New Jersey Can End Surveillance Pricing — but Current Bills Need Fixing First
Legislation to combat surveillance pricing is moving forward in Trenton. Governor Mikie Sherrill has called the practice “outrageous” and made it a top affordability priority in her March 2026 budget address.[1] Assemblymember Chigozie Onyema, the lead sponsor of the Assembly bill, has called surveillance pricing “price gouging dressed up as technology”.[2] The political conditions for action are favorable. The bills as currently written, however, would not deliver what they promise.
Surveillance pricing is the use of personal data — location, browsing history, demographics, abandoned-cart contents, and inferences about what you will pay — to quote each shopper an individualized price.[3] It is not a coupon, not a sale, and not a discount you can compare against an open-market price. Independent research has found that the practice can cost families about $1,200 more per year on a single grocery-delivery platform.[4] And it is spreading from online retail into grocery-store shelf labels, hotel rooms, airline fares, and rental housing.[5] It hits low-income shoppers hardest, because the same data that sets the price also signals when a shopper is out of alternatives.[6]
Other states have moved first, with mixed results. Maryland enacted the first surveillance-pricing law in April 2026, but Consumer Reports has documented loopholes — exempt loyalty programs, exempt subscriptions, no baseline price standard — that swallow most of what the law appears to prohibit.[7] Connecticut’s law made progress but carries the same personalized-discount loophole.[8] Colorado’s bill was the boldest effort yet passed by a state legislature, but Governor Polis vetoed it.[9] New York’s One Fair Price Act passed both chambers on June 4, 2026 and now awaits Governor Hochul.[10] In Trenton, A4085 and its Senate companion S3612 have advanced through committee — but both have been narrowed to “groceries and other foodstuffs,” leave enforcement to the Attorney General alone, and carry the same loyalty and “bona fide discount” carve-outs that gutted the Maryland law.[11]
NJAC recommends that New Jersey:
Pass a surveillance-pricing ban that covers all merchandise and services — either by amending A4085 / S3612 in Appropriations to restore broad scope, add a private right of action with treble damages and attorney’s fees, and strike the loyalty and “bona fide discount” carve-outs, or by introducing NJAC’s model Fair Pricing Act as a stand-alone vehicle.
Amend the New Jersey Data Privacy Act to add an explicit consumer opt-out for targeted pricing, in line with the existing opt-out for targeted advertising, as a minimum legislative floor.
Treat surveillance pricing as a per se violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, enforced by the Attorney General and by private parties, with treble damages and mandatory attorney’s fees.
Cover all merchandise and services with no carve-outs for loyalty programs, subscription pricing, or “personalized discounts” off undisclosed baseline prices.
In parallel with legislation, the New Jersey Attorney General should pursue surveillance pricing under the Consumer Fraud Act, the Data Privacy Act, and the Law Against Discrimination — and the New Jersey plaintiffs’ bar should pursue private remedies as well. New Jersey law already arguably reaches this conduct and does not have to wait for a new statute.
The Governor has named the issue. The lead sponsors have introduced bills. What remains is for the Legislature to write the strongest version into law — and for the Attorney General to begin enforcement under the statutes New Jersey already has.
Read the full brief: https://www.antimonopolynj.org/s/njac_surveillance_pricing_final.pdf
Model legislation: https://www.antimonopolynj.org/s/njac_surveillance_pricing_bill_final.pdf
Take action: https://antimonopolynj.org/take-action
[1] Snowflack, Fred. "Sherrill Doubles Down on Surveillance Pricing Attack." *Insider NJ*, March 11, 2026. https://www.insidernj.com/sherrill-doubles-down-surveillance-pricing-attack/
[2] NJ Assembly Democrats (Asm. Chigozie Onyema). "'Same Product, Same Price': Onyema Introduces Landmark Bill to Ban Surveillance Pricing in NJ (Press Release)." *New Jersey Assembly Democrats*, February 24, 2026. https://www.assemblydems.com/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/12973
[3] U.S. Federal Trade Commission. *Issue Spotlight: The Rise of Surveillance Pricing*. January 2025. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/sp6b-issue-spotlight.pdf
[4] Groundwork Collaborative; Consumer Reports; More Perfect Union. *Same Cart, Different Price: Instacart's Price Experiments Cost Families at Checkout*. Groundwork Collaborative, December 9, 2025. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/work/instacart/
[5] Dayen, David. "One Person, One Price: Digital Surveillance and Customer Isolation Are Individualizing the Prices We Pay." *The American Prospect*, June 4, 2024. https://prospect.org/economy/2024-06-04-one-person-one-price-digital-surveillance/
[6] See Note 3.
[7] Gedye, Grace (Consumer Reports). *Consumer Reports statement on Maryland's Protection from Predatory Pricing Act*. Consumer Reports Advocacy, April 15, 2026. https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/press_release/consumer-reports-statement-on-marylands-protection-from-predatory-pricing-act/
[8] State of Connecticut. *Connecticut HB 5563, An Act Concerning Personalized Pricing*. June 4, 2026. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2026/ACT/PA/PDF/2026PA-00064-R00HB-05563-PA.PDF
[9] State of Colorado. *Veto Letter, Gov. Jared Polis to Colorado General Assembly — HB26-1210 (Prohibit Surveillance Price & Wage Setting)*. June 2, 2026. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JER5O4KJpS4JvixecVKq24I-8Q7U2mf-/view
[10] State of New York. *New York One Fair Price Act, S.8623B / A.9349B (2026 session)*. June 4, 2026. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A9349
[11] New Jersey Legislature. *New Jersey A4085 / A4523 1R ACS — Fair Price Protection Act (Assembly Committee Substitute, as Amended by Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee, May 14, 2026)*. May 14, 2026. https://legiscan.com/NJ/text/A4085/2026
