Corporate greed drives up costs. Recently, corporations have begun using technology to raise prices in new ways and without your knowledge. Why should big grocery store chains be allowed to use facial recognition technology, digital price tags, and our personal information to price gouge?
Our families are already struggling to cover the costs of groceries. They are paying 28 percent more at the grocery store. According to the latest data, more than 47 million Americans are food-insecure, including more than 7 million children.
We have seen corporations use crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather events to raise prices. When families are struggling more due to no fault of their own, they use that desperation to jack up prices.
I still remember the CEO of Pepsi saying that people are already “getting used to new price levels” in response to whether or not price increases during the pandemic will be adjusted.
When prices go up and supplies are disrupted across the entire economy, big corporations feel comfortable raising prices since they know their competitors are likely doing the same. These companies hope that their price gouging will get lost in the “noise” created by this volatility.
The use of Big Tech makes raising prices even easier. Grocery stores like Kroger are replacing price stickers with electronic labeling, leading to concerns about surge pricing. Electronic shelf labels allow stores to change prices in seconds. “If it’s hot outside, we can raise the price of water and ice cream,” said Phil Lempert, a grocery industry analyst. But it’s not just the next heatwave that should worry you.
We all know that companies already collect and purchase a massive amount of information about us, from our purchase history to online behavior or location. These individualized consumer profiles, paired with technology like mobile apps, online shopping, electronic shelf labels in grocery stores, and cameras with facial recognition technology, allow companies to charge different people different prices for the same item. This is called surveillance pricing.
Imagine if your grocery store charged you a higher price for an item because it used an algorithm based on your personal data and determined that you were willing to pay more than the next person. It might sound unbelievable, but it’s a serious threat. For instance, Target charged consumers using its app higher prices when they entered the store or even just the parking lot, on the assumption that the consumer was already committed to the purchase and less likely to go elsewhere.
I’m introducing the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act to end this madness. My bill directs the Federal Trade Commission to enforce a ban on price gouging by grocery stores, ensuring that corporate greed is not an obstacle to families accessing the food they need. In addition, it prohibits the “personalized price gouging” by grocery stores enabled by surveillance pricing.
The Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act I am co-leading with U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) prohibits all companies from using surveillance data to raise prices or lower wages.
Of course, this legislation is only the start. President Donald Trump’s cruel cuts to food assistance need to be reversed immediately, workers should be earning more than starvation wages, and corporations should not have the unfettered power to set prices.
Congress must prioritize the needs of working families over enriching billionaires and fueling corporate greed. We must put people over profits.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
