some data in the RED that relates to both missions, the interface segregates 

data relating solely to OCR’s mission from data relating solely to DE’s mission. Access to 

either organization’s data is provided by that organization only to authorized users on a least1 For more information, refer to the GSS PIA at https://www.ftc.gov/policy-notices/privacy-policy/privacy-impactassessments. 2 For more information, refer to the MMS PIA at https://www.ftc.gov/policy-notices/privacy-policy/privacy-impactassessments. 

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privilege- access, need-to-know basis. The RED access and authorization permissions are 

maintained within the RED by the OCR and DE administrators. 

1.2 What specific legal authority allows for the collection, maintenance, or 

dissemination of information for this project/system? 

The Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 41-58, authorizes the FTC to collect and 

store this information. 

In addition, pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) prepared in connection 

with the Debt Collection Improvements Act of 1996 (DCIA), 31 U.S.C. § 3720B - 3720E, 

the FTC must send eligible judgments that are no longer being litigated and that have been 

outstanding and delinquent for 180 days or more to the U.S. Department of Treasury for 

collection. The Treasury requires the FTC to provide each judgment debtor’s name and SSN 

or EIN. The FTC must collect SSNs and EINs in connection with tax reporting requirements 

for judgment defendants (31 U.S.C. § 7701). If a debt referred to Treasury is not collectible, 

Treasury may issue 1099-C forms to each defendant who has not paid an outstanding 

judgment in full. 

2 Data Type, Sources, and Use 

2.1 Specify in the table below what types of personally identifiable information (PII)3 

may be collected or maintained in the system/project. Check all that apply. 

PII Elements: This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Specify other categories of PII as 

needed. 

Full Name Biometric Identifiers (e.g., User ID 

Date of Birth fingerprint, voiceprint) Internet Cookie Containing 

Home Address Audio Recordings PII 

Phone Number(s) Photographic Identifiers Employment Status, 

Place of Birth (e.g., image, x-ray, video) History, or Information 

Age Certificates (e.g., birth, Employee Identification 

Race/ethnicity death, marriage, etc.) Number (EIN) 

Alias Legal Documents, Records, Salary 

Sex Notes (e.g., divorce decree, Military Status/Records/ ID 

Email Address criminal records, etc.) Number 

Work Address Vehicle Identifiers (e.g., IP/MAC Address 

Taxpayer ID license plates) Investigation Report or 

Credit Card Number Financial Information (e.g., Database 

Facsimile Number account number, PINs, Driver’s License/State ID 

Medical Information passwords, credit report, Number (or foreign country 

Education Records etc.) equivalent) 

Social Security Number Geolocation Information Other (Please Specify): 

Mother’s Maiden Name Passport Number Password 

3 Per OMB Circular A-130, personally identifiable information (PII) means information that can be used to 

distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or 

linkable to a specific individual. 

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2.2 What types of information other than PII will be collected, disseminated, or 

maintained by the project/system? Provide a general description below and be sure 

to include all data elements. 

Division of Enforcement 

The RED compiles and maintains records relating to defendants who are subject to judgments 

and/or orders obtained in FTC consumer protection actions; the contents of those judgments 

or orders; actions taken by DE (and other FTC staff, where applicable) in monitoring 

defendants’ compliance with those orders and collecting upon judgments and other orders 

providing for monetary relief; the status of such activities; law enforcement authorities who 

have expressed an interest in particular FTC actions; and bankruptcy actions initiated by or 

pertaining to FTC defendants. No documents are included in the RED itself; the RED 

contains links to relevant documents on FTC shared drives, for which the user must have 

separate access privileges. 

In addition to the personal information collected about defendants (as identified above in 

Section 2.1), the RED may also contain contact information for defendants’ attorneys, agents, 

successors, associates, and entities who have facilitated defendants’ financial transactions. 

These entities often possess information about defendants’ commercial activities and, in 

certain circumstances, may be required by law to comply with an injunctive order obtained 

against an FTC defendant. 

The compliance information collected for each order and defendant includes the following: 

(a) the date that the order was served on each defendant; (b) the date that each defendant 

delivers to the FTC the acknowledgments of service and compliance reports required by the 

order; (c) the due dates for compliance reports; a statement of the frequency of FTC review 

of order compliance; (d) the duration of record keeping and compliance monitoring 

requirements set forth in the order; (e) the status of compliance monitoring activities; (f) and 

an identification of other persons served with the order. To assist staff in reviewing 

defendants’ compliance with injunctive orders, RED tracks whether defendants have 

submitted compliance reports in a timely manner and also identifies defendants whose 

compliance monitoring provisions may be expiring. 

The collections-related information for each defendant subject to a judgment or other order 

providing for monetary relief includes the following: (a) the date the relief was awarded; (b) 

the total amount of the award; (c) the amount of the award, if any, that is suspended; (d) the 

unsuspended amount that the defendant is obligated to pay; (e) the amount(s) collected by the 

FTC and the method(s) used to collect those sums; (f) the estimated amount owed by the 

defendant; (g) and the dates of events in the collections process. 

Information about other law enforcement authorities who have expressed an interest in 

FTC actions includes those authorities’ contact information and summary information 

regarding criminal actions brought against FTC defendants, including case numbers, 

indictment dates, conviction dates, and criminal sentences imposed against FTC 

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defendants. The system also identifies defendants who have received a warning letter 

from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Bankruptcy information includes summary information concerning bankruptcy 

proceedings initiated by or pertaining to FTC defendants, such as bankruptcy petition 

dates and chapters, courts, case numbers, deadlines and dates for non-dischargability 

complaints and proofs of claims, whether debtors were discharged, and whether 

bankruptcy cases were closed or dismissed. 

Information about defendants from the RED is also provided to FTC data analysts who assist 

with the mission of enforcing judgments and orders obtained in FTC consumer protection 

actions by comparing that data with information from other sources available to the FTC. 

The information about defendants from RED provided to data analysists includes names, 

aliases, associates, and other information collected by the RED and described in this 

subsection. 

Redress Administration 

The RED tracks broad categories of information concerning redress. For example, the 

system compiles and maintains information concerning the amount of the judgment debt, the 

date that the judgment becomes due, payments received, and debt delinquency or default. It 

also contains information regarding the number and total dollar amount of redress 

distributions, the number of consumers receiving redress, the percentage of loss refunded to 

consumers, and the fees and costs associated with distributing redress. The RED also 

contains contact information and related data concerning receivers appointed in particular 

cases. 

In addition to the redress and enforcement information referenced above, the system logs 

each individual who enters, revises or deletes information; the system also logs the time and 

date of user sessions (although it does not log specific queries or views). 

2.3 What is the purpose for collection of the information listed above? 

The FTC uses information in the RED to monitor compliance with and enforce FTC 

judgments and orders, and to collect assets from defendants who have defrauded or 

otherwise victimized consumers and who are subject to a judgment or other order providing 

for monetary relief in an FTC law enforcement action. The FTC may also use the 

information about defendants, and their agents, successors, associates, and financial 

facilitators, for internal reporting purposes, to pursue corollary investigations, to meet tax 

reporting obligations, and for other uses as described by the FTC’s System of Records 

Notices (SORNs). See infra Section 8. The FTC uses the contact information of receivers to 

identify parties who can assist the FTC and the court in cases where defendants’ assets are to 

be frozen, marshaled, or liquidated. The FTC uses the contact information of law 

enforcement personnel to identify and contact those authorities with respect to FTC actions. 

Division of Enforcement 

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DE collects the above information to maintain records about individuals who are named in 

orders obtained by the agency, who may be subject to such orders, or who owe money to the 

FTC, so that the FTC may monitor compliance with and enforce existing judgments and 

injunctive orders, and report on its activities. Information such as Social Security numbers 

(SSNs), dates of birth, and identification photographs are necessary to accurately monitor 

defendants, confirm that individual defendants are correctly identified, and to ensure that any 

communication with the Department of Treasury identifies the correct individual. DE may 

obtain contact and identification information such as SSNs, dates of birth, addresses, and 

phone numbers from publicly available commercial data to assist DE staff in locating, 

contacting, and monitoring defendants bound by FTC orders. 

The FTC also collects address information for defendants’ successors and associates, as well 

as financial entities that facilitate defendants’ transactions, in order to maintain a record of 

persons or entities who may have information about the defendants’ commercial activities or 

who may be required by law (pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65 or otherwise) 

to comply with an order obtained by the FTC. 

DE collects contact information of other law enforcement authorities to facilitate 

communication with those authorities and identify law enforcement authorities who may 

also investigate entities bound by orders in FTC actions. Information on FDA warning letter 

recipients is no longer cross-checked against FTC defendants to identify whether any FTC 

defendants have received FDA advisories that may relate to their compliance with an order 

obtained by the FTC. 

DE collects summary information about bankruptcy proceedings relating to FTC defendants 

to assist its staff of bankruptcy specialists who advise other FTC staff with respect to such 

proceedings. 

Redress Administration 

OCR uses the RED to track case management information. This information includes 

billing units and fees related to FTC’s contracts with contractors who assist in administering 

redress. This data is used in cost estimating, issuing work assignments, and approving 

redress contractor invoices. The RED tracks milestones and case notes to measure OCR 

performance compared to the Government Performance and Results Act. 

OCR uses the RED to collect data for other offices within the FTC. OCR enters 

receivership contact information for use by FMO, and FMO mails surveys to receivers to 

track financial activity. FMO collects estimates on collectability of defendants’ debts from 

case managers so it can record allowances for uncollectible accounts. 

Historically, OCR also has tracked total dollars and checks issued by country within each 

matter. OCR provided data involving checks issued to consumers in foreign countries 

(“Foreign Claimant data”) to the FTC’s Office of International Affairs (OIA); this included 

the matter number, the foreign country, and the sum total in dollar amount paid out in that 

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country (but not information about the individuals to whom redress was paid). Although 

OCR no longer actively uses RED for these purposes, the legacy data remains in RED.4 

Active bank account information is provided to the FTC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) 

for confirmation letters as part of the annual audit of redress funds. 

2.4 What are the sources of the information in the system/project? How is the 

information collected? 

Source of Data Type of Data Provided & How It Is Collected 

Division of Information is collected by BCP case managers who review 

Enforcement Staff the legal documents and information associated with a case 

and enter relevant information into the RED. The case 

managers enter data via an electronic, web-based 

questionnaire tool (E-Survey) made available via the FTC’s 

intranet. They may also submit relevant documents via 

internal FTC email; no documents are included in the RED, 

which instead contains restricted links to those documents on 

the FTC shared drives requiring separate access privileges. 

DE and other authorized FTC staff also input information into 

the RED in the course of monitoring defendants’ compliance 

with final orders. In addition, data is entered by transferring 

relevant data from the FTC’s Matter Management System and 

FMO’s financial system to the RED. 

Office of Claims and 

Refunds 

OCR staff enter cashed redress checks and banking and 

checking data (including matter name and bank name) 

reported from bank statements. Financial data from FMO is 

imported from the agency’s financial system into the 

database. In addition, case management data is entered by 

OCR based on discussions with case managers. Foreign 

Claimant data provided by FTC-approved redress contractors 

is also entered into the database by OCR staff. Finally, 

receiver data is entered using information from court orders 

and E-Surveys completed by FTC case managers. 

4 The data is stored aggregated in RED, does not contain PII, and is not sensitive. OCR is required to report on 

demand and they regularly receive requests about this data from OIA. The data is kept to support the OCR mission. 

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3 Data Access and Sharing 

3.1 In the table below, specify the systems/applications and groups (both FTC and nonFTC) that will have access to or share data in the system/project. 

Note: No external entities have direct access to the RED system. OCR or DE may extract 

data or reports from the RED to provide to external entities as described in the chart 

below. 

Data Will Be 

Accessed By and/or 

Provided To: 

How and Why the Data Will Be Accessed/Shared 

Authorized FTC staff The RED may be accessed by case managers, OCR and DE 

staff, other authorized FTC staff in BCP or the FTC’s 

Regional Offices, as well as OCIO database contractors. 

Separate categories of FTC users have different levels of 

defined access privileges on a least-privilege access, need-toknow basis. There are roles for OCR/DE administrators, 

OCR/DE staff (read/write access), authorized FTC Regional 

Office staff (read/write or read-only access as determined by 

FTC management); and case managers (access to complete ESurveys only). Users authorized to access the OCR data 

maintained in the system use a separate web interface than the 

web interface used by users with authorized access to DE 

data, in order to limit access to each organization’s data. 

System administrators in OCIO can upload information from 

MMS and the FMO accounting system into the RED, as well 

as correct data at the direction of OCR/DE administrators. 

FMO staff has read-only access to the RED. In addition, 

data from the RED may be requested by the OIG for internal 

audits. Lastly, OCIO contractors may be authorized to access 

data in the RED to perform technical work relating to the 

development and maintenance of the system. The OCIO 

contractors are bound by non-disclosure agreements 

prohibiting unauthorized disclosure of information collected 

by the agency. 

U.S. Department of 

Treasury 

FTC discloses defendant data collected in the RED to the U.S. 

Department of Treasury when it refers eligible defendants to 

that agency for further collection of judgments. The U.S. 

Department of Treasury may share this information with the 

U.S. Department of Justice or with any of the private 

collection agencies that it may assign to collect the FTC debt. 

Monies collected by the U.S. Department of Treasury, DOJ, 

or private collection agencies will ultimately be used (if 

feasible and appropriate) for consumer redress. If a debt 

proves to be uncollectible, the U.S. Department of Treasury 

may then issue 1099-C forms to each defendant who has not 

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Data Will Be 

Accessed By and/or 

Provided To: 

How and Why the Data Will Be Accessed/Shared 

paid a judgment in full. The RED does not collect or maintain 

copies of issued 1099-C forms that the Department of 

Treasury issues. However, case managers have the option to 

note in the 

RED that a 1099-C form has been issued. 

External Law The FTC may disclose relevant information in the RED to 

Enforcement other federal, state, local, or international law enforcement 

agencies in the course of a law enforcement investigation or 

action, in accordance with FTC policies and procedures for 

sharing non-public information. 

Agents of the FTC or 

Courts 

The FTC may disclose information in the RED to third parties 

employed by the FTC as agents for purposes of serving legal 

process or other documents or information upon defendants or 

third parties in litigation. Additionally, the FTC may be 

required or authorized to share information collected in the 

RED with court-appointed receivers, who are agents of the 

courts. 

Other Disclosures The FTC may be required or authorized to share certain data 

collected in the RED in other circumstances, including in 

response to requests from Congress, Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA) requests, requests from the media (not obtained 

through a FOIA request), or during litigation. In these 

situations, the FTC redacts personal identifying information 

pursuant to agency policy and any applicable rules or orders 

of court before providing data. 

3.2 Do contractors and/or third party service providers have access to data in the 

project/system? If yes, explain what privacy requirements are in place to ensure 

that data is properly protected. 

OCIO contractors may be authorized to access data in the RED to perform technical work 

relating to the development and maintenance of the system. The OCIO contractors are bound 

by non-disclosure agreements prohibiting unauthorized disclosure of information collected 

by the agency. 

3.3 If you answered “yes” to 3.2, describe the privacy incident response plan maintained 

by the contractor’s organization or third party service provider. 

All FTC contractors who have access to the RED system adhere to the same privacy and 

security guidelines and policies that FTC employees must follow. In case of a privacy 

incident, they must follow the procedures detailed in the FTC Breach Notification Response 

Plan. External redress contractors do not have access to the RED system. 

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4 Notice and Consent 

4.1 How are individuals provided with notice prior to the collection of their PII? If 

notice is not provided, explain why. 

Notice is not provided (explain):___________________________________________

 Notice is provided via (check all that apply): 

Privacy Act Statement ( Written Oral) 

FTC Website Privacy Policy 

Privacy Notice (e.g., on Social Media platforms)

 Login banner 

Other (explain): 

To the extent that the FTC attempts to collect information directly from defendants and 

related persons or entities through investigation, litigation, or voluntary settlement 

negotiations, these persons or entities have notice of the FTC’s efforts and an opportunity to 

decline cooperation or to assert a privilege or immunity from providing this information. In 

the context of voluntary settlement negotiations, the FTC may require defendants to provide 

such information under penalty of perjury in a personal financial statement. FTC final 

judgments resulting from negotiated settlements often contain standard language, similar to 

the following, informing defendants that the information may be used for collection: 

In accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 7701, Defendants are hereby required, unless they have 

done so already, to furnish to the Commission their respective taxpayer identifying 

numbers (social security numbers or employer identification numbers), which shall be 

used for purposes of collecting and reporting on any delinquent amount arising out of 

Defendants’ relationship with the government. 

Defendants indicate their consent to the collection and use of their information by 

signing the final judgment. 

To the extent the FTC obtains personal information concerning defendants and related 

persons or entities from third parties and other sources, such as other law enforcement 

agencies or private credit reporting agencies, or public sources, defendants and related 

persons or entities may not have notice or an opportunity to consent to the collection or use 

of the information. Where applicable, the FTC may also provide a Privacy Act statement on 

information collection forms used to collect information to be maintained in an FTC Privacy 

Act records system. 

4.2 Do individuals have the opportunity to decline to provide information or to consent 

to particular uses of their information (other than required or authorized uses)? 

Individuals that provide the FTC with information on a voluntary basis may choose to decline 

to provide such information. However, individuals do not have a right to decline to provide 

information that is required by law and/or court order. 

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Individuals generally do not have a right to consent to particular uses of the information 

stored in the system. An exception is in FTC administrative or court proceedings, where 

individuals may, in some cases, limit the agency’s use or disclosure of their information that 

may be stored in the system (e.g., pursuant to court order or in accordance with a stipulated 

pre-trial protective order or other binding agreement in discovery). 

4.3 Are there procedures in place to allow individuals access to their personally 

identifiable information? Explain. 

Consumers, individual defendants, and others (e.g., law enforcement contacts) do not have 

direct access to the information in the RED. Individuals seeking access to such records must 

file a written request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, with the 

FTC’s Office of General Counsel. See Rule 4.11(a), 16 C.F.R. 4.11(a). Any additional 

request for mandatory access under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, must also be 

made in writing to the General Counsel, and may be filed only by an individual for records, 

if any, retrieved by that individual’s name or other personally assigned identifier. See 

Commission Rule 4.13, 16 C.F.R. 4.13. Due to the law enforcement nature of the RED 

database, the General Counsel may deny access to records that are legally exempt from 

disclosure. See 16 C.F.R.4.10(a) (nonpublic materials not subject to FOIA disclosure), 

4.13(m) (Privacy Act exemptions). For information on how to file a FOIA or Privacy Act 

request, please visit the Commission’s FOIA Web page, located at https://www.ftc.gov/foia. 

4.4 Are there procedures in place to allow individuals the ability to correct inaccurate 

or erroneous information? What is the process for receiving and responding to 

complaints, concerns, or questions from individuals? Explain. 

As stated in 4.3, Consumers, individual defendants, and others (e.g., law enforcement 

contacts) do not have direct access to the information in the RED. Individuals seeking access 

to such records must file a written request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 

U.S.C. 552, with the FTC’s Office of General Counsel. Individuals may file requests with 

the FTC under the FOIA and the Privacy Act of 1974 for access to any agency records that 

may be about them and are not exempt from disclosure to them under those laws. 

Additionally, individuals may contact the FTC with any complaints, questions or concerns 

via phone or email available on www.ftc.gov or contact the Chief Privacy Officer directly. 

5 Data Accuracy and Security 

5.1 Are there procedures in place to ensure that the information maintained is accurate, 

complete, and up-to-date? 

When BCP case managers reply to an E-Survey, the information is reviewed by 

administrators, supervisors, and/or program staff in DE and/or OCR. When all the necessary 

data elements are provided, OCR and DE enter the data into the RED. If information is 

missing from an E-Survey, DE or OCR staff contacts the case manager to correct the 

deficiency. DE staff assigned to monitor defendants’ compliance with an order or judgment 

review the data in that matter for accuracy and currency. OCR enters case management data 

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daily as the status of the case changes. The case status reports are discussed with redress 

contractors monthly to verify check accuracy and plan redress activity. 

Data from MMS and FMO are imported daily. OCR reconciles financial data from FMO and 

bank statements regularly. 

U.S. Department of Treasury referral data is verified at time of entry and updated on a 

quarterly basis. 

Receiver data and Foreign Claimant data are checked by OCR annually. Photographs 

identifying individual defendants, when included in a matter, are retained in the RED for 10 

years and then automatically purged from the system. 

5.2 Are there administrative procedures and technical safeguards in place to protect the 

data in the system/project? What controls are in place to ensure proper use of the 

data? Please specify. 

Auditing measures and technical safeguards are in place commensurate with the ModerateImpact Baseline of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Security and 

Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations Special Publication 

(SP) 800-53. The system is designed to ensure that users only get the information that they 

are entitled to access. At the database level, there are three controls. First, users must have 

an authorized Oracle account to access the database. Second, the database assigns roles to 

users to define the specific data that the user can access. Third, the roles further define what 

users can do with the data (i.e., read, write/edit). At the application level, RED 

administrators control the roles that users are assigned on a least-privilege-access, need-toknow basis to ensure that users only get the information that they are entitled to access. 

Further, users seeking access to the RED must review and acknowledge, in writing, rules of 

behavior that prohibit the misuse of data. Requests for RED access must also be approved 

by a user’s supervisor and a RED program manager before technical staff will grant access. 

In addition to the controls referenced above, RED logs each individual who enters, revises, 

or deletes information in the system. 

5.3 Is PII used in the course of system testing, training, or research? If so, what steps 

are taken to minimize and protect PII during this process? 

The data made available to the contractor in the development and test environments is 

scrubbed and scrambled to remove any resemblance to live production data. Sensitive data 

elements are scrambled using an algorithm that renders it infeasible to convert that 

information back to the original data. 

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6 Data Retention and Disposal 

6.1 Specify the period of time that data is retained in the system/project. What are the 

specific procedures for disposing of the data at the end of the retention period? 

Information in the RED is retained and destroyed in accordance with applicable FTC policies 

and procedures and with FTC Records Retention Schedule N1-122-09-1, as approved by the 

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). All information that is subject to 

disposal will be destroyed in accordance with OMB, NIST, and NARA guidelines. 

Photographs used to identify defendants will be retained for no longer than 10 years.5 

7 Website Privacy Evaluation 

7.1 Does the project/system employ the use of a website? If so, describe any tracking 

technology used by the website and whether the technology is persistent or 

temporary (e.g., session cookie, persistent cookie, web beacon). Describe the 

purpose of using such tracking technology. 

The FTC utilizes the RED system’s web-based “E-Survey” tool, which is only available 

internally to the FTC. The “E-Survey” questionnaire can only be accessed and completed 

after the case manager enters their RED login credentials, and the link cannot be forwarded 

or used by unapproved recipients. The internal web form associated with the “E-Survey” 

does not use persistent tracking technology. 

8 Privacy Risks and Evaluation 

8.1 Considering the type of information collected and sources of collection, what 

privacy risks were identified and how were these risks mitigated? 

Risk Mitigation Strategy 

Individuals who have 

access to PII could 

exceed their authority 

and use the data for 

unofficial/malicious 

purposes 

The RED administrators in DE and OCR limit the ability to 

view, add, change, or delete information by limiting access to 

the RED and by establishing user roles within the RED. The 

RED also restricts the ability to view the E-Survey for a 

particular case to a single individual, usually the case 

manager assigned to that case. The RED interface segregates 

the data relating solely to OCR’s mission from data that 

relates solely to DE’s mission. Access to either 

organization’s data is provided by that organization to 

5 DE stores defendant photographs in RED in order to: (1) identify defendants (DE often inherits cases where they 

have had no prior dealings with defendants and therefore needs photos to spot defendants appearing in promotional 

materials, which facilitates compliance review); (2) identify defendants to receivers when needed; (3) obtain 

consumer identification of defendants; and (4) help effectuate service. Storing the photos also eases DE’s efforts of 

finding photos in old, voluminous files and reduces the number of requests to other staff for those materials. Photos 

over 10 years old are purged from the system to keep the photos current and manage the quantity of images 

maintained. The retention period is longer than the redress period because defendants are often bound by permanent 

injunctive relief as to their commercial activities. 

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Risk Mitigation Strategy 

authorized users on a least-privileged access, need-to-know 

basis. 

These restrictions help to protect the information in the RED 

from internal threats. 

Unauthorized access Only FTC staff and contractors with an OCIO-issued userto information in RED identification and strong password can access the FTC 

network where the RED is housed. The server on which the 

RED is stored is protected by a firewall and other logical 

controls, and the RED can only be accessed through the FTC 

network; there is no way to directly access the RED from 

outside the Commission. These controls help protect RED 

from unauthorized access. 

Disclosure of specific The FTC recognizes that there may be privacy risks 

redress information associated with the disclosure of certain redress information, 

such as bank account numbers, personal information collected 

from defendants (including SSNs, dates of birth, personal and 

employer address, telephone or fax numbers), business 

addresses, and other information in the RED. The FTC 

further recognizes that there could be privacy risks associated 

with the collection, storage, and disclosure of defendants’ 

personal information in the RED. 

The FTC mitigates these risks by verifying the RED’s 

compliance with the federal and FTC-specific data security 

requirements established for the FTC GSS. In addition, 

access to the RED is granted on a least-privilege access, 

need-to-know basis to authorized users within OCR and DE, 

selected employees in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer 

Protection and its Regional Offices, and authorized 

contractors performing work specifically relating to the 

database. Users’ access rights to the RED are monitored; 

access is restricted or terminated when users no longer 

require access. Moreover, the RED logs each individual who 

enters, revises, or deletes information from the database. 

The FTC also assesses the system’s “E-Survey” internal webbased tool to make sure that it was consistent with the FTC’s 

Privacy Policy, including with regard to the use of persistent 

tracking technology, such as permanent cookies or other 

permanently placed software files on users’ computers. The 

internal web form associated with the “E-Survey” does not 

use persistent tracking technology. 

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8.2 Does the project/system employ the use of automated privacy controls or enhanced 

capabilities designed to support privacy? Explain. 

The system uses several controls to enhance and support privacy. The system automatically 

locks out after three unsuccessful login attempts, which requires the user to unlock the 

account by contacting FTC OCIO and providing valid credentials. Additionally, the system 

automatically records the login/logout details of the user along with the machine used to log 

on to track access. Within the application, SSN/DOB/EIN data is shown in a separate 

window that does not contain other details; in other words, additional PII data fields like 

name, address, are not shown within the same window. 

8.3 Has a Privacy Act System of Records Notice (SORN) been published in the Federal 

Register for this system/project? If so, list the applicable SORN(s). 

The applicable Privacy Act SORN is FTC I-1, which describes the FTC’s Nonpublic 

Investigational and Other Nonpublic Legal Records, including enforcement-related data 

maintained by the FTC in RED. To the extent login, audit, or other data is collected and 

maintained about RED system users, see also SORN VII-3 -- Computer Systems User 

Identification and Access Records -- FTC. All FTC SORNs are available online. 

8.4 How does the project/system ensure that the information is collected, used, stored, 

or disseminated in accordance with stated practices in this PIA? 

Legal and technical controls are in place to ensure that information in the RED is collected, 

used, stored, and disseminated in accord with the provisions of this PIA. 

With respect to legal controls, as a general matter, staff may not disclose nonpublic agency 

information, including that stored in the RED. Unauthorized disclosure of nonpublic 

information submitted to the Commission is subject to criminal prosecution and punishable 

by fines or imprisonment under the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 50. Under certain circumstances, 

unauthorized disclosure of nonpublic agency information is subject to criminal sanction 

under the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905, the Larceny Act, 18 U.S.C. § 641, and SEC 

Rule 10b-5. Disclosures of nonpublic information may result in disciplinary action. 

However, disclosure of nonpublic agency information may be permissible in circumstances 

defined by statute or FTC rule. 

As to technical controls, as described more fully above, the RED employs a design that 

focuses on the safeguarding of data. Auditing measures and technical safeguards are in place 

commensurate with the Moderate-Impact Baseline of the NIST Security and Privacy 

Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations SP 800-53. The system is 

designed to ensure that users only get the information that they are entitled to access. At the 

database level, there are three controls described in section 5.2, above. In addition to the 

controls referenced above, the RED logs each individual who enters, revises, or deletes 

information in the system. 

The RED is housed within the FTC GSS. The FTC follows all applicable FISMA 

requirements, ensuring the GSS is appropriately secured. 

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