Announced Action for January 25, 2002

The Commission has approved publication of a Federal Register notice announcing that the Commission has allowed Australian law enforcement authorities access to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel database. As detailed in the notice, which will be published shortly and posted on the Commission's Web site, the FTC has delegated authority to the Associate Director of the Division of Planning and Information to share information in Consumer Sentinel with Australian agencies. The Commission previously delegated authority to the Associate Director to share information, including information in Consumer Sentinel, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Through the action announced in this Federal Register notice, additional Australian consumer protection agencies, such as state agencies, will be allowed access to non-public Sentinel data. The Commission vote to publish the Federal Register notice and place a copy on the public record was 5-0. It will become effective immediately upon publication. (FTC File No. P014308; staff contact is Maneesha Mithal, 202-326-2771.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.