The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated an investigation into several major companies regarding their use of customer data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence for personalized pricing strategies.
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The FTC has issued orders to eight companies across various sectors—Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase, Accenture, Task Software, McKinsey & Co., Revionics, Bloomreach, and Pros—requesting information on how their pricing practices affect privacy, competition, and consumer protection.
These companies utilize data-driven tools, often referred to as “surveillance pricing” or “dynamic pricing,” to present consumers with varying prices for the same products based on individual characteristics such as location, demographics, credit history, and shopping behavior.
Many firms approached by the FTC are major players in transaction, sales, and pricing services in the U.S. and globally. Task Software supports several large hospitality brands, including McDonald’s and Starbucks. Revionics specializes in retail price optimization and serves numerous global chains, including Home Depot. Pros, known for its AI-driven pricing solutions, boasts high-profile clients like Nestlé, HP, and United Airlines and collaborates with Microsoft on technology development.
The FTC aims to investigate this “opaque market” that classifies shoppers and imposes targeted pricing on products and services.
“Firms that harvest Americans’ personal data can put people’s privacy at risk. Now firms could be exploiting this vast trove of personal information to charge people higher prices,” stated FTC Chair Lina Khan. “Americans deserve to know whether businesses are using detailed consumer data to deploy surveillance pricing, and the FTC’s inquiry will shed light on this shadowy ecosystem of pricing middlemen.”
The FTC’s inquiry will focus on four main aspects: the types of surveillance pricing products and services offered, data collection methods, customer and sales information, and the impact of these practices on the prices consumers ultimately pay.