• Maryland is introducing the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act
• It will ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores
• Some consumer rights groups think it doesn't go far enough

So-called 'surveillance pricing' in grocery stores, where the cost of items is changed dynamically based on a variety of factors and shopper data, is now widespread in the US — and the authorities in Maryland have had enough.

As reported by The Guardian, Maryland Governor Wes Moore has signaled his intent to sign the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act into law after the state legislature approval, and the act will come into effect at the start of October this year.

It means stores and third-party delivery apps won't be able to adjust pricing on the fly, based on what they know about the buyer, or on other factors such as the time of day. The aim is to ensure consumers pay "a transparent, consistent price at the register", according to Governor Moore's office.

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Without this protection in place, surveillance pricing — also known as dynamic pricing or personalized pricing — could lead to two people with the same items in their shopping cart paying different prices when they check out.

Other states may follow

Consumer rights groups have welcomed the new legislation, but there are concerns that it doesn't go far enough — and that stores and apps will still be able to apply personalized pricing by using alternative methods that are less visible to consumers.

As Common Dreams reports, while stores must keep prices fixed for at least one business day, there's some ambiguity over how baseline prices and 'discounts' can be set and manipulated. Loyalty and subscription programs are also exempt from the new rules.

Other states may now follow the lead set by Maryland. There are similar bills under consideration in Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, and New Jersey, and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also currently running its own investigation into surveillance pricing and its impact on consumers.

"We urge other state legislatures considering personalized pricing legislation to build in stronger consumer protections and avoid loopholes that weakened this bill," Grace Gedye, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports, told Common Dreams.

Worried consumers are also hoping that happens. Over on Reddit, responses to the practice have ranged from "this is horrifying" to others calling it "truly dystopian". Others noted that Maryland's law includes exemptions for loyalty programs and promotional offers, which means the same practice could still effectively happen in reverse through selective discounts.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.