Tlaib tackles surveillance pricing targeting shopper tendencies

FOX 2 - It’s a practice you may not even know is happening, stores tracking your every move, then quietly changing the price you pay.

The backstory:

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib says she’s out to stop it and is armed with FTC data suggesting retailers spying on you and using the info they collect to charge you more.

In January, the FTC investigated "surveillance pricing" and found retailers are quietly using extensive personal data to set individualized prices that can change quickly based on factors like timing, shopper profile, or device, often with consumers being none the wiser.

Relief may be on the way from Tlaib who is vowing to take on what she sees as corporate greed in the grocery aisle.

"I’m sorry but all of us should be able to pay the same price, no matter our ethnic background no matter our income and no matter the color of our skin, or where we’re at," said Tlaib, a Democrat. "It should all be the same." 

Tlaib’s new bill would prohibit so-called "surveillance pricing" when stores scan your shopping patterns and personal profile, to set the price you’ll pay.

"What we’re trying to do is prevent them from using our personal data to charge us a certain price," she said.

Tlaib says grocery giants are tracking what you buy, when you shop, even what device you use, and feeding it into algorithms to quietly raise prices.

And for that reason, she wants to ban electronic shelf labels in big stores, force disclosure of facial recognition, and give the FTC teeth to crack down on price gouging. She was flanked by advocates who agree.

"We know that many people in our community are hurting," said Dichondra Johnson, 12th Congressional District precinct delegate. "We see that people are losing jobs. They’re losing their homes."

Michigan’s GOP Chair Jim Runestad spoke with FOX 2 from Lansing after leaving a legislative session. He sees things differently.

FOX 2: "Would you say this is necessary consumer protection or is it overreach from the government?

"It’s not that the businesses are gouging. It’s the cost of doing business," he said. "And many businesses are worried like in Detroit, the crime is out of control.

"They really need to get serious about Democrat policies that are driving this. They’re dealing with the symptom. The cause is all these (Democrat) policies. Now the symptom is inflation and they are blaming it on the store owner."

The same FTC investigation found the practice risks discriminating against certain groups like those with lower income and can result in higher prices for certain groups, including those with less access to technology which potentially reinforces inequities.