What if your personal habits and routines influenced how much you paid for groceries? 🛒 What if the tech you use every day was feeding your favorite store information on how much they should charge you for items? 🤳
If that sounds like a Black Mirror episode, you’re right. Unfortunately, it could soon be a reality. However, a new bill could put a stop to it. 🛑
Here’s Five Fast Facts on surveillance pricing and the new PA bill:
- 👀 Track Star - Surveillance pricing has been creating a buzz over the last couple of years. It’s a way companies can use technology and consumer information to raise or lower the cost of goods. Mostly done through online tracking, companies gather all sorts of data on consumers from shopping history to financial info.
- ⚖️ Bill Thrill - In an effort to stop surveillance pricing in the Keystone State, Rep. Danilo Burgos out of Philly has proposed a new bill. If passed, retailers would be prohibited from charging different prices to customers based on personal data.
- 🐀 Rat Race - Back in January, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report that ratted out retailers and their Big Brother vibes. According to the report, stores use data points like browsing history, GPS info, and what’s in shoppers' carts to set targeted prices.
- 📲 Digital Getdown - Stores are already using digital price displays. Chances are you’ve seen them in places like Kroger and Wal-Mart. Retailers say this new tech makes the price update process run more efficiently. They’ve also said they don’t have any “surge pricing” plans up their sleeve…
- 💲 Watch List - …but it’s a slippery slope. Critics worry that digital pricing combined with surveillance methods retailers already use is a dangerous mix. If surveillance pricing becomes reality, consumers could wind up paying a range of prices for the same items (#unfairAF).
🔥Bottom line: Look, we don’t need any more Big Brother up in this b*tch. Let us doomscroll in peace (while handing over all of our data to Meta and TikTok). In other PA news, your health insurance could get significantly more expensive in the near future. In this article, read up on the changes coming down the pike and how they’ll impact Pennsylvanians.
Do you think surveillance pricing should be allowed?
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