Personalized Pricing Rules Changed in 2 States: 6 Signals to Check

On October 1, 2026, Connecticut and Maryland began restricting prices set from shoppers' personal data, joining New York, which has required a warning label on such prices since November 2025. At the federal level, the Federal Trade Commission closed public comment on September 25 on a proposed policy that treats undisclosed personalized pricing as likely unfair or deceptive where shoppers expect a price not to vary. For you, this means the price on your screen may depend on who the seller thinks you are, and most states don't require anyone to tell you.

No law makes every online price the same for everyone, so the practical defense is to recognize the signs before you pay. The six below are things you can see or test yourself, each tied to a rule or a documented case.

Key takeaways

In New York, a business that sets a price with an algorithm using your personal data must show the line "THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA" next to that price. The attorney general has enforced it since November 10, 2025, and it stays in force unless a court rules otherwise; a retail group's appeal showed no decision on the public docket copy last updated in May 2026.
Since October 1, 2026, Connecticut bars retailers of goods and third-party food delivery services from surveillance pricing, online and in stores, and Maryland bars large grocery stores and food delivery services from using your personal data to charge you more for tax-exempt grocery food. Neither law reaches loyalty-program prices you sign up for, or price changes driven by supply and demand rather than your data.
The FTC's August 2026 proposal says businesses should disclose that a price is personalized, why, and what data was used. It is a proposal, not a final rule, and it does not ban the practice.
Hotels, vacation rentals and event-ticket sellers must show the total price up front under an FTC rule in force since May 12, 2025. The 2024 airline bag-fee display rule was struck down in February 2026, so bag fees still appear later in the booking.
A same-cart comparison is the most useful check: the same item, from the same seller, at the same time, on a second device or account, logged out.

What it means for you

Online grocery and delivery shoppers: Maryland and Connecticut now limit personalized grocery pricing, and Instacart says it ended item price tests in December 2025. Delivery fees are not covered by the FTC's all-in pricing rule, so check the checkout total (see the worked example below).
Travelers booking hotels and flights: hotel and short-term rental prices must include mandatory resort and cleaning fees from the first price shown. Airfares must include taxes and mandatory fees, but bag fees are disclosed only through a notice and a fee page.
Event-ticket buyers: the first ticket price you see must be the total with mandatory fees, apart from taxes and optional extras. Dynamic, demand-based ticket pricing is still legal.
New York residents: the disclosure line is your clearest signal. If you suspect personalized pricing without it, the attorney general takes complaints.
Connecticut and Maryland residents: the new laws are enforced only by the attorney general. Neither lets shoppers sue under them directly.

Dynamic, personalized or a test?

Three different practices produce a price that differs from what someone else paid. Laws treat them very differently, so it helps to know which one you are looking at.

Practice	What moves the price	What a shopper notices	How the new laws treat it
Dynamic pricing	Time, demand, supply, inventory	Everyone sees the price rise or fall together, such as surge fares or concert tickets	Generally legal. Connecticut expressly excludes supply-and-demand changes; Maryland's ban reaches only prices based on your personal data.
Personalized (surveillance) pricing	Your data: location, device, browsing, purchase history, inferred traits	Your price differs from another shopper's at the same moment	Disclosure required in New York and Connecticut. Banned for some sellers in Connecticut and, for grocery food, in Maryland.
Price testing (A/B tests)	Random assignment to price groups	Same as personalized: two shoppers see different prices	Depends on whether personal data is used, which a shopper can't see

The FTC's January 2025 staff research summaries show how much data can feed the second category. Pricing tools can draw on IP address, device type, browser, language settings, scrolling and cart activity, and location inferred from an IP address. The same summaries describe a hypothetical retailer showing website visitors the prices of the store nearest their inferred location.

Where the rules stand, Oct. 2026

Federal: a study, then a proposed policy

The FTC ordered eight companies to report on "surveillance pricing" tools on July 23, 2024, including Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase, Accenture and McKinsey. On January 17, 2025, by a 3–2 vote, it released preliminary findings, including that the intermediaries worked with at least 250 clients.

On August 19, 2026, the FTC voted 2–0 to publish a proposed enforcement policy statement on personalized pricing. It says Congress has not given the agency power to ban personalized pricing outright. But where shoppers reasonably expect a price not to vary with their personal data, failing to disclose that it does is "likely" an unfair or deceptive practice. A proper disclosure would state that the price is personalized, the basis for it and the types of data used. The comment period was extended to September 25, 2026. Unlike a rule, a policy statement would not add new legal requirements, so the FTC would still have to bring individual cases under existing law.

New York: a disclosure, not a ban

General Business Law §349-a applies when a business sets a price through "personalized algorithmic pricing," meaning dynamic pricing set by an algorithm that uses data linked to you or your device. The price must carry this line in the same medium, at or near the price:

"THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA" — N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §349-a

The law exempts insurers, financial institutions covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and certain other financial institutions, and lower prices offered under an existing subscription. It also excludes location data that ride-hail and for-hire car services use only to calculate a fare from mileage and trip time. The attorney general enforces it: a business first gets a cease-and-desist letter with time to fix the problem, and violations that continue can bring a court order and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. The office announced enforcement from November 10, 2025.

A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed the National Retail Federation's First Amendment challenge in October 2025. The federation appealed to the Second Circuit (No. 25-2818). The public docket copy, last updated in May 2026, shows briefing finished in February 2026 and no decision; check the Second Circuit docket for later rulings. The law remains enforceable unless a court rules otherwise.

Connecticut and Maryland: bans with exceptions

Section 11 of Connecticut Public Act 26-64 took effect October 1, 2026, and does two things. Any business operating in the state that posts an online price set from your personal data must show "THIS PRICE WAS INCREASED BY A PRICE SETTING DEVICE USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA" or a substantially similar line, readily visible, unless the device was used only to set a discount. That label duty covers sellers of services as well as goods.

Separately, retailers of goods and third-party delivery services for food retailers may not engage in surveillance pricing at all, and the definition covers data gathered by cameras, sensors or device tracking in a physical store as well as online. That ban excludes cost-based differences such as delivery distance, supply-and-demand changes, and discounts available on posted terms, to broad groups such as seniors or students, or through loyalty programs you join; those discounts and their terms must be posted on the seller's website and offered to everyone who qualifies. Insurers, financial institutions covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and state-supervised banks are exempt. Only the attorney general can enforce the section, and it gives shoppers no right to sue.

Maryland's Protection From Predatory Pricing Act (HB 895, Chapter 154) also took effect October 1, 2026, but is narrower. Under the enacted chapter text, now Commercial Law §13-321, it covers grocery stores of at least 15,000 square feet and third-party food delivery services. They may not use your personal data to set a higher price for you on grocery food that is exempt from sales tax. The ban does not reach non-food items or food sold for immediate consumption.

According to the state's fiscal and policy note, exceptions include loyalty programs, subscriptions, prices you get in exchange for sharing data, and location-based cost or demand differences. Before taking any enforcement action, the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division must give a business 45 days to fix a violation. Penalties under the state Consumer Protection Act reach $10,000 per violation and $25,000 for a repeat, and shoppers cannot sue under the law.

Other states have not finished the job. Illinois HB 4248 passed both chambers in May 2026 in different versions and was sent back to committee on July 1. California's AB 2564 passed the Senate on August 31, 2026, but the last entry in its official history, dated that day, shows Assembly agreement to the Senate's amendments still pending.

Fees: the all-in rules for hotels, tickets and flights

The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees has applied to live-event tickets and short-term lodging since May 12, 2025. Any advertised price must show the total price more prominently than other pricing information. Government charges, shipping and optional add-ons may be left out, but they must be disclosed, with the final amount, before you pay. The rule does not cap fees. In April 2026 StubHub agreed to refund $10 million to settle FTC charges that it showed ticket prices without mandatory fees after the rule took effect.

For flights, the full Fifth Circuit vacated the Transportation Department's 2024 rule requiring bag and change fees at the first fare display on February 3, 2026. A DOT final rule effective July 2, 2026 restored the 2011 standard. Airlines and ticket agents must show a notice on the first fare screen that bag fees may apply, list fees on the e-ticket confirmation and post all extra-service fees in one place online. Separately, any advertised airfare must still be the entire price, including taxes and mandatory carrier fees.

Six signals before you check out

1. A disclosure line next to the price

In New York, the exact wording is "THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA." Connecticut's version says the price was "INCREASED BY A PRICE SETTING DEVICE." Either line means the seller has told you your data shaped the number. It is not a finding that you are paying more, but it is a reason to compare before buying. Outside these states, the absence of a label tells you nothing.

2. The price moves when you log in, switch devices or change location

The FTC staff research summaries list device type, browser, IP address, login information and purchase history among the inputs pricing tools can use. The New York attorney general suggests checking whether prices change after things a business can track, such as searching elsewhere or shopping from a new location. Compare the same product signed in and in a private window, or on a phone and a laptop. Reload both views; a gap that persists is worth noting. Not every gap is personal, though. Instacart says retailers on its platform may set prices store by store, Connecticut and Maryland allow price differences based on location costs, and signing in can show a member price. A gap between two shoppers at the same store at the same time is the stronger signal.

3. Someone else sees a different price at the same store, same time

This is the pattern a December 2025 investigation by Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union documented on Instacart. In the publishers' findings, about three-quarters of tested items were shown at more than one price to different volunteers shopping the same store at the same time. Gaps reached 23% on single items, and basket totals differed by about 7% on average. Instacart said the tests were "never based on supply or demand, personal data, demographics, or individual shopping behavior," and on December 22, 2025, it ended all item price tests on its platform. New York's attorney general demanded information from Instacart in January 2026. A second household member or friend with a separate account is the simplest way to run this check.

4. A "special price for you" with no stated reason

The FTC's proposed policy says telling a shopper only that a price was "specially selected" would likely be misleading, because it leaves out the basis and the data used. Connecticut allows loyalty and group discounts only if the discounted price and its terms are posted for everyone who qualifies. A member price is a weak signal on its own. An app-only "just for you" price with no posted terms is a stronger one, and the New York attorney general notes that algorithmic pricing is common in apps and loyalty programs.

5. Countdown clocks and "people viewing" counters

The FTC's 2022 staff report Bringing Dark Patterns to Light lists countdown timers that reset when they expire and false activity messages, such as "24 other people are viewing this listing," as pressure tactics. These cues do not set a price, but they discourage the comparison that would reveal a personalized or inflated one. Reloading the page or returning later is an easy test of a timer.

6. Fees that first appear at checkout

The same FTC report calls this "drip pricing": showing part of the price up front and adding mandatory charges late. For hotels, vacation rentals and event tickets, that now breaks the fees rule. Grocery and restaurant delivery is not covered. The FTC asked in April 2026 whether a delivery-fee rule is needed, listing late-disclosed service fees and personalized price differences among its concerns. In December 2025, Instacart agreed to pay $60 million in consumer refunds to settle an FTC lawsuit. The FTC alleged that Instacart advertised "free delivery" while charging service fees of up to 15%, misrepresented a "100% satisfaction guarantee," and enrolled shoppers in its Instacart+ subscription without clear consent; the FTC says people charged for Instacart+ without their consent will receive refunds. These are the FTC's allegations, resolved by a stipulated order filed in federal court, not findings by a judge.

How a custom price and fees add up

Illustrative example: two shoppers order the same grocery cart from the same store at the same time. Shopper A sees items totaling $80.00. Shopper B is shown prices 10% higher, or $88.00. Both pay a flat $5.00 delivery fee and a 10% service fee charged on the item subtotal, before any tax or tip.

Total = item subtotal × (1 + service-fee rate) + flat delivery fee

Shopper A: $80.00 × 1.10 + $5.00 = $93.00
Shopper B: $88.00 × 1.10 + $5.00 = $101.80

In the formula, the item subtotal is the sum of the shelf prices shown to you, the service-fee rate is the percentage the platform adds, and the delivery fee is a fixed charge. The results show two things. Shopper B's $8.00 item gap becomes $8.80 at checkout, because the percentage fee is charged on the higher subtotal. And comparing item prices catches most of the gap between the two shoppers ($8.00 of $8.80), but it understates what each one actually pays by $13.00 to $13.80, about 16% of the item subtotal. That is why the total on the last screen is the number to compare. At one such order a week, B's gap would come to $457.60 a year.

Frequently asked questions

Is personalized pricing illegal in the US?

Not as a general matter. The FTC's proposed policy says Congress has not given it authority to ban personalized pricing in all cases, and it targets undisclosed or misleading versions instead. Connecticut's ban covers retailers of goods and delivery services, and Maryland's covers grocery food at large stores and delivery services.

Do ride-hail surge fares count under New York's law?

Not when location is used only to compute the fare. The statute excludes location data that for-hire vehicles and ride-hail companies use solely to calculate a fare from mileage and trip duration. The FTC's proposed policy still lists, as a concern, a ride-hail company charging more because a user has no competing apps installed.

Will a VPN or private browsing window protect me?

It may reduce some signals, but it is not a guarantee. The FTC's proposed policy mentions VPNs and private browsing as steps shoppers could take if they knew a price was personalized. Signing in or entering an email address at checkout can still link you to an existing profile, which the FTC staff summaries describe as one way pricing tools tie data to a shopper.

Can I sue a store that skips the required disclosure?

Generally not under these laws. Connecticut's and Maryland's laws expressly say they create no private right of action. New York's section gives enforcement to the attorney general and creates no separate right for shoppers to sue, though it says it does not limit any other civil or criminal liability a business may face. Complaints to the attorney general are the route these laws provide.

Are insurance quotes and loan rates covered?

No. New York and Connecticut expressly exempt insurers and financial institutions covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and Maryland's law reaches only large grocery stores and food delivery services. Those prices are expected to vary by person, and the FTC points to separate rules, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act's adverse-action notices, that apply to them.

What to do before you pay

Run a same-cart check. Compare the same item and seller logged out in a private window, on a second device, or through someone else's account, within a few minutes.
Compare totals, not item prices. Go to the last screen before payment and compare the final amount. For hotels and tickets, the first price shown should already include mandatory fees.
Use price history only as a reference. Google Flights price tracking emails you when a tracked fare changes significantly, and Chrome's shopping insights show price history and ranges for many products. Chrome's feature requires signing in and turning on history sync, which shares more of your data.
Save evidence. Screenshot both prices with the date, time, device and whether you were logged in, plus any disclosure line, timer or added fee.
Report it. File with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. New Yorkers can also use the attorney general's consumer complaint form, and Connecticut and Maryland residents can contact their attorney general's consumer protection office.

This article is for general information and isn't legal advice. Laws and enforcement in this area are changing quickly, so check the official sources linked here before relying on a specific rule.