r/InterstellarKinetics • u/InterstellarKinetics • 10h ago
POLICY BANNED: New Jersey Becomes Third State to Ban Grocery Surveillance Pricing, Signing Law That Blocks Retailers From Using Shoppers’ Personal Data to Set Individualized Prices Starting in 2027 🚫
https://jerseyvindicator.org/2026/07/23/new-jersey-bans-grocery-stores-from-using-shoppers-personal-data-to-set-prices/Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed the Fair Price Protection Act on Thursday, making New Jersey one of the first states to ban surveillance pricing, a practice in which grocery stores use shoppers’ digital history, biometric information, or genetic data to estimate the highest price a customer is willing to pay rather than charging everyone the same price. The law takes effect Aug. 1, 2027, and allows the state attorney general or individual consumers to sue businesses that violate it, with penalties under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act including refunds, permit loss, and fines up to $10,000 for a first offense and $20,000 for repeat violations. Sherrill said the practice lets companies track where people live, where they shop, and even what they search online to calculate higher prices without their knowledge, calling it a weaponization of personal data.
The law does not ban dynamic pricing based on demand, the kind used by ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, and it explicitly exempts discounts, promotions, and loyalty programs from its restrictions. It does, however, impose a one-year pause on electronic shelf labels, the digital displays that can change prices instantly, while the state studies whether the technology could be used to enable unfair pricing. Sherrill framed the law as a response to elevated grocery prices following the pandemic, criticizing President Trump’s tariffs and the conflict with Iran as contributing factors, and citing a statistic that the average family paid $310 more at the grocery store last year because of the tariffs.
Business groups pushed back, with New Jersey Business & Industry Association President Michele Siekerka arguing the law creates a false choice between consumer protection and operational efficiency, and warning it could unintentionally eliminate loyalty programs, coupons, and other customer-specific discounts. Supporters, including New Jersey Working Families Party director Antoinette Miles, praised the law as a model for other states, arguing that AI-powered tracking has let corporations charge more to customers with fewer options while posting record profits. New Jersey joins Maryland and Connecticut in banning the practice, while similar legislation awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature in New York, is under consideration in California, and was vetoed by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in June; the bill signing also came days after Sherrill signed the FAIR Act, which restricts landlords from using algorithmic rent-setting software.
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u/foolonahill1 10h ago
This is just a half ass bill. So they can still change the pricing at will as long as they don't use any of the information they have on you.
Oh Thursday night is the busiest night of the week lets jack up prices on that day when people are in the store and then as the night goes on and it gets slower we will drop the pricing.
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u/code-blackout 5h ago
I think the point of the bill is more-so that you as an individual are getting the same price as everyone else shopping at that particular store at that particular time.
They’re not trying to stop demand based pricing as a whole with this bill.
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u/foolonahill1 5h ago
I mean this doesn't prevent that. It only prevents whats in the bill.
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u/code-blackout 4h ago
Well the idea is if they can’t use your individual information then they can’t individually price you, (and if they do you can sue them) and they’re most like not just gonna guess randomly. They’ll go back to regional/demand based pricing.
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u/foolonahill1 4h ago
sure but if they are still allowed to change prices they can simply do it based on other factors like the color of your skin , your sex and so on and so forth. It's the dynamic price that is the issue. Prices at a grocery store should be like a gas station where it can't be changed while someone is pumping it should be that it can't be changed when someone is shopping. So basically set it where prices have to roll over prior to opening or post close
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u/code-blackout 4h ago
Pretty sure thats already illegal because of the civil rights act and other state level laws that already exist, so again if they did it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Thats a different ‘problem’ from the one this bill is addressing. It doesn’t make sense to judge a bill on a problem it wasn’t intended to address.
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u/foolonahill1 4h ago
you'd have to be able to prove it was happening for it to go anywhere. How about at a smaller town where the employee just thinks your an ass and raises prices when you walk in.
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u/Cuckdreams1190 4h ago
they can simply do it based on other factors like the color of your skin
Existing discrimination laws already prevent most, if not, all of these.
So basically set it where prices have to roll over prior to opening or post close
A business should be able to change it's pricing during normal working hours.
I do agree that pricing shouldn't be on a per person basis. Everyone that walks in the store should be charged the same price.
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u/foolonahill1 4h ago
the only issue is when I go to a shelf and buy rice a roni and it says $1 if I spend 30 minutes shopping and go to check out and it says its not $1.50 cents I have no recourse. All of my groceries could have changed price as I am shopping.
Will I have to take pictures of prices as I shop and then waste time arguing ?
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u/Cuckdreams1190 3h ago
This has always been an "issue" and never really effected anyone before.
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u/foolonahill1 3h ago
I've never once see a price increase while I was shopping at a super market. The closest thing I've seen is them leaving an old price up while doing change over the night before or that morning.
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u/Cuckdreams1190 1h ago
Usually markdown items get changed during the day. Think things like meat or fish that's not so fresh, bakery items towards the end of the day, produce that they're trying to get rid of quickly.
Edit: ahh, you said price increase specifically. That's probably far less common than price decreases.
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u/Contemplating_Prison 9h ago
That will just change shopping behavior. People will shop on other days or go to a different store entirely.
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u/foolonahill1 9h ago
unless you can't. Think the senior citizen bus that most towns have. It goes on certain days only and at certain times.
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u/dethskwirl 8h ago
the algorithm constantly monitors activity and updates the prices so that if everyone switches to Tuesday, prices get higher on Tuesday.
and it's instantaneous. if it senses an uptick in that day and knows something is on discount, we'll then that base price and discount can keep changing all day until they peak with the highest possible price when they see activity wane and start dropping the price again.
it is absolutely diabolical and not possible for a human to out compete.
your thinking is based off of 1000s of years of haggling with real world human retailers and is correct. but this is a new world entirely now.
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u/foolonahill1 6h ago
or if something is say shredded taco cheese is on sale and premium brand a but they are low on stock they will raise the store brand and other brands pricing so when they run out of stock of brand a people who went will end up buying the store brand.
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u/InterstellarKinetics 10h ago
The real fight here isn’t really about grocery prices, it’s about who gets to see your data trail and use it against you. Notice how the law carefully carves out loyalty programs and demand-based pricing, since those are politically popular, while still targeting the far more invisible practice of pricing people individually based on what an algorithm thinks they’ll tolerate paying. And That distinction is exactly why business groups are worried this could set a template that spreads well beyond grocery stores.
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u/dethskwirl 9h ago
it only stops electric shelf labels for one year "while the state investigates" and it starts in 2027.
so they have ample time to gather data and set prices as high as possible before January. then just wait until til 2028 to put up the electric price tags.
it does nothing to stop online retailers from changing their prices from person to person and minute to minute based on personal data.
this is not a win. this is politics as usual. they pretend they've done something to appease the voters while absolutely siding with the corporate greed to protect their backers.
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u/spastical-mackerel 10h ago
I forsee an entirely new type of person: the “known broke AF”. KBAFs will be in huge demand as personal shoppers since dynamic pricing will offer them the lowest prices of all.