What the FTC's Personalized Pricing Policy Actually Changes

A federal policy on price-by-data is open for comment. Here is what is in it, what it is not, and what you can do this week.

State of Surveillance

TL;DR: On August 19, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission voted 2-0 to publish a proposed enforcement policy statement on personalized pricing. The FTC defines personalized pricing as "the use of personal data to set prices according to the amount that a company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend" [1]. The original public comment deadline was September 18, 2026; the FTC extended it by seven days to September 25, 2026 [1][2]. The policy does not ban personalized pricing. It puts retailers on notice that undisclosed use of personal data for pricing may violate the FTC Act and other laws [1]. Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the "Trump-Vance FTC will not hesitate to enforce the law in this space" [1]. State laws on the practice are a separate track that this policy statement does not replace.

What "Surveillance Pricing" Actually Means

Surveillance pricing is the practice of charging different customers different prices based on data collected about them, instead of on supply and demand. The data may come from browsing history, purchase history, location, device type, loyalty cards, behavioral advertising profiles, or third-party data brokers.

The FTC's definition is specific. Personalized pricing is "the use of personal data to set prices according to the amount that a company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend" [1]. That is the practice states and consumer advocates call "surveillance pricing".

Surveillance pricing is different from ordinary price discrimination. Airlines and hotels have long used demand-based pricing based on supply and time-to-departure. Personalized pricing keys on the buyer, not the product. Two shoppers on the same website at the same time can see different prices for the same cart.

That distinction is what makes it a privacy issue, not just an economic one. The "surveillance" part is the data collection behind the pricing decision.

What the FTC Actually Proposed

The Federal Trade Commission's Proposed Enforcement Policy Statement Regarding Personalized Pricing is not a rule. It is an enforcement policy statement. The FTC voted 2-0 on August 19, 2026 to publish it for public comment [1].

According to the press release announcing the policy, the statement makes three points [1]:

  • Consumers expect prices to change based on supply and demand, not on their web surfing habits or buying history.
  • Retailers that represent or imply a price is static when it varies by individual are at risk of misleading customers.
  • The undisclosed collection or use of personal data for personalized pricing could violate the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices.

The FTC's authority here is Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices. By its own account, the FTC lacks the legal authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances. Ferguson said this directly: "The FTC does not have the legal authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances, but businesses that fail to tell consumers how their personal data is being used to set a price may be in violation of the FTC Act and other laws we enforce" [1].

That matters. The policy does not give you a right to opt out. It gives the FTC a basis to bring an enforcement action against a retailer that uses personal data for pricing without telling you. The remedy is a case, not a checkbox.

What This Changes, And What It Does Not

What changes: The FTC now has a written statement, in its own voice, that undisclosed personalized pricing is potentially an unfair or deceptive practice. That gives businesses a written warning. The press release explicitly puts "businesses engaged in or considering personalized pricing on notice that the Trump-Vance FTC will not hesitate to enforce the law in this space" [1].

What does not change: The policy does not ban personalized pricing. The policy does not preempt state law. It does not create a private right of action. It does not give consumers the right to demand the lowest price anyone else received.

The comment period is closed. The original deadline was September 18, 2026. The FTC extended it by seven days to September 25, 2026 [1][2]. Comments were submitted electronically. After the comment period, the FTC may revise the statement before issuing a final version.

The state track keeps moving. State laws and investigations on surveillance pricing are proceeding on their own timelines; coverage of individual states is linked under Related Coverage below. The federal policy sits alongside that, not in place of it.

What the FTC Is Saying

Two direct quotes from the August 19, 2026 press release anchor the agency's framing [1]:

"When consumers see a listed price, they expect it to be same price that everyone else sees, not the retailer's estimate of how much they are willing to pay based on their personal data."

Andrew Ferguson, FTC Chairman

"The FTC does not have the legal authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances, but businesses that fail to tell consumers how their personal data is being used to set a price may be in violation of the FTC Act and other laws we enforce."

Andrew Ferguson, FTC Chairman

Those two lines are the spine of the policy. The first establishes the consumer expectation. The second establishes the enforcement hook. Both come from the chairman.

Consumer advocates want more than disclosure. In a September 24, 2026 post on EFF Deeplinks about AI-targeted advertising, the Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that "policymakers must ban online behavioral ads", and that policies limiting only third-party data sharing and selling would not be enough [3]. That position is advocacy, not FTC policy. The FTC's policy is disclosure plus enforcement, not a ban.

What Data Drives a Personalized Price

The FTC's policy does not enumerate the data points that count. The data is whatever a company uses to estimate willingness to pay. In practice, inputs that come up in discussions of the practice include:

  • Browsing history on the same site: Items viewed, time spent, items removed from cart, return visits.
  • Purchase history: What you bought, what you almost bought, how price-sensitive you have been in the past.
  • Device and location: Phone versus laptop, ZIP code, store visits detected through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
  • Loyalty program data: Purchase frequency, category preferences, coupon use.
  • Third-party data broker profiles: Inferred income, household composition, estimated wealth.
  • Behavioral advertising profiles: Audience segments built from cross-site tracking and ad-tech real-time bidding.

The State Track Is The Other Half Of The Story

The FTC's statement is an enforcement policy, not a rule, and it does not replace state law. State legislatures and state attorneys general are acting separately.

These are independent tracks. A retailer that complies with the FTC's policy by disclosing personalized pricing may still violate a state law that prohibits the practice outright. The FTC policy does not harmonize them.

Coverage of these state-level actions is linked in the Related Coverage section below.

What You Can Do Right Now

The FTC policy signals that hiding personalized pricing may be unlawful. It does not give you a right to refuse the personalization. Until a retailer tells you a price is personalized, you have to assume any retailer can be using any of the data above to set the price you see.

Practical steps that reduce the data a retailer has access to:

  • Log out before you shop. A logged-out session gives the retailer less account history to price against.
  • Use a VPN or private browsing for price comparison. The FTC's press release notes that informed consumers might use a virtual private network or private browsing session, or avoid retailers engaged in personalized pricing altogether [1]. A VPN hides your IP from retailer-side geolocation and pricing logic.
  • Decline loyalty cards at stores that use them for personalization. A loyalty card without a discount is a price-discrimination data feed. If the discount is real, weigh it against the data trade.
  • Clear cookies and site data between sessions on shopping sites. Stored cookies let a site link today's visit to earlier ones.
  • Opt out of data broker sale through your state's mechanism. California residents can use the DROP platform. Other states have their own privacy rights requests.
  • File a complaint at ReportFraud.ftc.gov if you see a price that looks discriminatory. The FTC now has a stated enforcement interest in the practice.

None of these steps guarantees you the lowest price. They reduce the data a retailer has to set your price against. That is the realistic ask under the current FTC policy.

The Honest Takeaway

The FTC has put retailers on notice. That is real, but it is also narrow. The policy is a Section 5 enforcement signal, not a price-discrimination ban. State laws are moving separately, and in different directions.

Until a federal rule lands, the single best move is to behave as if every retailer is personalizing your price by default. Shop logged out. Compare across devices. Use a VPN for big purchases. Decline the loyalty card if the discount is not worth the data. And if a price feels discriminatory, file a complaint.

The comment period closed September 25, 2026. The next move is the FTC's: a final policy statement, and then the first case brought under it.

Sources

  1. Federal Trade Commission, FTC Seeks Comment on Enforcement Policy Statement Regarding Personalized Pricing (August 19, 2026)
  2. Federal Trade Commission, FTC Extends Public Comment on Proposed Policy Statement Regarding Personalized Pricing (September 3, 2026)
  3. Electronic Frontier Foundation, DraftKings Is Using AI to Supercharge the Harms of Online Behavioral Advertising (September 24, 2026)

Published: September 28, 2026