If New York’s governor signs a bill passed by the state legislature on Thursday (June 4), businesses will be prohibited from using so-called “surveillance pricing.”
The One Fair Price Act (A.9349) would prohibit “personalized algorithmic pricing,” restrict the use of personal data for surveillance pricing, require clear disclosure when automated pricing systems are used, and establish enforcement mechanisms, according to a memorandum in support of legislation posted on the Assembly’s website.
The memorandum said that many companies are using pricing algorithms fueled by personal data to set individualized prices, and that this practice results in hidden discrimination, economic harm and erosion of trust.
“New York consumers deserve transparent and fair pricing,” the memorandum said. “By prohibiting the use of personal data for individualized pricing and requiring disclosure of non-personal automated pricing systems, this bill restores consumer autonomy and prevents exploitative data-driven pricing models.”
The bill was passed by both the state’s Assembly and Senate on Thursday, per the site.
Reuters reported Friday (June 5) that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has until the end of the year to act on the bill and that a spokesperson for Hochul said she is reviewing it.
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New York State Attorney General Letitia James said in a Friday post on X: “The One Fair Price Act passed the legislature in New York! This is a big victory in our fight to ban surveillance pricing and help make life more affordable in New York.”
The Chamber of Progress, a tech industry policy coalition, said in a Friday press release that it is calling on Hochul to veto the bill or insist that it be amended.
“A bill that makes it illegal to offer someone a coupon isn’t a ban on surveillance. It’s a ban on savings,” Drew Ambrogi, policy manager at the Chamber of Progress, said in the release.
The Business Council of New York State reposted a post on X that quoted the organization’s senior director of government affairs, Chelsea Lemon, saying it is disappointed that the legislature passed the bill.
“It’s important for the public to understand that these discounts are not disappearing because businesses chose to end them, but because the Legislature is banning them,” Lemon said, according to the post.
PYMNTS reported in November that New York became the first state to take action against “algorithmic pricing” when it enacted a law requiring retailers to notify customers about the use of the practice.
It was reported in May that more than 50 bills had been introduced in 26 states to restrict or ban algorithmic price-setting.
