Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan speaks during the 2024 CNBC CEO Council Summit on June 4, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Shannon Finney | CNBC
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating so-called “surveillance pricing,” seeking more information about how artificial intelligence is used to quickly change pricing based on customer behavior and profiling data.
The FTC said the practice allowed companies to charge different prices to different customers.
The agency is serving eight companies that have mandated information – all of which it says promote their artificial intelligence and other technology tools and extensive customer messaging to provide target prices to individual customers.
The list includes MasterCard, JPMorgan, Accenture and consulting giant McKinsey. It also includes software company Task, which is important McDonald’s and Starbucks As a customer; Revionics, for The Home Depot, tractor supply and grocery chain Hannaford; Bloomreach, which provides services to FreshDirect, Total Wine and Puma; Pros was this year selected as Microsoft’s Internet Service Provider of the Year.
“Companies that collect Americans’ personal data could be putting people’s privacy at risk,” FTC Chairman Lena Khan said in a press release. “Companies can now use vast troves of personal information to charge people Higher prices.”
Kahn described overseen pricing as a “shadow ecosystem of pricing middlemen.”
The FTC requested information about the types of products and services offered; how companies collect consumer data; who their customers are; how customers use the product or service; and how it affects consumer pricing.
The agency acted under its 6(b) authority, which authorizes it to collect information for research without taking specific enforcement action.
