It turns out that most Americans aren’t actually fans of gate pricing, which relies on a buyer’s personal data to determine how much they should pay for a product. This information may include past spending habits, location, and any other personal information the retailer might get their hands on to determine a price. This practice has been around for years, as an investigative reporter discovered in 2019 that the Target app would change item prices based on the location the user selected — but a recent poll shows that many Americans support banning the practice outright.
The new poll was conducted by GBAO Strategies and found that up to 68% of voters believe pricing technologies such as price monitoring will directly lead to increased food prices. 65% believe digital price tags, which allow retailers to update prices in real time, will similarly negatively impact consumers. Among survey participants, 67% were in favor of banning these technologies outright. These results were also not skewed toward any one political party, as majorities of all three parties agreed with the ban proposal, including 67% of Democrats, 74% of independents, and 61% of Republicans.
Why Americans are against pricing surveillance
The main reason many Americans seem to oppose price monitoring is that it could directly affect grocery bills, at least according to this poll. However, there is another factor to consider here, which the Electronic Frontier Foundation says is even more important than just how it might affect our bottom line, and that is how it affects our private data. Pricing for surveillance relies directly on personal data that many believe should be protected as a human right. This data may include a person’s age, race, gender, etc.
The worst part is that you may have already fallen victim to this new type of pricing. A Consumer Reports investigation into an AI pricing experiment conducted by Instacart in 2025 showed that users were offered different prices, with the overall difference sometimes being up to 23% higher, depending on the user. Although the experience was highlighted in company marketing materials and those aimed at investors, customers themselves were not aware of it.
Another algorithm-based system called dynamic pricing, which sees prices change based on customer demand and inventory, has also become popular with some retailers such as Amazon and Walmart. While not as data-driven as monitoring pricing, this method still allows retailers to examine what customers are browsing and purchasing to see what they would be more willing to spend money on. Some good examples of dynamic pricing include airline tickets and purchases on Amazon, although some airlines like Delta say they don’t use your data. Fortunately, U.S. senators are already waging an offensive against support for these pricing methods.
