Syracuse, New York, is moving toward a ban on dynamic pricing that adjusts prices based on a shopper's income, age, or race. The proposal, reported by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), raises a central question: would such a ban actually work?
EPIC counsel Kara Williams notes that shoppers may not understand how much information they provide by joining loyalty programs. That data is often used to personalize prices, and the opacity of the practice makes it difficult for consumers to know when they are being charged differently.
The effectiveness of the ban would hinge on enforcement and the ability of retailers to use proxies for protected characteristics. While the measure targets explicit price changes based on income, age, and race, companies could potentially infer those traits from other data, complicating oversight.