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FTC Issues Orders to Eight Companies Seeking Information on Surveillance Pricing

Data Protection Law

Federal Trade Commision (“FTC”) has published an announcement (“The Announcement”) on seeking information about products and services that use personal data, including finances and browser history, to set individualized prices for the same goods or services.

According to the Announcement;

  • The orders are aimed at helping the FTC better understand the opaque market for products by third-party intermediaries that claim to use advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence and other technologies, along with personal information about consumers—such as their location, demographics, credit history, and browsing or shopping history—to categorize individuals and set a targeted price for a product or service. The study is aimed at helping the FTC better understand how surveillance pricing is affecting consumers, especially when the pricing is based on surveillance of an individual’s personal characteristics and behavior
  • The orders are seeking information on four major areas:
  1. Types of products and services being offered: The types of surveillance pricing products and services that each company has produced, developed, or licensed to a third party, as well as details about the technical implementation and current and intended uses of this technology;
  2. Data collection and inputs: Information on the data sources used for each product or service, including the data collection methods for each data source, the platforms and methods that were used to collect such data, and whether that data is collected by other parties (such as other companies or other third parties);
  3. Customer and sales information: Information about whom the products and services were offered to and what those customers planned to do with those products or services; and
  4. Impacts on consumers and prices: Information on the potential impact of these products and services on surveilled consumers including the prices they pay.
  • The Commission voted 5-0 to issue the 6(b) orders to the eight companies.

You can access the full text of the Announcement here.

 

Kind regards,

Zumbul Attorneys-at-Law

info@zumbul.av.tr