this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
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FTC: Companies Are Using Your Data for Individualized 'Surveillance Pricing' (www.pcmag.com)
submitted 2 days ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
41 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Your personal data, including your precise location, browser history, and even your mouse movements, is being used by some companies to show different prices for the same products—a phenomenon the FTC has dubbed "surveillance pricing."

According to a new FTC report, retailers are hiring "intermediary firms" to algorithmically tweak and target their prices. 

"Instead of a price or promotion being a static feature of a product, the same product could have a different price or promotion based on a variety of inputs—including consumer-related data and their behaviors and preferences, the location, time, and channels by which a consumer buys the product," the FTC says.

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[–] 7112@lemmy.world 76 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Doesn't this open up a clear pathway way to discrimination?

Even AI and data has bias, add that with malicious intent, and what stops a grocer from charging exploited communities higher prices?

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 43 points 2 days ago

Look at who's coming into power tomorrow, and who's sucking him off the most. This shit is about to get ten times worse.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 32 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Companies like Amazon been doing this for a long time. Yes, it's discriminatory. No one has done anything about it. And they probably won't for at least another 4 years.

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

4 years

If we're lucky. And even if we have another president and that president is a Democrat and even if that president has a Democrat super majority in the House and Senate, I am not convinced that they will prioritize breaking up monopolies.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Correct, DNC is there to ensure that Democrats never do anything too much to hurt the owner class.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

100%

They only take action to punch down any potential actual left-leaning candidates, ensuring no progressive representation ever gathers power stations.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago

Well, they certainly didn't for the last 20 years. They tried in the last 4 but were ultimately too inefficient and time ran out. But they definitely won't in the next 4.

[–] prex@aussie.zone 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Why 4 years? Edit: oh... Oh no.

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 7 points 2 days ago

Buckle up, buckaroos!

[–] LodeMike 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes but its a computer and computers can't have biases! /s

[–] Cort@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

And even if it did, you can't arrest a computer!

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

They don't care if you got black or white skin. They want to syphon your money.