EPIC Testifies in Support of NYC Surveillance Pricing Ban

On Wednesday, EPIC Law Fellow Mayu Tobin-Miyaji testified before the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection of the New York City Council in support of Int. No. 891, a bill that would protect New Yorkers from surveillance pricing. 

The legislation would amend the NYC administrative code to prohibit retailers from setting individualized prices based on consumers’ personal data.

Using the troves of our personal data, companies can now set the retail price each customer sees at the highest number that person is willing to pay, based on what the algorithm has inferred about their spending habits. Because of surveillance pricing, consumers may be charged vastly different amounts for the same exact product or service.

Surveillance pricing is inherently unfair. If passed, New York City would become the first city to ban this harmful and unpopular practice.

EPIC also recommended that the Council further clarify the bill in in two ways to ensure the strongest protections for New Yorkers: by striking the phrase “collected through surveillance technology” from both places it appears in the bill’s definition for clarity and simplicity, and by adding a private right of action to ensure the law can be enforced by individual consumers.

EPIC has supported multiple efforts to ban surveillance pricing and looks forward to working with more lawmakers in their attempts to tackle this core consumer privacy and affordability issue.