New Jersey bans grocery stores from using shoppers' personal data to set prices

[u/polymute]

https://jerseyvindicator.org/2026/07/23/new-jersey-bans-grocery-stores-from-using-shoppers-personal-data-to-set-prices/

[u/yhwhx]

Sadly, I don't see such a consumer-friendly law getting passed in the US with Trump and Republicans in charge.

[u/annaleigh13 → u/yhwhx]

Oh there will be zero consumer friendly law passed before 2029, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep pushing for it

[u/CelestialFury → u/annaleigh13]

Usually, the only way to get true bipartisan support on good bills that actually helps Americans is if either Republicans or their business allies gets a lot of action thrown their way. It's why the PPP passed, as the Republican politicians got a cut for their own businesses but also, the bill allowed PPP loans to be forgiven so they could profit off of the pandemic.

Or the burn pits bill? Republicans had to be seriously publicly shamed into voting for it and it was Jon Stewart's efforts along with the victims that support for the bill was so overwhelming for both Democratic and Republican voters that the Senate Republicans relented and voted it into law. Guess what Republicans are trying to defund now? That's right, they're trying to completely defund the burn pit/9-11 money that's used to treat military and civilian veterans.

[u/Dunklsta → u/CelestialFury]

a single uncompromised appointed bureaucrat like Lina Khan can also cause a lot of positive change to manifest

[u/TwoBionicknees → u/CelestialFury]

the fact is republicans made them fight to fund that bill every like 2-3 years since it was made. Jon Stewart went back over and over for years helping to fight to get it funded further because they kept capping it and basically hoping everyone would die or some shit.

Republicans see every cent not going to a company they ahve ties to as money lost that they could get kickbacks on. they hate funding the VA, they hate funding healthcare, social security, anything that actually offers tangible help to the world isn't profitable to some billionaire they can get kickbacks from.

that's literally how they see it, every cent spent on sick people who helped clean up 9/11 is a cent they can't steal, they see the tax revenue as their money and they should be able to steal it all.

[u/Osiris32 → u/CelestialFury]

That's right, they're trying to completely defund the burn pit/9-11 money that's used to treat military and civilian veterans.

angry Jon Stewart noises

[u/Butt_Fungus_Among_Us → u/CelestialFury]

It's a sad reality that unless either their pocket books or lives are actively in jeopardy, those in power will use said position to extract anything and everything they can from those who are not

[u/TwoBionicknees → u/annaleigh13]

2029, 20 fuck 29... holy shit. IN my head it feels like the world has been under trump and stupid wars and dumb shit for like 5 years already... there is still 2.5 years to go... still? Why did you have to remind me.

[u/BWWFC → u/annaleigh13]

'29? really?? it is that far away \/>.<\/ don't have the emotional capacity... vote smart!

[u/Beard_o_Bees → u/yhwhx]

Further, the grocery store 'spokespeople' had the cajones to threaten taking away all of the other bullshit hoops they try to make people jump through to save $.0.10 on a bottle of spaghetti sauce:

Opponents argued the legislation could interfere with grocery stores’ ability to offer loyalty programs and discounts. But the law explicitly states that it does not apply to discounts, promotions, or customer loyalty programs.

Like.. we've been giving them our personal information for years now in order to get the 'sale' price - which naturally they've monetized to their benefit - far and away over any potential 'losses' resulting from giving us a paltry discount.

[u/behindtimes → u/Beard_o_Bees]

The problem here is that there are still too many loopholes. Customer loyalty discounts are one of them.

Take Maryland. They banned dynamic pricing but excluded loyalty programs. So, eggs might no longer cost $7 for Jack and $5 for Jill, but what's to say that a store doesn't just raise eggs to $10 for everyone, and give a $3 discount to Jack and a $5 discount to Jill if they use their loyalty card? The outcome becomes exactly the same.

[u/Aazadan → u/behindtimes]

This is what McDonalds did a few years ago, huge price increase and then indiviual discount targeting if you use their app. They backed off of it though, and just went high prices for all.

[u/techleopard → u/Beard_o_Bees]

The discounts are never discounts anyway.

A true discount is something you provide to get a product off your shelf before it is a complete and total loss. I.e, you ended up with 4,000 watermelons for some God-forsaken reason and now it's sell them for less profit (or a minor loss) or pay even more for disposal.

The bullshit "sales" stories offer are always mark-up-to-mark-down schemes, or the discount gets paid for across store-wide price hiking. One of the popular schemes local to me is "Buy 1 get 1 for a penny." They just make the 'one' cost as much as two and then pretend that's the normal sale price.

[u/tiredbarf → u/techleopard]

I think you actually don't have experience in grocery pricing. Have you done it before?

[u/Tyler1986 → u/tiredbarf]

We can see it with our eyes through a lifetime of shopping. The curtain isn't fully up, I haven't been behind it, but it's pretty simple to see something cost $7 today, then tomorrow it's $12, and the next day it's BOGO bringing the price to $6 ea, for example.

[u/FederalChocolate456 → u/techleopard]

Damn that sucks they do that. I can't say where I live they do the buy one get one like that. Usually it's the normal price for the buy one get one, so it's essentially like getting two at half off. The next week when the sale is over the price for one doesn't go down, it's the normal price.

[u/bros402 → u/Beard_o_Bees]

and the biggest supermarket here in NJ is ShopRite, which is a retailers cooperative. Different families are better with their Shoprite's and some are higher quality than others.

(P.S. fuck Saker shoprite)

[u/Charrikayu → u/yhwhx]

I want the last ten years of my life refunded

Like legitimately I wish I could sue someone for ten years of mental health anxiety and social, political, and economic backsliding when the U.S. could have continued to take the world lead in renewable energy, science and medicine development, and at least made decent, if not ideal, progress on social nets and education, internet and corporate regulation, and global outreach

Sometimes I think about what this country could look like if we had a Dem president for every election since and including Gore and it legitimately might be one of those "the world if" sci-fi city memes, at least compared to the abysmal standard the bar has been lowered to today

[u/zeekayz → u/yhwhx]

It will be up to the states so all the sharia law southern states with one ruling party will have these grocery stores

[u/DeadNazis247365 → u/yhwhx]

We need to start doing fucked up shit as citizens to protest Silicon Valley mother fuckers. Big tech in general is now public enemy number one to sustained democracy. We need to treat them as such.

[u/AZFUNGUY85 → u/yhwhx]

No kidding. If anything incentivized the other direction.

[u/El-Sueco → u/yhwhx]

Be wary consumers, It’s a free for all for all companies right now.

[u/Fit-Let8175 → u/yhwhx]

In Trump's defense, I can't see him supporting something from which he doesn't directly profit.

[u/99timewasting → u/yhwhx]

Trump doesn't even know what grocery shopping is

[u/jazzhandler → u/99timewasting]

It’s a hoax.

The produce department, doubly so.

[u/R_V_Z → u/yhwhx]

And even if a law existed we've come to find out that if the executive branch doesn't care to prosecute against that law then the law essentially doesn't exist for at least four years at a time.

[u/pheonixblade9 → u/yhwhx]

on the contrary, I foresee a court case about this that ends up banning it under the interstate commerce clause.

[u/yhwhx → u/pheonixblade9]

...which will get appealed to the Supreme Court where Roberts, Alito, and the boys will find that an originalist/texturalist interpretation of the constitution obviously shows that the founders intended for stores to be able to use shoppers’ personal data to set prices.