Grocery chains ready to implement “surveillance pricing” for customers
According to a report from The New York Times, grocery stores in New York City could soon face new restrictions on using shoppers’ personal data to charge individualized prices for everyday items like bananas or milk.
According to a report from The New York Times, grocery stores in New York City could soon face new restrictions on using shoppers’ personal data to charge individualized prices for everyday items like bananas or milk.
The practice, known as surveillance pricing, allows retailers to adjust costs based on data such as shopping history, location, or online behavior — potentially resulting in one customer paying significantly more than another for the identical product.
With food prices already straining household budgets in high-cost areas like New York, city officials are pushing urgent legislation to curb the tactic.
On Thursday, City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Councilman Shaun Abreu from northern Manhattan are set to introduce separate bills targeting these dynamic pricing strategies.
Menin’s proposal would impose a broad ban on surveillance pricing across the five boroughs. Abreu’s measure would limit retail food stores, including groceries and bodegas, from raising prices more than once within a 24-hour period.
“It’s actually hard to detect if you’re the victim of surveillance pricing,” Ms. Menin said. “Which then makes it more imperative than ever that we legislate this practice, because this is very difficult to detect for consumers.”
The city efforts build on state-level action. The One Fair Price Package, backed strongly by Attorney General Letitia James, includes measures to ban surveillance pricing both online and in physical stores, with some exceptions. It is expected to advance before the end of the legislative session.
Similar data-driven pricing has already appeared in ride-sharing, air travel, and health care, as well as online grocery delivery platforms. Advocates warn that expanding it to in-store shopping could exacerbate affordability challenges for New Yorkers already grappling with inflation.
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