Extract from Ella Sherman’s article “With Surveillance Pricing Regulation, Experts Predict Patchwork of State Laws”
The practice of companies tailoring the pricing of products based on the personal information and digital footprint of consumers—also known as surveillance pricing, personalized price gouging, individualized pricing or dynamic pricing—has caught the attention of regulators and legislators across the U.S.
Unlike pricing based on supply and demand, surveillance pricing can entail companies tracking a consumer’s purchase history or location and charging them a higher price for products based on that information.
Earlier this year, Trump-appointed FTC commissioner Andrew Ferguson opposed the release and public inquiry into a Biden-era FTC investigation that concluded there should be more transparency on the consumer data companies use.
In response to such pricing methods, last month, congressional Reps. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, teamed up to introduce HR 4966 or the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act, which would require the Federal Trade Commission to ban personal data-informed price gouging in grocery stores.
