Seattle’s city council will vote on an ordinance banning “surveillance pricing” this week, potentially becoming the first city in the U.S. to ban large grocery stores from collecting individual data to set prices.
Shopping at grocery stores has created a trove of customer data that retailers use to set prices and tailor the cost of goods to individual customers. This practice, known as “surveillance pricing,” brings algorithms and personal information together to change how much someone pays each time they go shopping.
City councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Mayor Katie Wilson’s Fair Pricing and Transparency Ordinance, which prohibits “algorithm-based price discrimination,” will go to a vote on Sept. 22. The ordinance will apply to retailers with 20 or more locations and require retailers to disclose the criteria for discounted prices and clearly display prices in retail locations…