Imagine walking into your local supermarket to buy a two-litre bottle of milk. You pay $3, but the person ahead of you pays $3.50, and the next shopper pays only $2. While this might sound strange, it reflects a growing practice known as surveillance pricing, where companies use personal data and artificial intelligence (AI) to determine how much each customer should pay. It is a regular practice and we must comprehend the ins and outs since we are directly subjected to it.
What is surveillance pricing?
Surveillance pricing refers to the use of digital tracking and AI to set individualised prices based on consumer behaviour. By analysing a person’s online activity, shopping habits, and even technical details like their device or location, retailers estimate each customer’s “pain point”, the maximum amount they are likely to pay for a product or service.
A recent report from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) highlighted that businesses can collect such information through website pixels, cookies, account registrations, or email sign-ups. These tools allow them to observe browsing time, clicks, scrolling speed, and even mouse movements. Together, these insights reveal how interested a shopper is in a product, how urgent their need may be, and how much they can be charged without hesitation.
Growing concerns about fairness
This article has been indexed from CySecurity News – Latest Information Security and Hacking Incidents