Bill Introduced to Ban Use of AI For ‘Surveillance-Based Pricing and Wages’

“Giant corporations should not be allowed to jack up your prices or lower your wages using data they got spying on you,” said Casar said in a press release. “Whether you know it or not, you may already be getting ripped off by corporations using your personal data to charge you more. This problem is only going to get worse, and Congress should act before this becomes a full blown crisis.”

The bill would ban the use of “automated systems” to set different prices for different consumers based on a person’s browsing history, location, address, race, gender, or genetics, a practice known as surveillance-based pricing. It would also their use to set individual wages for employees doing the same job.

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“The idea that employers would leverage surveillance data to exploit a worker in a desperate position and offer them a lower wage is appalling,” Tlaib said in a statement.

Read more: EU Publishes Mandatory Template for Disclosing AI Training Data

The representatives pointed to a study released by the FTC in the waning days of the Biden administration highlighting multiple instances of alleged surveillance pricing.

“Initial staff findings show that retailers frequently use people’s personal information to set targeted, tailored prices for goods and services—from a person’s location and demographics, down to their mouse movements on a webpage,” then-FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “The FTC should continue to investigate surveillance pricing practices because Americans deserve to know how their private data is being used to set the prices they pay and whether firms are charging different people different prices for the same good or service.”

Asked for comment on the bill by arsTechnica, a Delta spokesperson denied the airline is using personal data for individual pricing, but instead using AI to forecast demand for flights based on a mix of market data such as fuel costs, customer purchasing behavior, and competitive offers a customer may be know to be considering.

“There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal information or otherwise,” Delta said. “A variety of market forces drive the dynamic pricing model that’s been used in the global industry for decades, with new tech simply streamlining this process. Delta always complies with regulations around pricing and disclosures.”

In January, the FTC requested information from eight companies—MasterCard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co—that provide AI pricing services. Those companies confirmed they have provided services to at least 250 companies “that sell goods or services ranging from grocery stores to apparel retailers,” lawmakers noted.