The FTC is probing eight major firms to uncover how their surveillance pricing practices might impact consumer privacy and pricing fairness.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued orders to 8 companies – Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture and McKinsey & Co. — regarding their surveillance pricing products and services.
These orders aim to gather information on how the companies use advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and personal consumer data — such as location, demographics and browsing history — to set targeted prices. The inquiry focuses on understanding the impact of such practices on privacy, competition and consumer protection.
“Firms that harvest Americans’ personal data can put people’s privacy at risk. Now firms could be exploiting this vast trove of personal information to charge people higher prices,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan commented in a July 23 news release. “Americans deserve to know whether businesses are using detailed consumer data to deploy surveillance pricing, and the FTC’s inquiry will shed light on this shadowy ecosystem of pricing middlemen.”
The study, authorized under FTC’s 6(b) authority, seeks details on the types of products offered, data collection methods, customer information and the effects of surveillance pricing on consumers and prices. The goal is to illuminate the opaque market of data-driven pricing and its implications for consumer rights.
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