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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, Canada‘s main left party, 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

  1. ^ “Issue Spotlight: The Rise of Surveillance Pricing” (PDF). FTC.
  2. ^ “FTC Surveillance Pricing Study Indicates Wide Range of Personal Data Used to Set Individualized Consumer Prices”. Federal Trade Commission. 17 January 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  3. ^ What is surveillance pricing (Video). 2 News Nevada. 11 August 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  4. ^ Dayen, David (July 9, 2024). “The Emerging Danger of Surveillance Pricing”. Jacobin. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  5. ^ “Surveillance Pricing Is Personalized Price Gouging”. Roosevelt Institute. 30 July 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  6. ^ Nguyen, Stephanie T. (September 21, 2025). “The Next Frontier of Surveillance: Investigating Pricing Systems”. Yale Journal on Regulation. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  7. ^ Stanley, Jay (12 September 2025). ““Surveillance Pricing” Hurts Consumers, Incentivizes More Corporate Spying on Them”. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  8. ^ Krishna, Aradhna (14 October 2025). “In Defense of “Surveillance Pricing”: Why Personalized Prices Could Be an Unexpected Force For Equity”. The Conversation. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  9. ^ Dayen, David (2024-06-04). “One Person One Price”. The American Prospect. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  10. ^ a b Kelley, Lora (Nov 24, 2025). “Why ‘Surveillance Pricing’ Strikes a Nerve”. The New York Times. Retrieved 2026-01-13.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. ^ a b Oxford, Dwayne (15 Oct 2025). “‘Surveillance pricing’: Why you might be paying more than your neighbour”. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  12. ^ “Manitoba Premier Kinew plans to target ‘differential pricing’ for groceries in new year”. CityNews Winnipeg. 2025-12-22. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  13. ^ King, Romana. “Manitoba Bans Algorithmic Grocery Pricing With Bill 49 — What Canadians Need to Know and How to Protect Your Wallet in 2026”. Money.ca. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  14. ^ “Ban algorithmic pricing, NDP urges Carney: ‘Downright creepy’ – National | Globalnews.ca”. Global News. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  15. ^ Global News (2026-04-13). “Downright dystopian”: NDP Leader Avi Lewis says government must ban surveillance pricing. Retrieved 2026-04-18 – via YouTube.

Chang, Jonathan; Chakrabarti, Meghna (August 14, 2024). “Will “surveillance pricing” help or harm consumers?”. On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti. WBUR Radio. Retrieved 23 November 2025.