In a first-in-the-nation move, Seattle bans grocery stores from using demographics data and AI to set varying prices in stores and online.
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council passed a proposal Tuesday banning certain grocery retailers from using personal data and AI-based software to charge shoppers different prices for the same items.
The Fair and Transparent Pricing policy is a “first-in-the-nation city-led consumer protection measure” to stop grocery stores from using customers’ data to set varying prices, according to Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s office.
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Deemed “surveillance pricing,” large grocery stores and online grocery retailers are now prevented from using race, gender, browsing history, employment status, chatbot conversations or other data to change prices for customers. Prices must be clearly posted and available to all shoppers, Wilson’s office said.
The policy was passed with no corporate amendments. It was sponsored by councilmembers Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Dionne Foster and Rob Saka.
“Food is an essential good that’s getting more expensive all the time,” said Wilson in a statement. “People have been clear: they don’t want their data fed into algorithms that decide how much they pay at the grocery store. Everyone deserves transparent pricing and equal treatment, not hidden systems that charge some shoppers more than others.”
UFCW 3000, the union representing grocery workers in Washington, said the policy allows Seattle shoppers to pay the same price when shopping at the same stores, and “that grocery store workers won’t have to spend time trying to explain secret algorithmic decisions to customers expressing understandable frustration and confusion over paying different prices for the same items.”
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