BOSTON — The Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission says a year after abruptly shutting down public comment into surveillance pricing, that his agency staff is still looking into the problem and how to address it.
The comments came under questioning from Democratic Senators in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing.
“I take the issue of personalized pricing seriously. I have instructed staff to begin exploring whether the commission needs a policy statement on whether certain disclosures ought to be required if someone is using highly personalized pricing to set individualized prices,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said.
Surveillance or personalized pricing is when different shoppers are given different prices without their knowledge while shopping online.
In a 2025 investigation, Boston 25 teamed up with our sister stations from across the country, asking dozens of shoppers in eight cities to check the price of six products three times a day at some of the nation’s most popular stores. We found hard to explain pricing disparities, including a tv that was priced nearly $200 more for one of our testers, and a grill where two price testers were charged nearly $100 more than others.
“Consumers should not ever be profiled and charge different prices based on that profile. It is an abusive and unfair practice that uses consumer data against them,” Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) said.
In 2025, after President Trump was inaugurated, the FTC halted public comment for a surveillance pricing investigation and refused to tell Boston 25 whether the investigation itself was shut down, telling us only “no comment.”
Senator pressed FTC commissioners on the same questions.
“It needs to be a robust investigation, because on top of everything else, when people are admitting that they are raising the prices, and then in this particular case, whether it’s an airline seat or a grocery store price, the public is frustrated,” Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) said.
“I don’t want to commit to any particular rulemaking because we have to see what evidence we acquire. And I will follow the evidence where it leads,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson also pointed out that the FTC already launched an investigation into Instacart after it started a surveillance pricing experiment. Ferguson says that led to the company canceling the project.
The companies we reached out to during our investigation either denied using surveillance pricing or did not respond.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW