Michigan's House voted 92-15 to advance two bills aimed at preventing businesses from using shoppers' personal information to charge them higher prices, Reclaim The Net reported.
Here's what to know
Battle Creek's Steve Frisbie and Grosse Ile's Rylee Linting, both Republican state representatives, sponsored the legislation.
HB 6098 and HB 6099 passed the House and were referred to the Economic and Community Development Committee in the Senate.
The Shopping Reform and Modernization Act, which governs price displays, would gain a surveillance pricing prohibition through HB 6099 — but only if HB 6098 becomes law.
HB 6098 would classify the practice as unfair under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.
Location data and cookies are among the personally identifiable information that the legislation prohibits using to raise a shopper's price.
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The restrictions also cover device identifiers, IP addresses, and records of searches and purchases.
More background
A Minnesota television investigation found that Target's app sometimes displayed higher prices for customers in or near its stores.
Consumer Reports found that Instacart was testing AI-driven prices at a major retail chain.
Customized promotions and prices can be built from online browsing and purchase records, as well as demographic profiles and location data.
A January 2025 Federal Trade Commission report described third-party pricing services using consumer information. Retailer loyalty programs would be exempt from the ban despite collecting shoppers' data.
Changes to prices in response to demand and available supply — known as dynamic pricing — would also remain legal.
That exemption would leave businesses a substantial avenue for tracking shoppers, even as the legislation seeks to restrict how they use personal information to increase prices.
What's being done?
California's AB 2564 cleared the state Senate and would bar stores from tailoring prices with electronically gathered personal information.
In New York, a federal judge allowed the Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act to stand.
The law requires retailers to tell shoppers, in capital letters, when personal data helped determine a price. Violations carry $1,000 fines.
Michigan's proposals would leave enforcement to the attorney general and prosecutors, so shoppers could not sue under the proposed ban.
The Michigan Retailers Association wants clearer distinctions between surveillance pricing and practices such as seasonal markdowns, other discounts, and supply-and-demand adjustments.
Trade association NetChoice objected to the legislation, saying the bills give businesses "no clear way to know whether routine pricing practices violate the law."
Kyle Zawacki, the ACLU of Michigan's legislative director, emphasized that the practice under scrutiny was deeply unfair.
"If your economic rights are being impacted because you are being charged more because of who you are, the color of your skin or your zip code, that's a problem."
Where can I learn more?
Michigan's bills are part of a wider push to limit how retailers use shoppers' personal data to set prices. These stories examine surveillance pricing restrictions, federal investigations, and concerns about personalized grocery prices.
• Seattle is nearing a ban on surveillance pricing, while Safeway warns deals could disappear.
• The FTC is investigating whether companies use shoppers' browsing habits to charge higher prices.
• A Senate hearing raised concerns about personalized grocery prices enabled by digital tags.
• The FTC warns that hidden surveillance pricing could violate consumer protection law in the United States.
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