July 29, 2026
Your data, your price, your drama
San Francisco: Don't Fall for Industry Defense of Surveillance Pricing
San Francisco’s anti-price-spying push stalls as commenters split between outrage and “isn’t this just coupons?”
TLDR: A California bill backed by EFF would stop stores from using personal data to charge different people different prices, but San Francisco paused its support after business pushback. Commenters were split between calling it creepy and unfair, and asking whether it’s really that different from coupons, haggling, and discount games.
San Francisco tried to back a California bill that would ban “surveillance pricing” — the practice of using your personal data to quietly show you a different price than someone else. Privacy group EFF says this is about more than sneaky price tags: it’s part of a bigger system where companies vacuum up your data and turn it into money. Their most chilling example, citing the Federal Trade Commission, is that a stressed-out new parent shopping for a baby thermometer late at night could get shown a higher price just because of their profile, location, and timing. Yikes.
But the real fireworks were in the comments, where people instantly turned this into a full-on “gross, but complicated” showdown. One camp was furious, saying this kind of pricing feels creepy and discriminatory. Another camp came in with the spicy counter: hold on, isn’t this basically coupons, promo codes, employee discounts, and loyalty deals wearing a fake mustache? That sparked the big debate — are we banning privacy invasion, or banning price differences themselves?
Then came the hot takes. One commenter compared it to old-school flea market haggling, basically saying personalized pricing is as ancient as selling junk from a folding table. Another dropped the class-war angle, arguing a ban might actually help richer shoppers who don’t spend time bargain hunting. So yes, everyone agrees being secretly profiled for prices feels nasty — but the comments are fighting over whether the villain is surveillance, discount culture, or plain old capitalism with a smartphone.
Key Points
- •EFF supports California A.B. 2654, a bill that would ban retailers from engaging in surveillance pricing.
- •The article says the San Francisco Board of Supervisors stalled a vote on a resolution supporting the bill after receiving criticism from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
- •EFF cites FTC findings that companies may use personal information to set higher prices, including an example involving baby thermometers shown to a consumer profiled as a new parent.
- •The article defines surveillance pricing as a customized price based in whole or in part on personally identifiable information collected through electronic surveillance, including data from third parties.
- •According to the article, A.B. 2654 includes carveouts intended to preserve certain discounts, loyalty programs, and price differences based solely on differing costs.