The Federal Trade Commission is again turning its attention to personalized pricing, a practice that adjusts prices based on consumer data. The agency's renewed interest follows a policy statement issued last month, signaling that it intends to examine how companies use personal information to set individual prices.
In response, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Consumer Federation of America released an 11-page pamphlet that seeks to pin down what they call "surveillance pricing." The groups argue that the practice deserves explicit definition and condemnation, warning that it can lead to unfair treatment of consumers who are unaware of how their data is being used.
The pamphlet's release puts public pressure on the FTC to move from policy statements to concrete action. While the FTC has not yet announced specific enforcement steps, consumer advocates are watching closely to see whether the agency will adopt the groups' terminology and take a harder line on data-driven price discrimination.