Chicago, IL – IL State Senator of the 13th District Robert Peters to join a powerful coalition of unions and consumer rights groups introducing a fortified amendment to the Surveillance-Based Price Discrimination Act (SB2255) to protect consumers and workers from pricing discrimination based on their personal data.

“The Surveillance-Based Price Discrimination Act is commonsense legislation that would protect our residents from price gouging and data privacy threats,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “At a time where corporations are prioritizing profits and shareholder wealth over consumer affordability and worker pay, this measure would secure the finances, data privacy and equality of all Illinoisans.”

Last year, a Consumer Reports investigation found that online grocery marketplace Instacart unknowingly had shoppers participate in algorithmic pricing experiments in which personal data was used to offer individualized prices with price tags varying by as much as 23 percent.

“Our personal data shouldn’t be used against us to figure out the most we are willing to pay at check out,” said Grace Gedye, a Senior Policy Analyst at Consumer Reports. “Right as consumers are struggling with affordability, businesses are rolling out new algorithmic pricing strategies to show us different prices than our friends and neighbors. Surveillance pricing is invasive, and it’s also expensive. This bill would curb these tricky pricing tactics and help ensure fairer pricing for all in Illinois.”

The effort to pass the bill is supported by IL AFL-CIO, UFCW Local 881, Consumer Reports, The American Economic Liberties Project, and the Economic Security Illinois Action. The bill is the first of its kind in the state to tackle the use of individualized pricing using consumer’s personal data. There are similar efforts to pass legislation in New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, and California.

“Surveillance pricing is discriminatory, manipulative, and has no place in our grocery stores, where working families are already paying too much for items they need,” said Steve Powell, President of Local 881 UFCW. “This is about privacy, fairness, and saving people’s hard-earned money.  UFCW is proud to stand with Sen. Peters to protect Illinois consumers.”

“As working families struggle to afford basic necessities, greedy corporations are exploiting their personal data to squeeze them for every cent possible,” said Sarah Saheb, Director of Economic Security Illinois Action. “Surveillance pricing is a violation of trust and another barrier to Illinoisans being able to fairly participate in our economy. It’s time to restore fairness and transparency to our marketplace and ban these unfair practices.”

“Working people are getting squeezed at the grocery store while corporate CEOs rake in record profits,” said Tim Drea, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO. “The Surveillance-Based Price Discrimination Act is about putting a stop to corporate price-gouging schemes and making clear that in Illinois, we stand with workers — not with algorithms that change prices based on when and how you shop. Putting food on the table isn’t a game, and working Illinoisans deserve fairness at the checkout line.”

“Illinois residents are tired of being secretly overcharged by corporations that use algorithms and surveillance data to squeeze every extra dollar they can out of every household,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Dystopian surveillance pricing tactics let companies exploit intimate personal data, from someone’s device type to their financial stress level, to charge different prices for the exact same goods and services. We’re thrilled to endorse Senator Peters’ efforts to protect consumers from this kind of pricing exploitation and urge the General Assembly to quickly pass his bill.”

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Surveillance Pricing + Personal Data Investigations/Examples:

• • We Had 400 People Shop For Groceries. What We Found Will Shock You. Youtube Video | Consumer Reports + More Perfect Union
  • Consumer Reports investigation uncovers Kroger’s widespread data collection of loyalty program members to create secret shopper profiles | Consumer Reports
  • Consumer Reports, along with partners Groundwork collaborative and More Perfect Union, published an investigation into Instacart’s pricing tactics. CR had nearly 400 consumers shop for the same basket at the same time. The analysis of the shopping data found that consumers were paying different prices for the same products from the same store at the same time. For example, people shopping at a Safeway in Washington, D.C., saw a dozen Lucerne eggs listed at five different prices — $3.99, $4.28, $4.59, $4.69, and $4.79.
  • An investigative journalist found that the price of the same hotel room—at the same location, for the same night—varied depending on where he set his IP address. By simulating searches from different U.S. cities across five widely used booking websites, the journalist saw the price change based solely on the user’s location.
  • In Minnesota, a news outlet discovered that Target’s mobile app displayed higher prices on several products, including $148 more for the same vacuum cleaner when reporters were inside the store versus on the far side of the Target parking lot.