DYNAMIC PRICING

Editorial cartoon showing a man with glasses standing in front of a store shelf filled with bottles, looking up at a digital sign that displays "YOUR PRICE: $5.99" in red LED letters with a green arrow, illustrating how surveillance pricing creates personalized prices based on consumer data

Don’t ban surveillance pricing. Here’s how to fix it.

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Surveillance pricing happens when companies use everything they know about you including location, browsing history, income, and device type to decide how much to charge you. The Federal Trade Commission documented eight major companies actively using or piloting surveillance pricing powered by third-party data brokers. Maryland is weighing a first-of-its-kind ban on the practice for groceries while JetBlue faces a federal lawsuit alleging it uses passenger data to raise fares. Disclosure requirements similar to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act would force companies to explain exactly what data they used to set custom prices.

Expedia claims it has the secret to cheap flights. But is it promoting a dangerous—and self-serving—myth?

You can’t hack airfares, but airlines are hacking you

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To understand how absurd the idea of airfare hacking is, imagine this: Your car is running on empty. Instead of filling the tank right away, you wait until Sunday because you heard that the prices will dip a few cents lower at midnight. You circle the block, burning more gas all the while, waiting for the digital display to reset.