New York is moving to outlaw a pricing practice that uses shoppers' personal data to charge them more. The state legislature has already passed legislation, known as the One Fair Price Act, aimed at curbing the tactic. The bill targets what is described as surveillance pricing, a practice that has drawn growing scrutiny as retailers gain access to ever more detailed information about their customers and what they are willing to spend.
At the heart of the measure is the way companies decide the amount a customer is asked to pay. Under surveillance pricing, businesses use a shopper's browsing and purchase history to estimate the highest price that person is likely to be willing to pay for a product. Rather than a single posted price for everyone, the cost can be tailored to the individual based on the data a company has collected about them.
The practical effect is that two people can be treated very differently for the same purchase. Under the practice, two shoppers could see different prices for the same item at the same time. That can happen in part through digital shelf tags, electronic price labels that can update the displayed price within seconds, allowing the figure to change quickly and with little warning to the customer.
To give the new rules teeth, the legislation hands enforcement powers to the state's top legal officer. The bill would give the attorney general the authority to fine companies that break the rules and to secure refunds for consumers who were affected. That combination of penalties and restitution is intended to discourage the practice and to compensate shoppers who ended up paying inflated prices.
Supporters frame the measure as a set of concrete consumer protections rather than a blanket restriction. The legislative package offers practical solutions, including stronger transparency requirements and limits on how personal data can be used to set prices. The aim, as presented, is to rein in abusive uses of customer information while keeping the wider system functional for businesses and shoppers alike.
At the same time, the proposal tries to avoid sweeping away ordinary uses of customer information. It seeks to set limits on data-driven pricing while still protecting the legitimate data that shoppers rely upon and depend upon in their everyday transactions. The balance being sought is between blocking manipulative pricing and preserving the conveniences that come with the routine use of data.
With the legislature's approval secured, the decision now rests with the state's top elected official. The bills now head to Governor Hochul for approval, the final step before they could become law. If signed, the measure would position New York among the places seeking to regulate how companies use personal data to decide what each individual customer is charged.