Publisher: Grocery Dive
Published: August 21, 2026
Source: Read at Grocery Dive (https://www.grocerydive.com/news/ftc-personalized-surveillance-pricing-customers/828490/)
Category: Food Access
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on personalized pricing, which changes prices based on a consumer's personal data and what a business thinks the consumer will pay. The FTC said businesses that do not disclose how they use data to set prices may violate Section 5 of the FTC Act and other laws, although the agency cannot ban personalized pricing outright. Maryland has limited surveillance pricing, Connecticut has banned it, and more than 40 related bills have been introduced in over two dozen states, according to Holland & Knight. A Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative investigation found that identical grocery items on Instacart differed in price by as much as 23% for different customers, after which Instacart stopped providing grocers with technology that enabled those price differences.
Why this matters: Independent grocers that use customer data for pricing may need to review how they disclose and audit those practices. Different prices for identical products can also damage customer trust, especially as state and federal scrutiny grows.
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