New York City bans charging each customer a different price based on their personal data

New York City Council approved on Thursday a law banning businesses from charging different prices for the same product based on each customer's personal data, a practice known as “surveillance pricing.”

The measure, Intro 891-A, passed 44-5 and is one of the strongest restrictions of its kind in the United States, according to the Council itself. It was sponsored by Council Speaker Julie Menin and now goes to Mayor Zohran Mamdani's desk, who already celebrated it on X: “Some companies use your personal data, like browsing history, to serve different prices to different customers. It's called surveillance pricing, and we just banned it in New York City.”

The law defines surveillance pricing as prices set wholly or partly by an algorithm that uses personal data to offer different prices to different customers for the same goods or services. It also bans collecting, selling or sharing personal data to facilitate the practice. Fines can reach $1,000 per violation, with each affected consumer or transaction counted separately.

Council investigations found price differences of up to 23% on a grocery delivery platform, and the case of a television that went from $499.99 to $599.99 when the shopper pulled into the store's parking lot. Legitimate discounts —loyalty programs, buy-one-get-one-free offers, and discounts for students, veterans and older adults— remain allowed. The rule will take effect one year after enactment.

Photo: Interesting Engineering

Source: Interesting Engineering and NY Post