NJ Governor Signs Grocery Surveillance Pricing Ban with Private Right of Action into Law

On Thursday, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed into law a ban on surveillance pricing for groceries. The Fair Price Protection Act makes New Jersey the third state to enact legislation curbing surveillance pricing, joining Maryland and Connecticut. The New York Legislature has also sent a surveillance pricing ban to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk for signature. 

Surveillance pricing is an unfair practice where businesses use shoppers’ personal data to set individualized prices. It hurts affordability, threatens privacy, worsens the discounts offered to shoppers, and can discriminate against people based on protected characteristics such as race.    

EPIC testified in support of the Fair Price Protection Act in May, while also suggesting improvements to close loopholes and provide stronger protections for New Jersey residents. We applaud the lawmakers for including a private right of action in the bill, making New Jersey the first state surveillance pricing regulation to giveconsumers the right to vindicate their own rights in court. 

While we commend the lawmakers for including this robust enforcement, we also urge the Legislature to further strengthen the law in the next legislative session. Some key improvements EPIC recommends include: expanding the law’s scope beyond the grocery store context, narrowing the law’s exemption for loyalty programs, and clarifying some key definitions.   

EPIC has supported numerous other efforts to combat surveillance pricing, including working with state lawmakers across the country in their attempts to tackle this core consumer privacy and affordability issue.