Big Box Store or Big Brother?

Posted on Nov 4, 2025 by

I love my iPhone – it provides me with lots of information. It turns out, though, that I’m providing it with lots of information, too.

Last week, my buddies and I were talking about the Packers defeating Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lo and behold, when I turned on my phone, I was bombarded with ads for Packers tickets and merchandise.

Shockingly, if I would have purchased a Jordan Love jersey, I may have paid more than the average fan.

Collecting personal data from smartphones has become commonplace in the internet age, with major corporations providing information to tailor marketing and sales pitches specifically to individual consumers, such as my Packers ads. However, companies are now using artificial intelligence to scour location data, browsing history and demographic backgrounds to individualize prices for specific customers.

The practice is known as “surveillance pricing,” and it is a rapidly expanding phenomenon.

Representative Greg Casar of Texas wants to ban it at the federal level. That’s why he recently introduced the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act of 2025. If passed, the Act would prohibit the use of surveillance-based price and wage setting. The measure would also prevent the use of AI to set wages based on personal data, such as an individual’s financial history, rather than performance.

The legislation stemmed from the findings of a study by the Federal Trade Commission of surveillance pricing that were released in January. It found that a “person’s precise location or browser history can be frequently used to target individual consumers with different prices for the same goods and services.”

The FTC’s findings are based on information it requested from eight companies that use consumer data when pricing products: Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture and McKinsey & Co.

Casar, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he wants to ensure that prices are set “based on supply and demand and based on how much it costs to make and sell a thing, not based on spying on you and using your private data.” He believes there needs to be more transparency around the use of consumers’ data and artificial intelligence.

“AI is a developing part of our lives, part of our world, but we need to make sure that it’s used for good and not being exploited,” the lawmaker said. “We’re already starting to see that, and if we don’t intervene now and ban these sorts of price gouging and wage suppression right now, then I think it’s just going to spread all over the economy.”

Lina Khan, who chaired the FTC and oversaw the study, said, “One of the most pernicious aspects of surveillance pricing is that people may have absolutely no idea that they’re being targeted by it. It’s a total black box.”

She also said the technology is rapidly evolving, making it easier for companies to forecast how much a consumer is able or willing to pay without them knowing. Khan described surveillance pricing as the “holy grail” for companies looking to maximize profits in e-commerce.

While Casar’s legislation is the first at the national level, some states have explored banning surveillance pricing, too, including New York and California. Casar sees it as a bipartisan issue, saying, “I think that’s the kind of thing that pisses off Democratic and Republican and independent voters alike.”

I could have benefited from surveillance pricing when I recently bought some dance shoes. I’ve got no algorithm.



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Reg P. Wydeven

Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorney at McCarty Law LLP
Hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps from a young age, Reg’s practice primarily consists of advising individuals on estate planning, estate settlement and elder law matters. As Reg represents clients in matters like guardianship proceedings and long-term care admissions, he feels grateful to be able to offer families thorough legal help in their time of need.
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