FTC Orders Nine Major Companies to Hand Over Pricing Data for a Study of Personalized Pricing and Pay
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it has issued special orders to nine major companies under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, requiring them to provide detailed information for a study of whether businesses use personal data to set different prices for different consumers and different pay for gig workers.
The nine recipients are Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said the Commission intends to scrutinize the opaque methodology that some companies in these industries may be using to determine how much consumers pay or how much gig workers are paid for the same product or service. Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer, he said, and workers deserve to know whether their compensation is affected by how companies use their personal data.
The orders require the companies to document the inputs, tools and procedures used to adjust or set pricing and compensation, including customers' participation in loyalty programs, analysis of personal data by superintelligence algorithms, and driver data such as phone usage and acceptance history for past offers. Each company has 45 days from receipt to respond; if a company fails to turn over the required information, the Commission can seek enforcement in federal court.
The FTC stressed that the inquiry is a study, not an enforcement action, and that receiving an order does not establish wrongdoing. A Commission study in mid-2024 examined only middleman consultancies rather than the businesses that actually set prices, and the agency said it learned nothing about actual pricing decisions from it. In August, the Commission also invited public comment on a proposed enforcement policy statement on how the undisclosed use of personal information to set a price unique to a consumer could violate the FTC Act.
The Commission voted 2-0 to approve issuing the special orders.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 联邦贸易委员会总部所在地 Apex 大楼（资料图）。公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Apex Building, headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission (file photo). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
