Seattle becomes first city to ban surveillance pricing

[Viable Food News Desk]

Publisher: Supermarket News
Published: September 23, 2026
Source: Read at Supermarket News
Category: Food Access

The Seattle City Council passed the Fair Pricing and Transparency Act (CB 121267), which would prohibit personalized pricing for groceries and other essential items. The measure would bar companies from using data such as web-browsing history, real-time location, income, family size, or health conditions to change the price a consumer sees. It permits many discounting practices while requiring more transparency around discounts and placing some limits on consumer profiling. Seattle joins Maryland, New Jersey, and Connecticut, which also have laws against surveillance pricing, and UFCW 3000 called Seattle's ban the strongest in the country.

Why this matters: Independent grocers may need to review how customer data is used to set or display prices and how discounts are explained to shoppers. The measure also signals that personalized pricing is becoming a policy issue for grocery operators and food-access advocates.

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