ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland shoppers will soon receive new protections against retailers using personal information to determine how much an individual customer pays for groceries.
The state’s Protection From Predatory Pricing Act takes effect Oct. 1. The law prohibits covered grocery retailers and third-party delivery services from using a customer’s personal data to charge that person a higher price for most groceries.
The practice is sometimes referred to as personalized, surveillance-based or dynamic pricing. Under the law, personalized pricing means setting a price specifically for an individual consumer based on personal data, regardless of whether the seller collected the information or purchased it from another company…