NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The Federal Trade Commission has ordered information from eight companies that the agency says offer products and services that use personal data to set prices based on a shopper鈥檚 individual characteristics.
In a Tuesday announcement, the FTC said it was seeking to better understand the 鈥渙paque market鈥 of 鈥渟urveillance pricing鈥 practices using 鈥 including credit information, and browsing history 鈥 to charge different customers different prices for the same goods.
To do this, the agency noted, third-party intermediaries claim to use advanced algorithms, and other technology.
鈥淔irms that harvest Americans鈥 personal data can put people鈥檚 privacy at risk. Now firms could be exploiting this vast trove of personal information to charge people higher prices,鈥 said in a prepared .
Khan added that the FTC's inquiry 鈥渨ill shed light on this shadowy ecosystem of pricing middlemen.鈥
The FTC said it sent orders to Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, , Task Software, PROS, Accenture and McKinsey & Co.
The agency its 鈥渟tudy鈥 will aim to understand how surveillance pricing works and investigate potential impacts and consumer protection.
The orders requested information on the "types of surveillance pricing鈥 that each company has produced, developed or licensed 鈥 as well as details on data collection methods, which customers were offered such products or services and other potential impacts, such as different prices paid, the FTC said.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press Tuesday, Revionics said that it 鈥渄oes not develop software that recommends pricing targeted to specific individuals鈥 鈥 or use individual consumer data 鈥渋n any manner.鈥
The software company said its AI price optimization software considers several 鈥渕arket-level factors鈥 to recommend optimal prices, such as historical sales data. Revionics added that its data is often sourced from retail partners 鈥 reiterating that it 鈥渄oes not, in any way, conduct operations related to the surveillance of consumers.鈥
Mastercard did not comment when reached by the AP Tuesday afternoon, but confirmed that it received the FTC's request and would cooperate in the process. The remaining companies did not immediately release additional statements.
