Washington, D.C. — In response to news that the Federal Trade Commission is launching a new 6(b) study, which was passed unanimously by all five Commissioners, to research the shady practice of surveillance pricing, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“We’re thrilled to see the FTC crack down on the dystopian practice of surveillance pricing,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “It’s chilling to think that companies have so much control over our lives that they can leverage personal data they’ve harvested—including your location, demographic, and shopping history—to turn our habits against us and hike up prices on essential goods. But it’s already happening. These practices not only bulldoze through ethical lines, they undermine core principles of fairness across our economy. This study is a necessary step to unmask these secretive practices.”

The Federal Trade Commission’s unanimously voted (5-0) to launch a 6(b) study targeting eight companies that use advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence to create surveillance pricing products. These companies targeted include  Mastercard, Revionics, McKinsey, and JPMorgan Chase, revealing the extensive use  of these practices by some of the largest and most powerful corporations in the United States. By examining how these firms collect and use such consumer data as location, demographics, and browsing history, the FTC aims to understand the impact of these practices on privacy, competition, and consumer protection. This investigation seeks to expose the lack of transparency in this market, which threatens both consumer privacy and undermines fair competition.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.