Congress Probes 25 Food Retailers Over Surveillance Pricing

Executive Summary

House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) sent letters to 25 major food retailers on Monday, demanding detailed disclosures about how they collect and use personal data to set individualized prices — a practice known as surveillance pricing. The inquiry, reported by The Record, follows a January 2025 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report that found companies charging customers more based on geolocation, demographics, shopping habits, and even mouse movements on webpages. Retailers receiving the letter include Albertsons, Stop & Shop, Amazon, Whole Foods, CVS, Target, Walgreens, Walmart, and Wegmans.

Technical Analysis

The letters ask each company to enumerate every customer data "element" used in pricing decisions, describe how that data informs algorithmic pricing, and disclose whether AI or machine learning models are employed. Companies must also state whether they purchase third-party data for pricing purposes and whether customers can opt out of having their data used to set prices. The inquiry specifically references a New York state law enacted November 2025 that requires companies to disclose AI-driven personalized pricing. According to Pallone's letter, after that law took effect, Target began displaying pop-up notifications stating that a given price was "set by an algorithm using your personal data."

The FTC's January 2025 report, which drew responses from six major vendors of surveillance pricing tools, found that these products allow retailers to adjust prices in real time based on individual consumer profiles. The report did not name the six vendors but described their tools as capable of integrating behavioral data — including browsing history, purchase frequency, and device-specific signals — into dynamic pricing algorithms.

Mitigations & Recommendations

Consumers should review privacy settings on retailer accounts and consider using ad-blocking or tracker-blocking browser extensions to limit the behavioral data available to pricing algorithms. The New York disclosure law provides a model for other states; consumers in New York should look for algorithmic pricing notifications and consider opting out where available. At the federal level, the FTC's January 2025 report and Pallone's inquiry suggest increased regulatory scrutiny may lead to mandatory disclosure requirements. Defenders monitoring retail data ecosystems should watch for third-party data brokers whose signals feed into pricing models, as these same data flows can be exploited for targeted phishing or social engineering campaigns.