Finance:Surveillance pricing
Surveillance pricing is a form of dynamic pricing where a consumer's personal data and behavior is used to determine their willingness to pay.[1] This form of price discrimination assesses price sensitivity for a products or services based on an individual’s characteristics and behaviors including location, demographics, browsing patterns, shopping history, and inferred data emotional or financial states.[2][3]
The practice has been termed "personalized pricing", which has been taken to reflect an economic view that it adds value for consumers.[4] However it is also described as personalized price gouging[5] and has raised concerns over algorithmic discrimination, consumer privacy, digital redlining, and undermining price discovery.[6][7] Proponents suggest the practice could be implemented in a manner akin to a progressive tax enabling price equity.[8] The phrase was coined by American academic Zephyr Teachout.[9][10]
United States
In the United States, several states including California, New York, Georgia, Ohio, and Illinois have drafted bills to regulate the practice.[11][10]
United Kingdom
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 allows the Competition and Markets Authority to fine companies up to 10% of global revenue for hidden or biased digital pricing.[11]
References
- ↑ "Issue Spotlight: The Rise of Surveillance Pricing". FTC. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/sp6b-issue-spotlight.pdf.
- ↑ "FTC Surveillance Pricing Study Indicates Wide Range of Personal Data Used to Set Individualized Consumer Prices" (in en). Federal Trade Commission. 17 January 2025. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-surveillance-pricing-study-indicates-wide-range-personal-data-used-set-individualized-consumer.
- ↑ What is surveillance pricing (Video). 2 News Nevada. 11 August 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ Dayen, David (July 9, 2024). "The Emerging Danger of Surveillance Pricing" (in en-US). https://jacobin.com/2024/07/surveillance-personalized-pricing-data-collection.
- ↑ "Surveillance Pricing Is Personalized Price Gouging". Roosevelt Institute. 30 July 2025. https://rooseveltinstitute.org/roosevelt-rundown/surveillance-pricing-is-personalized-price-gouging/.
- ↑ Nguyen, Stephanie T. (September 21, 2025). "The Next Frontier of Surveillance: Investigating Pricing Systems". Yale Journal on Regulation. https://www.yalejreg.com/nc/the-next-frontier-of-surveillance-investigating-pricing-systems-by-stephanie-t-nguyen/.
- ↑ Stanley, Jay (12 September 2025). ""Surveillance Pricing" Hurts Consumers, Incentivizes More Corporate Spying on Them". American Civil Liberties Union. https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/surveillance-pricing.
- ↑ Krishna, Aradhna (14 October 2025). "In Defense of "Surveillance Pricing": Why Personalized Prices Could Be an Unexpected Force For Equity". The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/in-defense-of-surveillance-pricing-why-personalized-prices-could-be-an-unexpected-force-for-equity-266293.
- ↑ Dayen, David (2024-06-04). "One Person One Price" (in en-US). https://prospect.org/2024/06/04/2024-06-04-one-person-one-price/.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Kelley, Lora (Nov 24, 2025). "Why 'Surveillance Pricing' Strikes a Nerve". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/business/why-surveillance-pricing-strikes-a-nerve.html.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Oxford, Dwayne (15 Oct 2025). "‘Surveillance pricing’: Why you might be paying more than your neighbour" (in en). https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/10/15/surveillance-pricing-why-you-might-be-paying-more-than-your-neighbour.
External links
Chang, Jonathan; Chakrabarti, Meghna (August 14, 2024). "Will "surveillance pricing" help or harm consumers?". WBUR Radio. https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/08/14/surveillance-pricing-harm-consumers-ftc-data.
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