Sponsors (81)
Introduced August 12, 2025 by Rashida Tlaib · Last progress August 12, 2025
The bill strengthens consumer privacy and curbs surveillance‑based and discriminatory pricing in retail food stores—protecting shoppers, especially vulnerable ones—while imposing notable compliance, operational, and legal costs on retailers and regulators that may be passed along to consumers and complicate multi‑state operations.
All shoppers (especially low- and middle-income consumers) gain protection from surveillance-based and 'grossly excessive' pricing and from individualized price increases based on personal data.
All consumers gain stronger privacy controls: retailers must obtain clear written consent for biometric identity checks and must provide notice when facial recognition or similar surveillance is used in stores.
Consumers and enforcers benefit from clearer definitions and a designated implementing agency (FTC), which increases transparency about surveillance practices and helps enable enforcement against opaque personalized pricing.
Multi‑state and local retailers (and ultimately consumers) face substantial compliance and operational costs—reworking pricing systems, producing signage, printing physical labels, and incurring legal expenses—which are likely passed on to shoppers.
Low-income consumers and students who relied on targeted, personalized coupons or app-based deals may lose those savings as retailers limit personalized pricing to avoid regulatory risk.
Ambiguous standards (e.g., what counts as 'grossly excessive' pricing or what data triggers obligations) plus broad definitions increase legal uncertainty and create burdens from FTC rulemaking and litigation for businesses and state enforcers.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Bans grossly excessive grocery prices and surveillance-based individualized pricing, limits in-store facial recognition and electronic shelf labels for large stores, empowers FTC and private suits, and funds enforcement.
Prohibits grocery stores from charging "grossly excessive" prices and from using electronic surveillance and personal data to set individualized prices; directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to write rules defining those terms and sets out defenses for cost-based price increases. It also restricts in-store facial recognition notices and bans electronic shelf labels in very large stores, creates FTC, state, and private enforcement with monetary damages, and authorizes $5 million for enforcement through 2032.