Top Story Technology Related

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that Google LLC and its subsidiary YouTube LLC have agreed to pay a federal civil money penalty of $136 million and a New York State penalty of $34 million to settle allegations that YouTube violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule by collecting personal information—in the form of persistent identifiers that are used to track users across the Internet—from viewers of child-directed channels, without first notifying parents and getting their consent. YouTube earned millions of dollars by using the identifiers, commonly known as cookies, to deliver targeted ads to viewers of these channels, according to the complaint.

Google and YouTube also agreed to develop, implement, and maintain a system that permits channel owners to identify their child-directed content on the YouTube platform so that YouTube can ensure it is complying with COPPA. In addition, the companies must notify channel owners that their child-directed content may be subject to the COPPA Rule’s obligations and provide annual training about complying with COPPA for employees who deal with YouTube channel owners.

For additional information, see "YouTube pays $170M for COPPA violations," in BankersOnline's Penalty pages.

The Federal Communications Commission has published [84 FR 45669] in today's Federal Register a final rule amending its Truth in Caller ID rules in subpart P of 47 CFR part 64 to implement the amendments to section 227(e) of the Communications Act adopted by Congress last year as part of the RAY BAUM'S Act. The rule published today amends the FCC's rules to encompass malicious spoofing activities directed at consumers in the United States from actors outside of the U.S. and to reach caller ID spoofing using alternative voice and text messaging services. The amendments carry a February 5, 2020, effective date.

FDIC FIL-47-2019, issued yesterday, announced an update to the agency's Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies (the Manual) to incorporate a new section titled Risk-Focused, Forward-Looking Safety and Soundness Supervision. The latter describes the FDIC's long-standing philosophy and methods for supervising institutions by focusing on the areas presenting the greatest risks. The new section has been included in the new Part VI of the Manual titled "Appendix: Examination Processes and Tools," and describes communication and risk-tailoring principles followed during safety and soundness examination activities.

In prepared remarks delivered yesterday at the 12th annual Las Vegas Anti-Money Laundering Conference, FinCEN Director Blanco discussed:

• His perspective on how new technologies are impacting AML/CFT and financial crime detection, particularly sports betting and mobile gaming;
• How FinCEN’s recent guidance on Convertible Virtual Currency is something that casinos need to pay attention to;
• The importance of a strong culture of compliance within casinos; and
• An overview of FinCEN’s ongoing work related to regulatory reform, innovation, and BSA value.

The OCC will hold Innovation Office Hours October 8–10, in Washington, D.C. Office Hours are hour-long one-on-one meetings with Office of Innovation staff to discuss financial technology (fintech), new products or services, partnering with a bank or fintech company, or other matters related to responsible innovation in the federal banking system.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson has announced the Federal Housing Administration will insure mortgages on mixed-use development under the agency’s Section 220 Program in thousands of lower income communities across the country. By expanding this program’s reach, HUD hopes to significantly boost private investment in Opportunity Zones and generate growth in development in neighborhoods that need it most.

HUD is also awarding $6 million to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to provide critically needed technical assistance to distressed communities with populations under 40,000, including those located in Opportunity Zones and communities struggling to recover from natural disasters.

The OCC has announced it will conduct two workshops in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the DoubleTree Hotel Williamsburg, September 24 and 25, for directors of OCC-supervised institutions.

• The Compliance Risk workshop on September 24 will focus on the critical elements of an effective compliance risk management program. The workshop also covers major compliance risks and critical regulations. Topics of discussion include the Bank Secrecy Act, Flood Disaster Protection Act, Fair Lending, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Community Reinvestment Act, and other compliance hot topics.
• The Operational Risk workshop on September 25 will address the key components of operational risk—people, processes, and systems. The workshop also covers governance, third-party risk, vendor management, internal fraud, and cybersecurity.

The Federal Reserve Board has posted the May 2019 update of its Commercial Bank Examination Manual.

The Federal Reserve Board has reported that the Reserve Banks will develop a new round-the-clock real-time payment and settlement service, to be called the FedNow Service, to support faster payments in the United States. Comments are requested on how the new service might be designed to most effectively support the full set of payment system stakeholders and the functioning of the broader U.S. payment system. The Board anticipates the FedNow Service will be available in 2023 or 2024.

The Board also announced its intention to explore the expansion of Fedwire Funds Service and National Settlement Service hours, up to 24x7x365, to facilitate liquidity management in private-sector real-time gross settlement services for faster payments and to support a wide range of payment activities, beyond those related to faster payments. The Board's Federal Register notice and FAQs concerning the Faster Payments initiative were provided with the Board's press release. Comments will be accepted for 90 days following publication of the Board's notice.

The Federal Trade Commission is requesting comments on the effectiveness of the amendments the agency made to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) in 2013 and whether additional changes are needed. The COPPA Rule, which first went into effect in 2000 to implement the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, requires certain websites and other online services that collect personal information from children under the age of 13 to provide notice to parents and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from those children. Specific questions on which the FTC is seeking comment include:

• Has the Rule affected the availability of websites or online services directed to children?
• Does the Rule correctly articulate the factors to consider in determining whether a website or online service is directed to children, or should additional factors be considered? For example, should the Rule be amended to better address websites and online services that may not include traditionally child-oriented activities, but have large numbers of child users?
• What are the implications for COPPA enforcement raised by technologies such as interactive television, interactive gaming, or other similar interactive media?
• Should the Commission consider a specific exception to parental consent for the use of education technology in schools?
• Should the Commission modify the Rule to encourage general audience platforms to identify and police child-directed content uploaded by third parties?

UPDATE: The Commission's request for public comment was published at 84 FR 35842 in the July 25, 2019, Federal Register. Comments are due by October 23, 2019. The Commission will hold a public workshop to review the COPPA Rule on October 7, 2019.