🍞 MD 1st State to Ban Surveillance Pricing for Groceries, Deliv Apps; Digital PriceTags, Personal Data to Hike Prices

- 'Maryland Becomes First US State to Ban Surveillance Pricing for Groceries,' By Stephen Prager, Common Dreams, April 27, 2026.🥫🍛
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A new law will ban retailers from using shoppers’ personal data to hike grocery prices—but consumer advocates warn it contains loopholes that companies could exploit. Maryland will become the first US state to outlaw “surveillance pricing” for groceries after Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed a bill on Monday barring retailers and food delivery services from using customers’ personal data to alter prices.

The practice has already become rampant in online commerce, with companies like Amazon, Uber, and Delta Air Lines accused of using everything from browsing history and location to demographic information to squeeze every possible cent from consumers. The Protection from Predatory Pricing Act, which takes effect in Maryland beginning on October 1, targets the growing use of such tactics by grocery chains and delivery apps, which Moore has accused of using “new technologies to drive up the bill for working families.”

These include electronic shelf labels, which advocates have warned could allow companies to instantly change grocery prices based on the time of day, weather, and other factors that influence consumer demand. “Digital price tags are replacing paper ones. It’s happening because we are having cameras that are watching aisles, it’s happening because we have apps that are moving from search-based to predictive,” Moore said.

Moore has cited an investigation published in December by Consumer Reports and the Groundwork Collaborative, which found that Instacart was running a “pricing experiment” that charged some customers as much as 23% more for the same items than others based on shoppers’ personal data. Another investigation by Consumer Reports last May found that Kroger was collecting lengthy profiles of individual customers, including estimates of their household size, education level, income, and even perceived “loyalty” to the company, along with sometimes dozens of other pages of personal data.

“Surveillance pricing can drive up the price of food,” said Grace Gedye, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports... - Read More,
https://www.commondreams.org/news/maryland-bans-surveillance-pricing