Story perspectives

FTC Proposes Rules for Retailers’ Personalized Pricing Disclosure

8/20/2026

Summary

Story summary

FTC proposed rule forcing retailers to disclose personalized pricing with clear data notices.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson warned undisclosed price variations could violate the FTC Act.
Businesses have 30 days to comment after the draft is published in the Federal Register.
The FTC cannot ban personalized pricing but will enforce existing unfair-deceptive rules.
Consumer Reports welcomed the proposal but called for a full ban on data-driven price discrimination.

History

Historical Context

After the FTC issued Fair Information Practice Principles in 1995 and Congress expanded its privacy authority in the late 1990s, the agency took on data-notice regulation. Chairman Andrew Ferguson’s 2024 proposal to require retailers Amazon and Google to disclose pricing builds on the legacy and reflects the EU’s 1995 Data Protection Directive. A 2007 study found 75 % of consumers equate a privacy policy with protection.

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Story summary

FTC proposed rule forcing retailers to disclose personalized pricing with clear data notices.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson warned undisclosed price variations could violate the FTC Act.
Businesses have 30 days to comment after the draft is published in the Federal Register.
The FTC cannot ban personalized pricing but will enforce existing unfair-deceptive rules.
Consumer Reports welcomed the proposal but called for a full ban on data-driven price discrimination.

1 / 2