FTC set to look into unequal online pricing scheme

A great deal of the Biden administration’s economic agenda has focused on protecting people from getting ripped off: The ever-shrinking Snickers bar, fighting overdraft fees and pushing airlines to make travelers whole when things go awry. Now the Federal Trade Commission is looking to the next possible stage in profiteering: personalized pricing, in which online firms offer different prices to individuals depending on what the companies know about them. The controversial, burgeoning practice is sometimes called “surveillance pricing” by advocates, since it depends on closely tracking individuals’ data. As soon as August, the FTC could demand information from companies involved in facilitating personalized pricing, the people said. The plans for the study are not yet final, and it isn’t yet clear what companies the agency would be targeting.