On August 19, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is seeking public comment on a proposed enforcement policy statement regarding personalized pricing—the practice of using personal data to set prices based on what a company believes an individual consumer is willing to pay. The proposed policy statement outlines the FTC’s legal concerns with the practice and signals the agency’s intent to pursue enforcement actions against businesses that fail to make adequate disclosures to consumers. Background The proposed policy statement arrives amid a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape in which multiple states have enacted or introduced legislation targeting surveillance pricing. Maryland became the first state to enact a law directly prohibiting certain personalized pricing practices in the grocery sector, and New Jersey recently followed. Connecticut has amended its data privacy law to impose both disclosure requirements and substantive bans on surveillance pricing by retailers and third-party delivery services. New York also recently passed a bill prohibiting surveillance pricing. California’s Office of the Attorney General has launched an investigative sweep targeting businesses that use personal data for algorithmic pricing in potential violation of the California Consumer Privacy Act. Additional states, including Colorado and Illinois, also recently have considered legislation that would impose similar restrictions. The FTC’s proposed policy statement represents the federal government’s most direct articulation to date of how existing consumer protection law applies to personalized pricing. Key Provisions of the Proposed Policy Statement The proposed policy statement emphasizes that consumers generally expect the prices they see to be the same prices offered to other consumers for the same product or service. According to the FTC, retailers who represent or imply that a price is static when it in fact varies by individual consumer are at risk of engaging in deceptive practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC