A Voices for Safety Consumer Protection Series

These days, we’re pretty used to companies snooping on our data to figure out what ads pop up, what products get suggested, and which emails actually make it to our inboxes.

So, what’s the deal when that same data starts messing with the price, we end up paying?

That question is the focus of this special Voices for Safety series on personalized pricing and consumer protection.

As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) actively seeks public input on personalized pricing, it's crucial for consumers like you to grasp the implications of this practice. Understanding these changes now will help ensure that personalized pricing doesn't become just another accepted norm in online shopping.

In this series, we will explore the concept of personalized pricing, examining the types of consumer data that may be utilized, its potential impact on traditional comparison shopping, and the growing connection between privacy and pricing. We will also discuss the proposals put forth by the FTC and, most importantly, what steps consumers like you can take in response.

Over the next seven (7) articles, Voices for Safety will follow the data, examine the questions, and give you practical information you can use.

And there may be no better place to begin that with one very simple question:

Is that really the price, or is it your price?

Blog Article One (1) Below 

You open a website, find the item you want, look at the price, and make a decision. 

Buy it. Compare it. Wait for a sale.

Simple, right?

Maybe not anymore.

What if the price appearing on your screen is not simply the price?

What if it is your price, calculated in part from what a company knows, or thinks it knows, about you?

That is the consumer issue now getting serious attention from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

On August 19, 2026, the FTC announced a proposed enforcement policy addressing personalized pricing, the practice of using personal information to help determine how much an individual consumer may be willing to pay.

And consumers should pay attention.

Personalized Pricing Is Different from Ordinary Price Changes

We totally get it prices are always changing. That's just how it goes!

Airline tickets can be all over the place. Hotel rates tend to spike on busy weekends. Stores are always having sales. Gas prices? They’re like a rollercoaster. Basically, it all comes down to supply and demand affecting what we end up paying.

That is not necessarily what the FTC is talking about here.

Personalized pricing can involve analyzing information about you and using it to determine the price or offer shown to you.

The FTC describes the issue as using personal data to set prices according to what a company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend.

That distinction matters.

A store deciding that everyone will pay $25 for an item today is one thing.

A system deciding that you may pay $29 while someone else is offered $25 for the same item at the same time is something very different.

Especially if neither of you knows it is happening.

What Kind of Information Could be Used?

The FTC has been studying what it previously called surveillance pricing.

In findings released in January 2025, FTC staff reported that pricing intermediaries could use detailed consumer information including:

• precise location
• browser history
• demographics
• shopping history
• search behavior
• products left in an online shopping cart
• certain interactions, such as mouse movements on a webpage

The FTC said these systems can help retailers tailor prices, promotions, or the products displayed to individual consumers. 

Leaving something in your shopping cart may no longer be just indecision.

It can potentially become data.

Your browsing may become data.

Your shopping habits may become data.

Your location may become data.

And that information may potentially help a business estimate what you are willing to pay.

The FTC Is Not Banning Personalized Pricing

This is an important distinction.

The FTC says Congress has not given the agency authority to prohibit personalized pricing in every circumstance. 

Instead, the proposed policy focuses heavily on disclosure and deception.

According to the FTC, when consumers reasonably expect a price not to vary according to their personal information, a business engaging in personalized pricing should clearly disclose:

1. that the price is personalized;
2. the basis for the personalization; and
3. the types of consumer data being used.

The FTC's proposed statement says failing to provide those disclosures may constitute an unfair or deceptive practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.

The larger consumer question is:

Should a business be able to quietly calculate how much it thinks I will pay without telling me?

Why This Matters

Personalized pricing is all about more than just the number you see when you’re checking out.

It makes you wonder about:

• fairness
• privacy
• transparency
• consumer choice
• the future of comparison shopping

Consumers (You!) cannot make informed purchasing decision when they do not know the rules of the marketplace in which they are shopping.

What You Can Do

Before you dive into that big online buy, take a moment to compare:

• the price while logged into your account
• the price while logged out 
• the price using a private browsing window
• prices from competing retailers

Take screen shots of unexpected differences.

So, a price change might just be due to something simple, like a cool promotion, a shift in inventory, a tax based on where you are, or even the timing of things. But hey, you totally have the right to ask questions about it!

The public-comment deadline for the FTC's proposed enforcement statement

is September 18, 2026

Go to the FTC website at ftc.gov public comment page for the proposed enforcement policy regarding personalized pricing.