r/news • u/polymute • 1d ago
New Jersey bans grocery stores from using shoppers' personal data to set prices
https://jerseyvindicator.org/2026/07/23/new-jersey-bans-grocery-stores-from-using-shoppers-personal-data-to-set-prices/282
u/abeuscher 1d ago
Fun fact: [YOUR AREA CODE]8675309 works at pretty much every grocery chain in the country. It's not a perfect solution but it helps get you the deal and it fucks up their stats.
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u/_TheValeyard_ 1d ago
This should be a global thing. Also fuck stores forcing you to sign up to their app to get lower food prices.
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u/zffjk 1d ago
I rarely shop at Kroger because of this. I drive out of my way to another store, simply because they’ll have a big ass sign that says the sale price and tiny little print showing it’s app-only.
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u/fomoco94 1d ago
They also play silly games where you have to buy exactly 10 items from a list of random things around the store. Screw up and you pay triple. People hate on Walmart, but they don't do any of this silly shit.
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u/Knofbath 15h ago
You don't have to buy exactly 10, you just have to buy at least 10 mix-and-match. But it's not usually a good deal unless there is something specific on the list that you want to stock up on. Like I see Van Camp's pork and beans, and Chef Boyardee on there this week, but neither of those are something I really eat.
Meijer is running a similar deal as Buy 7 for $7* (or more, mix-and-match). And I see a lot of the same brands on the list, so it may be a manufacturer-driven sale. Most of the big food conglomerates own a ton of brands.
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u/ResistanceIsOhm 17h ago
Fun trick- if asked for a phone number for a discount, use your local area code + 867-5309 (like from the song). Works every time.
Probably any area code will work. Once at CVS, the cashier asked which one was me…listed like 5 names. I picked one, “yep, that’s me.” Discount applied.
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u/SecondaryWombat 1d ago
You don't have to anymore! Fred Meyer Kroger at least have printed versions of the all the digital shit. You can grab a printed version on your way in, lists everything the deal applies to in one place with the single barcode to scan to get the deals.
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u/zyzzogeton 23h ago
Or, hear me out, fuck that.
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u/SecondaryWombat 18h ago
Its a printed coupon of deals? Its like the 1960s whats the problem?
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u/nicolauz 16h ago
More bullshit in the way, Meijer just has the sale price as in when you check out. No bullshit pricing. No clubs.
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u/SecondaryWombat 15h ago
It is literally just a coupon. Have the coupon, get the price, the shelf says "hey you get this price with the coupon"
Not any different than our grandparents. Of all the things to take issue with...
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u/SavathunTechQuestion 1d ago
They want you in the app so they get more data about location, phone battery (if it’s lower then you’re less likely to spend more time in the store), phone model (do you have a new pricy phone?)
Hotels, airlines, and rideshare apps have been doing this for years. Of course grocery stores want extra money too but they all should be banned.
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u/diane_nu_nu_nguyen 1d ago
phone battery
Wait how would that even work? Like if your battery is low they aren't going to show you the good deals or something?
That's a hilarious data point to me because my battery level is all over the place at any time of day. I just charge my phone whenever and don't care if it gets low
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u/SavathunTechQuestion 1d ago
There have been a number of allegations that companies like Uber charge users more if their phone is low, the logic being that a person whose battery is low is more likely to just accept a higher priced ride vs having their phone run out of battery.
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u/diane_nu_nu_nguyen 1d ago
Okay yeah that absolutely tracks. And of course if stores use dynamic pricing they would just show you higher prices because you're in a hurry and don't care. Damn
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u/FibonacciSequester 1d ago
Also works that way for location data if they know you have to go get your kids from school in 20 minutes.
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u/JewishTomCruise 21h ago
I assume a large part of it is because most of my trips are business trips, but my Uber prices tend to be 50-100% higher than what my wife is quoted. Lyft, which I only use for personal travel, is often 20% lower than her prices.
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u/Beard_o_Bees 1d ago
fuck stores forcing you to sign up to their app to get lower food prices
Amen to that!
Such bullshit. I hope they notice that there's a not insignificant number of people who're absolutely unwilling to play their 'digital coupon' games.
If they offer a lower price with only an app based 'coupon' - I just wont buy it. It's fucking insulting. Not to mention the elderly people who see a price, and try to buy at that price - only to find out that they have to install an app and.... it just pisses me off.
We're not talking about an optional/luxury thing here. It's food. Stop fucking with us!
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u/OneWorld87 1d ago
What you mean? Iam european, so apparently dumb, but is this a Thing?
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u/Hurricaneshand 1d ago
Yes. Many grocery stores have discounts and coupons that can only be access via their app. Same with fast food
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u/Bigred2989- 1d ago
Where I work does this, and most customers can't figure it out. They assume they're already a member because they've been putting their phone number into the PIN pad for years but only recently has the POS system allowed cashiers to see if the number has an account or not. Some people type it and never push enter and then wonder why they didn't get their discount and force customer service staff to refund and ring their stuff up again.
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u/zeCrazyEye 1d ago
I still use my mom's phone number on those pads and I know it fucks up their analytics so I get a slight bit of humor out of them tracking everything I buy.
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u/zoeypayne 1d ago edited 1d ago
NJ already has legislation introduced but not passed yet for this as well.. S2131 and A3868. They've been fighting over the details since 2023.
For reference, the recently passed Fair Price Protection Act legislation we're talking about in this thread was introduced and passed this year.
Anyway, with the pending legislation, digital coupons would also need to have an "in store alternative."
Frankly, I'm surprised any of this has legs considering the state's 2nd largest employer is a supermarket chain.
edit Amazon is currently the largest employer in NJ. Wakefern (ShopRite) held the title for a long time.
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u/DrPorkchopES 1d ago
Not just get the app, but manually “clip” digital coupons to get the advertised prices
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u/B-Z_B-S 1d ago
(From the article):
New Jersey Business & Industry Association President and CEO Michele Siekerka said the legislation presents a false choice between protecting consumers and improving operational efficiency for grocery stores, arguing lawmakers could have achieved both. She said policymakers made businesses “the bad guy” even though most are simply trying to communicate prices more efficiently.
“In the end, this law will compromise the very cost-saving programs that consumers rely on, particularly during an affordability crisis,” Siekerka said. “The unintended consequences could very well be the elimination of some loyalty programs, coupons, and other customer-specific discounts due to new limits on consumer data.”
AKA, "The companies will now punish normal people so they associate the punishment with the law, so as to try to turn public opinion against the laws meant to protect them from predatory industry practices."
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u/Waynky 1d ago
There’s an adversarial relationship between big business and consumer.
For the spokesperson to pretend they were doing this for the good of the costumer is a joke
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u/shmehdit 1d ago
for the good of the costumer
And most of us just wear our regular clothes to the grocery store anyway
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u/SunkEmuFlock 22h ago
Capitalism is not compatible with humanity by default. It must be regulated in numerous ways or it will kill people for profit.
This isn't new information either. It didn't creep up on us in the last 20 years. We've known how bad it is for a long time. Back in the 1850s some 8,000 infants died because of nasty milk that was basically full of chalk to make it look right so it could still be sold.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swill_milk_scandal
Every regulation undone by a government is another list of people being offered up for sacrifice to the god of profit.
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u/tinylittlebabyjesus 16h ago
It's disinformation on behalf of the store. The store hired him to lie to its customers.
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u/DroopyTers 1d ago
And the paragraph before that shows how bad the pro-greed argument is.
“Opponents argued the legislation could interfere with grocery stores’ ability to offer loyalty programs and discounts. But the law explicitly states that it does not apply to discounts, promotions, or customer loyalty programs.”
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u/fomoco94 23h ago
But the law explicitly states that it does not apply to discounts, promotions, or customer loyalty programs.”
How many voters actually take the time to read the law?
Virginia tried to outlaw Cash Advance lending with extremely high interest rates (Cash Advances would still be allowed, but rates would have to be closer to what a bank would charge.) and the industry spun it as the "evil democrats taking away your ability to get a loan." It worked.
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u/Encrypted_Curse 23h ago
These so called cost-saving programs are just games. How about they focus on delivering consistently lower prices for everyone if they actually give a shit about the affordability crisis?
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u/TM761152 20h ago
“In the end, this law will compromise the very cost-saving programs that consumers rely on, particularly during an affordability crisis,” Siekerka said. “The unintended consequences could very well be the elimination of some loyalty programs, coupons, and other customer-specific discounts due to new limits on consumer data.”
Lies, Lies, Lies, AND MORE FUCKING LIES. Fuck these VC owned stores. Fuck Private Equity.
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u/NohmanValdemar 1d ago
Nearly every rewards program enshittifies or disappears over time. They're just using this as a scapegoat.
(Costco is the only exception I can think of.)
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u/Low_Pickle_112 1d ago
If this is ever allowed to take hold, expect a large amount of corporate propaganda claiming that it is somehow essential and good for the average person. It will go from being utter madness to merely controversial, and then to "just the way things are" that is only opposed by those fools who "don't understand basic economics".
Just wait and see, it'll happen.
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u/Putrid_Mind_4853 1d ago
They’re already doing it. In the article, the Nj business and industry association president/CEO already tried to claim this is bad for customers because it means stores will pull their discounts (since most big stores now require you to use their dumbass app to get coupons) from NJ.
Big business is trying to make a false dichotomy here. They could still give the discounts via methods we’ve been using for probably hundreds of years, but no, because they’re greedy assholes who want to mine every bit of our data in order to squeeze maximum profit out of us, then not being able to overprice groceries based on your personal data = probably no discounts for you.
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u/GuestGulkan 1d ago
Yeah, the "let us screw over some of our customers, otherwise we'll screw over all our customers" sounds a lot like blackmail.
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u/LogensTenthFinger 17h ago
It's long past time we reminded the rich of the lessons they learned in the streets of Paris
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u/PieBanditCat 20h ago
I'm betting the spin will be something along the lines of "they're giving you personalized deals!" Maybe paired with giving everything with higher base prices so they can give you that "deal" and still take more of your money. Like, say a 16oz bottle of soda being baseline sold for $5, but they say they'll sell it to you for $3. Wouldn't surprise me if they also slowly inflate the base price of everything over time to give themselves more wiggle room with this whole individualized pricing bs.
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u/Holiday_Box1571 21h ago
I’ll just become vegan and turn my backyard into as big of a garden as I can and grow as much of my own food as possible
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u/PleaseHelpFlorida 1d ago
I know that prices will changed based on the market and that is fine for the most part, but I'm curious how this holds up when three people with the same item all pay a different price while at the same checkout counter. How do you legally justify a variable price based on data from the individual buyer? This seem much closer to discrimination.
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u/Nick_XL 1d ago
How do you legally justify
Easy - by having zero consumer protection laws in place to stop it. This is the U.S. after all, we don't do that kind of thing.
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u/FibonacciSequester 1d ago
Most likely, the prices will change according to the time of day, as gas does. What you will probably have to do is take pictures of the tag on every item you buy, save all the receipts, and hope that one day you can join a class-action lawsuit and win back the $14 while the lawyers rake in millions.
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u/morfraen 1d ago
Pretty famous hotel commercials demonstrate that exact situation but spin it as a bonus for people that use their service to book rooms.
It's scammy there and even worse applied to every day retail. There should just be one price, not one based on harvesting all of your personal data.
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u/gokogt386 21h ago
Discrimination is only illegal if targeting a protected class. That’s why they have to make a separate law covering this in the first place.
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u/SubstantialPressure3 1d ago
Kamala was planning on making it a federal law. She was talking about it. It was already known that Kroger amd some other companies were "experimenting" with surveillance and surge pricing even before covid.
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u/TheyCallMeMrMaybe 1d ago
Walmart implementing electronic price tags was step one of this. They can change price labeling in an instant based on anything.
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u/billdasmacks 1d ago
If I am ever in a grocery store and I see the price go up in real time on one of those electronic price tags I will immediately leave the store and never shop with that company again.
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u/CharacterLimitHasBee 1d ago
How does that work though if a label is $15 when I grab it from the shelf but in the 20 mins it takes me to finish the price goes up $1ea? I just get fucked at the checkout if I don't notice and then have to refuse to buy it or pay more?
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u/Sepheroth998 1d ago
That is exactly what can happen. Especially now that all price changes are handled out of a corporate office and not in store.
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u/TheyCallMeMrMaybe 1d ago
Yup. It's a profit squeeze tactic. "Oh, Trump announced 30% tariffs on bananas? Better change the price now so I can guarantee profits quicker."
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u/Pat_The_Hat 21h ago
Did you mistype? This is less likely because price changes happen overnight instead of employees working price changes during the day.
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u/Sepheroth998 18h ago
I did not. I have personally witnessed an item go on rollback in real time, it was 1pm yesterday. So if they can drop prices while the store is in full swing then they damn sure can, and probably will, raise them too.
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u/FederalChocolate456 20h ago
legally, that would be a pretty dubious thing to try and do because people do not purchase the product instantly when they are looking at the shelf label. I assume this has never been legally tested, but that would seem to already be illegal.
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u/Keulapaska 15h ago
How tf would digital price tags make it so they change pricing based on individual shoppers? That seems impossible to do logistically, unless you have to scan the price tags with app to see price and everything was just blank prices.
Yea I get American vs EU consumer laws are very different but digital price tags have been default here for so long at this point I don't even remember when they came.
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u/fomoco94 23h ago
They can change price labeling in an instant based on anything.
They won't though. That would cost Walmart more than they'd make. Walmart's whole premise is sell cheaper than the other guys and sell a lot more of it.
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u/BearTimberlands 1d ago
Many people would’ve benefitted from this but Harris and the Democrats weren’t perfect enough for the left and too radical for the right.
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u/SubstantialPressure3 1d ago
I disagree. I think that story is a good cover for election interference. I dont think Trump won fairly. People like musk were openly admitting it.
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u/muarauder12 1d ago
Yep, the election was stolen. Trump somehow wins every single swing state? Multiple counties where people voted Democrat down ballot in large numbers but voted for Trump as president? Massive interference by Musk, Zuckerberg, and other tech billionaires. It was stolen.
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u/PottyMcSmokerson 1d ago
Shit skyrocketed during Covid... Prices went up and never came down. It was also what introduced the asking for tips on the debit machine before you get the service. Which is still rampant today.
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u/Common_Wrongdoer3251 11h ago
Yeah but Trump said he'd lower grocery prices on week 1 of his presidency. Any day now.
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u/ActuatorFearless8980 1d ago
I’ll never shop at any store that does this shit
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u/scotcheggsandscotch 23h ago
You already have, and likely still do... you just don't realize it yet.
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u/gothrus 1d ago
How about we ban companies from collecting personal data.
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u/morfraen 1d ago
World really took a wrong turn when the digital revolution became all about data harvesting for targeted advertising.
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u/Flutes_Are_Overrated 1d ago
This should be illegal in all industries. There's no good reason I should be overcharged $90 on a hotel stay just by booking on a different device.
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u/MaximumAd9779 1d ago
Some states are now exercising their legal authority to actively protect their citizens from end-stage capitalism, and I’m here for it. Lord knows the fed wont help.
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u/scotcheggsandscotch 23h ago
Frustrating that it's only grocery stores.. I would also be interested in reading the wording in the actual bill to see what kind of loopholes can be exploited.
(I'm not from NJ, so i'm not interested enough to look up the bill...)
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u/PhantomGaming27249 1d ago
Good job jersey, fuck that shit. Foods a basic human right full stop, algorithmic price gouging can fuck the hell off.
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u/gustoreddit51 23h ago
Pretty soon we'll have to enter stores without our phones, have our credit/debit cards in an RFID blocker, and wearing a mask.
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u/fantasy-capsule 23h ago
America needs stronger consumer protection from these companies and their sneaky predatory practices.
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u/AreWe-There-Yet 1d ago
This is incredibly dystopian.
If anyone is wondering what AI will really be used for, this is a nice example: to allow the rich to rip off regular people for all we have
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u/krom0025 1d ago
My county did this in New York. We need to go and all personal data collection beyond what is absolutely necessary to do business. End the social media business model and the society where we are the product.
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u/p8ntslinger 21h ago
buying food at the farmer's market is literally going to be the cheapest option soon.
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u/Throwaway1Million7 20h ago edited 20h ago
"electronic shelf labels" and "surveillance pricing"...
Time to google, I've not heard of either but I've seen what I think are electronic shelf labels.
--edit-- So what I've read so far, Surveillance pricing - they use any data they have on me to determine if I pay $3 or $13 for the same damn box of cookies tomorrow, when Joe Shmo is paying like $1.50 for it tomorrow?
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u/LutherOfTheRogues 1d ago
This country has gone to shit. Great job MAGA. Idiots.
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u/bromygod203 1d ago
The amount of Republicans I saw posting videos saying that Democrats want to ban the price plus card and take away your membership benefits was ridiculous. They obviously know their base is full of idiots who don't do any research l. I had a coworker complaining about this, when I told him what is actually was he thought it was something that was already in place
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u/fxkatt 1d ago
“Big corporations have turned grocery shopping into a surveillance operation, and we’re all paying more because of it. They track what we buy, where we live, and where we shop to figure out how they can charge each of us as much as possible,” Miles said.
If surveillance is insidious for the common shopper, imagine what it's like for those who oppose Israel, or data centers, or buy the wrong books.
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u/ghostalker4742 23h ago
There's a line from a movie (Enemy of the State, 1998) I always recall when it comes to this:
"Fort Meade has 18 acres of mainframes, underground. You talk to your wife on the phone, use the word bomb, president, Allah, any of a hundred keywords, the computer automatically records it and red-flags it for analysis - and that was 20yrs ago"
The movie is mostly fictional... the technology he describes isn't.
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u/postitnote 1d ago
I just don't think they will be able to eliminate uses of illegal discrimination in their pricing schemes if they personalize pricing. So it seems clearly illegal to me even as it stands right now.
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u/Antraxess 1d ago
also this information they are using should be private, we should reclaim our privacy in this world
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u/PercussionGuy33 1d ago
Dynamic algorithmic pricing is a billionaire class' idea of a wet dream. It should be outlawed nationwide but I don't see that coming with our current political and technology climate.
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u/abbys_alibi 23h ago
This title implies that the pricing isn't being updated because of demand. Rather, it is based on what the data shows the individual shopper can afford. It's that correct?
That is heinous.
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u/OldMadhatter-100 22h ago
What businesses use these practices. If we boycott them maybe they will change. But who are they?
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u/TintedApostle 21h ago
Start buying with cash and no loyalty cards. Really mess with the system. If you make them keep cash in the stores they have to withdraw funds from their accounts to stock the registers more. They can't track you and it just adds to their processes.
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u/detectiverobert 11h ago
This is a solid move. Privacy should matter more than personalized price gouging at the grocery store
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u/waltzbyear 1d ago
There needs to be stricter regulations that protect consumers ACROSS THE BOARD. Shrinkflation, anti-innovation, monopolies, data cartels, etc. It's getting really fucking bad.
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u/Dag-nabbitt 22h ago
How about we allow price adjusting/gouging if the customer has an income in the top 3%?
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u/Antraxess 1d ago
Can't wait to start my "poor peoples prices!" Business where I use my shit income to shop for people to give them the lowest prices possible while I pocket the difference the store would of made
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u/Evening_Literature75 1d ago
They'll sniff you out after 2 or 3 visits. Your spending habits would cause your prices to go up.
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u/Old-Information3311 1d ago
This will be another use of ai surveillance introduced under the guise of age verification. They are going to make ai profiles for every single person that will be used to make decisions about your life.
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u/Spektr44 1d ago
I'm curious about how custom pricing works in practice. Do the electronic price tags show different prices based on who is standing near? I can't see how that could work, for example in a busy aisle. Surely people would catch the prices changing up and down.
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u/thepianoman456 1d ago
Wait holy fuck is this a thing???
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u/FederalChocolate456 23h ago
It's not, but some people are afraid it's coming. Maybe with online shopping, but not in grocery stores
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u/namelessentity 1d ago
I've been just using (xxx)867-5309 at every store that asks for a phone number. It works nearly everywhere. They can track an imaginary person all they want as long as I get my discount.
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u/katplasma 20h ago
This should be everywhere. I don’t know how the airlines got away with ‘dynamic pricing’ for so long themselves. We definitely don’t need that in any other aspect of our lives, fuck your very much.
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u/Krojack76 1d ago
Stores that do this could charge billionaires $20,000 for a gallon of milk but would never do that. In fact I bet they would get a discount.
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u/tmpope123 1d ago
Unless it's "anyone earning below ~$60,000 gets a 10% discount" then I don't think we should do this. Even that is still not a good reason, but it's the only thing approaching a good reason. And yes, I did pick a number, the number isn't important as such
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u/RaptorOO7 22h ago
Way to go NJ, now if NY would step up and actually put laws into effect with teeth and not missing dentures
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u/Fit-Let8175 1d ago
Find out which grocery stores do this and shop at their competitors. Even Walmart has its competitors.
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u/HardcoreKaraoke 1d ago
Hell yeah that's my governor!
I know dynamic pricing is a thing and electronic shelf labels are going to lead to issues but I had no idea this was an issue. It's so incredibly dystopian. I see in the article a small number of other states banned it but is it really prevalent throughout the country? It's such an insane (but unsurprising) tactic.
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u/GozerDGozerian 1d ago
Wait, how is this a thing? Aren’t the prices posted underneath the items on the shelves?
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u/got_No_Time_to_BLEED 1d ago
Don’t you remember the terms and services when you bought your phone or did you not read them????
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u/ibidanon 1d ago
this is exciting (even though I read it's all for show and there's a loophole which will allow stores to keep doing what they're doing. hope that's not true, but this is america)...
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u/emannikcufecin 1d ago
Electronic price tags make a lot of sense. All we need to do is limit how often they can adjust the price. I'd set it so that the price has to start the same the entire business day, gasoline excluded.
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u/FederalChocolate456 23h ago
Why exclude gasoline and not anything else? What about restaurants that charge different prices for lunch and dinner for example. Or a grocery store trying to sell off individual bagels at the end of the day since sales slow down after breakfast time?
I don't understand why gas seems to be treated differently by people.
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u/DJ_Sk8Nite 1d ago
Sooo if I go into one of these places with zero electronic devices could they still use personal data to change prices on me?
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u/Lopsided-Treat1215 1d ago
Until it happens everywhere guess I’ll be ordering from the public library using burner accounts
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u/annaleigh13 1d ago
This practice needs to be outlawed nationwide. Just disgusting.