• by Wendy Davis , 5 hours ago

A new Senate bill would outlaw so-called "surveillance pricing" by broadly prohibiting companies from customizing prices based on consumers' personal data. 

The One Fair Price Act, introduced this week by Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), specifically would make it illegal to set prices based on an individual's biometrics, behavior or personal information -- including address, citizenship status, weight, genetic data and that's reasonably linkable to that person or household. 

The measure has some exceptions, including one that would allow companies to offer discounts to consumers who enroll in loyalty programs.

"Across the country, corporations, data brokers, and third-party pricing services are collecting and exploiting consumers’ personal data to charge different people different prices for the same item in order to maximize their profits," Gallego stated in a one-page summary of the bill.

"Automated systems and artificial intelligence are now supercharging this tactic, allowing companies to set individualized prices based on consumer profiling, such as personal information like a person’s location, demographics, financial or health data, marital status, and web browsing and shopping histories," he added.

Some advocacy groups including the American Economic Liberties Project and Consumer Reports backing the bill.

Earlier this year, Representatives Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) introduced a similar measure -- the "Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act" -- which would prohibit companies from using artificial intelligence to set prices based on "private data."

In January, the Federal Trade Commission published a report examining the techniques companies use when determining how much to charge particular individuals. That report said companies could collect “real-time information about a person’s browsing and transaction history,” and then decide whether to offer coupons based on assumptions derived from that data.

“A pharmacy could choose to exclude routine, regular customers in a special promotion for over-the-counter medications or weight-loss supplements because the pharmacy inferred that those customers are likely to buy those products anyway,” the FTC stated in the report.

When the FTC issued the report, it sought input from consumers and businesses about how surveillance pricing had affected them. But several days later, Andrew Ferguson replaced Lina Khan as head of the agency and withdrew the request for information.