Grocery store shelves with small printed price labels on each shelf edge
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Surveillance Pricing: How to Spot a Personal Price, Per the FTC and NY AG

Some stores can set a price for you based on what they know about you. Here is what regulators have actually found, which states now restrict it, and the comparison checks New York's attorney general recommends for catching it.

Two shoppers, one product, two prices, and neither person ever finds out. That is the fear behind surveillance pricing, and it got a fresh airing on October 26, 2026, when Bloomberg’s Odd Lots newsletter tied an essay on “algorithmic and personalized pricing” to Lindsay Owens and her new book, Gouged. Owens runs Groundwork Collaborative, a think tank that has pushed for bans. The good news for shoppers is that a few concrete checks, recommended by New York’s attorney general, can sometimes expose a personal price.

Where it stands: New York’s disclosure law has applied since November 10, 2025. Maryland and Connecticut signed restrictions in spring 2026, and New Jersey’s ban was signed July 23, 2026, with an effective date of August 1, 2027, according to law firm Skadden. New York’s outright ban was still sitting on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk when Owens spoke to Gizmodo on September 29, 2026.

What is surveillance pricing?

Surveillance pricing means charging a specific person a specific price based on data a company has gathered about that person. A sale or a surge price is different: it moves the price for every customer at once.

Skadden puts the line clearly: a storewide sale “changes the price for everyone,” while surveillance pricing “changes the price for a specific individual based on what a system has learned about that individual.” The FTC under Chair Andrew Ferguson prefers the label personalized pricing for the same practice.

The Odd Lots essay describes Owens’s book as showing how companies charge more “through means like data collection and surveillance.” Penguin Random House lists Gouged as a Viking title published September 29, 2026.

What did the FTC actually find?

The FTC has not ruled that surveillance pricing is illegal. Its staff released preliminary findings from a market study on January 17, 2025, and the chair promised a final report later.

Those early findings, as recapped by attorneys at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, show which ordinary habits can feed a pricing system. Staff said that leaving something in your cart, or sorting results from lowest to highest price, can be used to guess your purchase intent or your finances. Staff also warned that personalized coupon codes billed as “sales” or “discounts” can be deceptive when built on surveillance pricing.

Is the Instacart case an example of surveillance pricing?

Not a proven one. Researchers showed that Instacart users saw different prices for identical groceries, but Instacart says personal data played no part, so the case is best described as AI price experimentation.

The study by Consumer Reports, Groundwork and More Perfect Union found that “Nearly three-quarters of grocery items” they tested showed different prices to different shoppers, and that basket totals differed by about 7% on average, per Consumer Reports. Its widely shared figure of about $1,200 a year is a projection based on Instacart’s average family-of-four grocery spending, not a measured loss.

Instacart told CBS News it “does not use personal, demographic or user-level behavioral data to set prices,” and that 10 retail partners were running the tests. In late December 2025, a Groundwork statement said Instacart had announced it would stop the AI pricing experiments. New York’s attorney general later warned Instacart that its pricing disclosures, buried behind fine print, “may not be complying with the law,” in a January 2026 letter.

Which states restrict surveillance pricing?

Four states have acted, in different ways, and New York’s broader ban remains unsigned in our latest source.

State What the law does Status
New York Requires a disclosure next to algorithmic personal prices In effect since Nov. 10, 2025
New York One Fair Price Act, an outright ban Passed June 2026; unsigned as of late Sept. 2026
Maryland Bans it for food retailers and delivery apps Signed Apr. 28, 2026
Connecticut Ban for all retailers plus a checkout disclosure Signed May 27, 2026
New Jersey Ban with a right for shoppers to sue Takes effect Aug. 1, 2027
Colorado Proposed ban Vetoed, per Owens

The details matter. In Maryland, only the attorney general can sue, and companies get 45 days to fix a violation after notice, Consumer Reports noted. New York’s disclosure has fixed wording: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” The state’s ban, which the attorney general’s office celebrated when it passed in June 2026, is a separate bill; Owens told Gizmodo it was “sitting on Kathy Hochul’s desk right this minute.”

How can you spot surveillance pricing yourself?

No single check proves it, because a personal price only shows up when compared with someone else’s. Owens admits in her Senate testimony that comparing across users, devices and places at once is “an impossible task for most consumers.” These steps, drawn from New York’s attorney general and from Owens, improve the odds:

  1. Ask someone else to look. The NY AG suggests comparing the price you are shown with the price offered to others for the same product. A friend or relative in another household is the easiest comparison.
  2. Compare app and account discounts. The AG says personal pricing shows up most often in company apps and loyalty programs, so check whether others get the same in-app coupon.
  3. Watch for a jump after a trackable move. A new price after you search a competitor or shop from a new location may be a sign your data is in play, the AG says.
  4. Check within the brand, not just across brands. Owens compares one retailer’s price online, in its app, logged in, logged out and in the store.
  5. Shop with fewer identifiers. Owens told Gizmodo she uses a VPN, incognito mode, privacy browsers such as DuckDuckGo, and stays logged out of apps.
  6. Read “personal” coupons with care. FTC staff flagged personalized discount codes as a possible deception risk, so judge the final price rather than the size of the markdown.
  7. Report a hidden label in New York. The AG asks consumers to file a complaint when an algorithmic price lacks the required disclosure.

If you are tempted to hand this job to software instead, our look at whether AI shopping agents find better deals covers what those tools can and cannot see.

Should you quit loyalty programs because of surveillance pricing?

Not necessarily, but treat a loyalty account as a trade of data for discounts and check that the trade still pays. Owens argues long-time customers can be “penalized for your loyalty with fewer discounts and fewer promotions.”

Business groups see a risk in the other direction. A New Jersey business group warned WHYY that the state’s law could lead to “the elimination of some loyalty programs, coupons, and other customer-specific discounts.” Polling cited by Owens found 72% of respondents would accept smaller average discounts rather than hand over personal data for pricing. To test whether a program earns its keep, see our guide to measuring the real savings from store loyalty programs.

New Jersey’s law adds teeth when it starts: a shopper who proves a willful violation can recover treble damages, three times the actual harm, under the Fair Price Protection Act taking effect August 1, 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if a store is using surveillance pricing on me?

You usually cannot tell from one screen. Compare the same item with someone in another household, check it logged in and logged out, and look again after an action the store can track, such as searching a competitor. In New York, a personalized algorithmic price must carry a written disclosure.

Is surveillance pricing illegal?

It depends on the state. Maryland and Connecticut have signed restrictions, New Jersey’s law starts August 1, 2027, and New York currently requires disclosure. New York’s outright ban had passed the legislature but was still awaiting the governor as of late September 2026.

Does using incognito mode stop personalized prices?

It may help but there is no guarantee. Lindsay Owens of Groundwork Collaborative says she uses a VPN, incognito mode and privacy-focused browsers and avoids logging in, but these steps hide only some of the signals a store can use.

Did Instacart use surveillance pricing?

Researchers found different shoppers were shown different prices for the same items at the same time, but Instacart says it did not use personal or behavioral data to set them. Groundwork says the company ended the experiments in December 2025.

Where do I report a hidden algorithmic price?

If you shop in New York, the attorney general asks consumers to file a complaint when algorithmic pricing is not properly disclosed. Elsewhere, your state attorney general’s consumer protection office is the usual place to start.

Sources

This article is general consumer information, not financial advice. Prices, retailer practices and state pricing laws vary and change over time; check the retailer and your state attorney general for current rules.

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