Laws Limiting Dynamic Pricing on Rise

Connecticut has become the second U.S. state to regulate dynamic pricing, which involves using personally identifiable data to customize prices, reports Grocery Dive. Maryland was the first, and New York has passed similar legislation – also known as surveillance pricing – that is awaiting to see if Gov. Kathy Hochul will sign it into law.

Connecticut ‘s law got the go-head from Gov. Ned Lamont on June 4. On the other side of the coin, just two days earlier, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a dynamic-pricing bill passed by that state’s lawmakers, saying the proposal was he rejected the legislation because it was too wide-ranging, Grocery Dive said.

“I support policies to protect consumers from unethical price gouging and save Coloradans money, Polis said in his veto letter. “I am, however, troubled by the broad approach taken by [the bill] and worry about discouraging perfectly acceptable uses of technology to set an appropriate price or wage, or the use of technology to save consumers money through discounts that may not exactly fit within the bill’s definition of an acceptable discount.”

(Editor’s note: The National Retail Federation posted a statement on its website by Mercy Beehler, its VP, Government Relations, praising Polis’ decision, saying it “preserves retailers’ ability to compete and serve customers.”)

In addition to the actions described above, a report from Inside Privacy notes that several other states are considering laws putting limits on dynamic-pricing legislation, including California, Washington, Vermont and Rhode Island.