The US Federal Trade Commission has extended by 60 days its deadline for the public to submit comments on the changes it is proposing to make to the Safeguards Rule, which requires financial institutions to develop comprehensive plans to keep information secure.

The FTC announced in March that it was seeking comment on proposed changes to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s Safeguards Rule as well as its Privacy Rule, which requires every financial institution to inform customers about its information-sharing practices and allow customers to opt out of having their information shared with certain third parties.

In response to requests from commenters, the FTC will be publishing a notice in the Federal Register shortly, announcing that the deadline to submit comments on the proposed changes to the Safeguards Rule has been extended to 2 August. Comments on the proposed changes to the Privacy Rule ended yesterday.

The FTC is a federal agency with a brief to protect consumers as well as promote competition.