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 products or services based on an individual's characteristics and behaviors including location, demographics, browsing patterns, shopping history, and inferred emotional or financial states.[2][3]
The practice has been described as "personalized pricing", which has been taken to reflect an economic view that it adds value for consumers.[4] It has also been 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][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]
Canada
As of April 2026[update], the Manitoba NDP, under the leadership of Premier Wab Kinew, has opposed personalized algorithmic pricing at the provincial level with Bill 49.[12][13] At the national level, NDP leader Avi Lewis has pressed majority Liberal Party leader Mark Carney to outlaw such "downright dystopian" practices.[14][15]
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.
- ↑ "Manitoba Premier Kinew plans to target 'differential pricing' for groceries in new year" (in en). 2025-12-22. https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2025/12/22/manitoba-differential-pricing-groceries/.
- ↑ King, Romana. "Manitoba Bans Algorithmic Grocery Pricing With Bill 49 — What Canadians Need to Know and How to Protect Your Wallet in 2026" (in en). https://money.ca/news/grocers-may-be-charging-you-more-based-on-your-data.
- ↑ "Ban algorithmic pricing, NDP urges Carney: ‘Downright creepy’ - National | Globalnews.ca" (in en-US). https://globalnews.ca/news/11799034/ban-algorithmic-pricing-ndp-urges-carney-downright-creepy/.
- ↑ Global News (2026-04-13). "Downright dystopian": NDP Leader Avi Lewis says government must ban surveillance pricing. Retrieved 2026-04-18 – via YouTube.
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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