The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it is ordering eight companies that offer AI-powered “surveillance pricing” services to submit information about the potential impacts of these products on privacy, competition, and consumer protection.
In its investigation, the FTC is seeking to dig deeper into how artificial intelligence and other technologies are being used to modify prices based on consumer behavior, location and other personal data — a tactic the FTC says allows companies to charge different customers different prices.
The eight companies are Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture and McKinsey & Co. All of the companies offer services that use AI to target prices for different customers, according to the FTC.
The agencies are seeking information about the types of surveillance pricing services that companies may develop and license to third parties, and their current use of those services, as well as how the services affect consumer pricing.
“Companies that collect Americans' personal data potentially put people's privacy at risk. Now, companies may be exploiting this vast trove of personal information to charge people higher prices,” FTC Chairman Lina M. Khan said in a press release. “Americans have a right to know whether companies are using detailed consumer data to deploy surveillance pricing practices, and the FTC's investigation will shed light on this dark ecosystem of price-fixing middlemen.”
Advertisers have long used location data and past purchasing history to determine the types of ads users see online, but regulators are concerned that the practice could be used to implement surveillance pricing.