Sponsors
The bill prevents surveillance-driven, individualized grocery price discrimination and increases transparency and enforceability for consumers, but it imposes compliance costs, limits targeted pricing practices, and raises litigation risk and regulatory uncertainty for businesses.
Grocery shoppers—especially low-income consumers—are protected from individualized, surveillance-driven price increases on food and grocery purchases.
Members of broadly defined groups (e.g., teachers, veterans, seniors, students) can continue to receive publicly disclosed group discounts without being subjected to individualized profiling.
Consumers gain transparency and correction rights because businesses must publish procedures, disclose what data is used, and provide a 180-day process to correct or challenge data before starting covered pricing programs.
Retailers and food sellers (including small businesses) must implement new procedures, data-accuracy systems, and dispute mechanisms, imposing compliance costs that could be passed through to consumers.
Businesses that rely on targeted pricing, advertising, or profiling for marketing covered goods must stop those practices, reducing marketing efficiency and potential revenues for retailers and platforms.
Extending enforcement reach (e.g., FTC authority over common carriers and nonprofits) brings more entities under regulation, creating legal uncertainty and increased litigation risk for utilities, carriers, and nonprofit actors.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bans surveillance-based individualized price setting for food and groceries, allows narrow, disclosed exceptions, and requires FTC enforcement and pre-operation disclosures.
Introduced April 9, 2026 by Chris Pappas · Last progress April 9, 2026
Prohibits using surveillance-based individualized price setting for food, groceries, and agricultural commodities, while allowing narrow, clearly disclosed exceptions (cost-based differences, broadly available group discounts, and consumer-enrolled loyalty programs) so long as surveillance data is used only to offer or administer discounts and not to target or profile. Requires businesses that plan to use the permitted practices to publish procedures at least 180 days before starting that ensure data accuracy, let consumers correct or challenge data, and disclose what data and automated decision-making affect pricing; enforcement is by the Federal Trade Commission, including extension to common carriers under the Communications Act.