Are You Paying More Than the Person Next to You — Just Because of Your Data?
You may be a victim of “personalized pricing” or “surveillance pricing.” Here’s what that means, and what you can do about it.
Imagine you search for a flight to attend a funeral. You check the price, step away for an hour, and come back, the price jumped $230. This is not your imagination. It’s a real and growing practice called personalized pricing or surveillance pricing, and regulators are now taking it seriously.
What is surveillance pricing?
Surveillance pricing happens when a company uses your personal data (your location, browsing history, shopping habits) to decide what price to show you, specifically. Not the price everyone sees. Your price. Companies estimate how much you, personally, are willing to pay, and charge you that amount, often without telling you.
Why this matters: the federal government agrees
In August 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued formal guidance on this issue. Personalizing prices isn’t necessarily illegal. But hiding the practice can deceptive. The FTC said companies act unfairly or deceptively when they let you believe a price is the same for everyone while secretly charging you more, based on your data, without telling you what data was used or why.
The secrecy is the problem. If a company uses your data to charge you more, you have a right to know that your price is personalized, the basis for such personalization, and the type of data on which the personalization is based.
Real examples the FTC has flagged
- A food delivery app charging more because your data suggests you can’t easily leave home.
- A grocery delivery service charging more for milk because your data shows children in your household.
- A hotel charging more because your data suggests you’re traveling for a funeral.
- A rideshare app charging more because you don’t have a competitor’s app installed.
Industries to watch
- Airlines and travel booking
- Grocery delivery
- Hotels and travel accommodations
- Online retail
- Subscription and streaming services
What you can do if you think you are a victim of such deceptive practices
- Take screenshots of prices, with date and time, especially after searching, closing a tab, or logging in.
- Compare across devices — a different browser, logged out, a friend’s phone.
- Request your data. In states like California, you can legally ask what data a company has on you and how its used.
- Talk to us. If you believe a company used your personal data to charge you more without telling you, we want to hear from you. Consultations are free, with no obligation.
About Berman Tabacco
For nearly four decades, Berman Tabacco has represented and recovered millions of dollars on behalf of consumers injured by corporate misconduct, including false advertising and deceptive marketing, product defects, data breaches, and unfair billing and lending practices. Most recently, Berman Tabacco applied its extensive complex class action experience to fight against unlawful and predatory lending practices. We served as lead counsel in several class action lawsuits brought on behalf of individuals who were alleged to have been exploited by illegal online payday lending schemes. The cases alleged that payday lenders issued loans in the name of companies established by Native American tribes, including American Web Loan, Plain Green and Great Plains Lending, in a brazen attempt to dodge usury laws and charge unlawful triple-digit interest rates.
The firm and its attorneys have been recognized for their work on behalf of plaintiffs, including by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, which has ranked the firm as Highly Recommended and a Top Ten Plaintiffs; The Legal 500; U.S. News & World Report-Best Lawyers; The Daily Journal; Lawdragon; Who’s Who Legal; and Super Lawyers.
The firm has offices in San Francisco, California and Boston, Massachusetts.
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Berman Tabacco
Patrick T. Egan
One Liberty Square
Boston, Massachusetts
(800) 516-9926
Email: law@bermantabacco.com