Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the Assembly Judiciary Committee for passing AB 446 (Ward). AB 446 will prohibit businesses from using the personal information of a consumer to adjust the price of goods based off their individualized data profile, a practice known as surveillance pricing (SP). This bill will also establish enforcement mechanisms, including a private right of action and civil penalties, to prevent discriminatory and unfair pricing practices that squeeze the maximum amount of profit from each consumer. The following statement may be attributed to John Frahm, president, UFCW Local 5:
“Technology has been used to maximize profits at the expense of consumers for decades, especially at our local grocery and retail stores. We need to protect customers and workers from these companies having even more ways to use artificial intelligence and dynamic pricing algorithms to potentially increase prices when they shop. We’re proud to sponsor AB 446 to ensure customers are charged the same price for the same product.”
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2025
Contact: Jenna Thompson, [email protected], 949.246.1620