Washington can stop unfair surveillance pricing at grocery stores | Opinion

Technology should make life easier, not more expensive. A bill under consideration in Washington state would ban surveillance pricing in large grocery stores, making it illegal to charge different people different prices based on personal or inferred data the companies have. It would also prohibit surge pricing on groceries, meaning no price hikes just because it’s busy or demand is high, and set guardrails on electronic pricing systems, preventing real-time, data-driven price manipulation.

This legislation is unfortunately necessary because large grocery corporations are beginning to use AI, algorithms, and consumer data to set prices not just based on the cost of food, but on who an algorithm thinks the shopper is and how much they’re willing to pay. Similar to the use of software by corporate landlords in setting rent rates that boost their profits while driving up housing costs, this technology allows companies to quietly charge different people different prices for the same items.

This isn’t a conspiracy theory. This technology is already being tested and deployed. Corporations are moving faster than the law. Surveillance pricing is when companies use data about a shopper — like where they live, what they’ve bought before, or when they shop — to decide what price that individual will pay, instead of charging everyone the same price. Investigations by Consumer Reports and reporting by the New York Times show this technology is real and expanding. Retailers use these algorithms to determine the highest price each consumer is willing to pay to maximize profit, quietly adjusting pricing behind the curtain. Over time, average prices go up, disproportionately harming seniors, lower-income workers and families with fewer options. It’s unfair, and it’s discriminatory.

Food is essential. People can’t opt out of buying groceries. The technology also puts smaller grocers at a competitive disadvantage because these businesses do not have the capital to purchase the data to make this tool work for them. And it’s harmful for grocery workers who already are challenged by low pay and threats to their safety. When shoppers see prices that don’t make sense, they often take their anger, confusion and distrust out on workers who have no control over pricing decisions.

Donald Trump promised Americans he would lower prices. You don’t need an economics degree to know he failed. One year into Trump 2.0, we are facing an affordability crisis across the board — energy, housing, healthcare, child care, and all kinds of goods and services are more expensive, and inflation remains the same. Tariffs have played a role, but the biggest driver is an administration that is rigging the system to benefit the very same billionaires and corporations responsible for rising costs.

An AI rush is driving mass layoffs and transferring jobs to unpaid consumers (been to a self-check out at the grocery store lately?) The ICE deportation campaign is inhumane and unconstitutional. It’s also driving a labor shortage that is making it harder for farms and businesses in the food supply chain and driving costs up, resulting in higher prices for consumers.

Consider why overall groceries are nearly 20% more expensive than they were in 2022. Consolidation in the industry means just a handful of giant multinational corporations control our food supply and the prices we are paying for essential groceries. The Trump Administration has gutted anti-trust, consumer and worker protection agencies, green-lighting further corporate consolidation, reducing our choices of where to shop and driving up our grocery bills. Squeezing shoppers even more, two-thirds of Republican-backed tax cuts have gone to people making more than $200,000 a year and 25% of tax breaks are going to millionaires, while government spending on social services has been slashed, driving up bills for low-income families.

It’s time to take back our country from the new robber baron class. Workers and consumers can unite to say enough is enough. We must demand transparency and accountability from government and the corporations controlling the price we pay for food, healthcare, education, energy and housing. Banning surveillance pricing in big grocery stores is a step in the right direction.

Faye Guenther is founder of WeTrain Washington and president of UFCW 3000, the largest UFCW union in the country, representing nearly 60,000 grocery, retail and healthcare workers in the Northwest.