A reporter from Mozilla recently walked into the New York Public Library, sat down at a desktop computer, and compared prices on everyday shopping items. A box of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and a pack of toilet paper were nearly 20% cheaper on the library computer than on her personal iPhone.
Same products. Same retailer. Same day. Different price.
The library computer knew nothing about her. Her phone knew everything.
what is surveillance pricing?
Surveillance pricing is when companies use your personal data to set the price they think you'll pay. Not the price the product costs. Not the price everyone else sees. The price calculated specifically for you, based on what they know about you.
And they know a lot. Your location. Your browsing history. Your purchase history. How long you spent looking at the product page. What device you're using. Whether you've searched for the same thing before. Even your keystroke patterns and how quickly you scroll.
Prices can change every minute. Sometimes every second. And the regulations around it are almost non-existent.
this isn't new, but it's getting worse
Airlines have done this for years. Search for a flight, come back an hour later, and the price has gone up. That's not coincidence. The site knows you're interested and it knows you'll probably pay more now that you're worried about it going higher.
But it's spread far beyond flights. Groceries, electronics, insurance, hotel rooms, clothing, even food delivery apps. If the price is shown on a screen, there's a good chance it's been adjusted based on who's looking at it.
The technology behind it has become cheap enough that even mid-sized retailers can run it. You don't need to be Amazon to personalise prices any more. Off-the-shelf tools will do it for you.
how they decide what to charge you
The data that feeds these pricing systems comes from everywhere:
- Your location. Prices in affluent postcodes can be higher than in less affluent ones. Same product, different address, different price.
- Your device. iPhone users are sometimes shown higher prices than Android users. The assumption is that someone who spent a thousand pounds on a phone is less price-sensitive.
- Your browsing history. If you've been researching a product across multiple sites, the system knows you're interested and may not show you the lowest price.
- Your purchase history. Loyal customers who always buy from the same retailer can end up paying more than new visitors, because the system knows they're unlikely to shop around.
- Time of day. Prices on delivery apps are higher during peak hours. Not because the food costs more to make, but because you're more likely to pay.
- Your cookies and login. If you're logged into a retailer's site, they have your full purchase history. If you're browsing as a guest with cookies cleared, you're a blank slate.
The person sitting next to you on the same train, buying the same product from the same website, at the same time, could be paying a completely different price. And neither of you would ever know.
what you can do about it
You don't need to do your weekly shop from a library. There are simpler ways to level the playing field:
- Use incognito or private browsing. This stops the site from reading your cookies and browsing history. It won't hide your IP address, but it removes the most obvious data points.
- Clear your cookies before buying. If you've been browsing a product for days, the retailer knows. Clearing cookies makes you look like a first-time visitor, which often means a better price.
- Compare on a different device. Check the price on your phone, then check again on a laptop or tablet. If the prices are different, you're being profiled.
- Use a VPN. A VPN hides your real location and makes you appear to be browsing from somewhere else. Prices can vary significantly by region, so this alone can save money.
- Don't stay logged in. If you're logged into a retailer's account while browsing, they have your full history. Browse as a guest and only log in when you're ready to buy.
- Try a different browser. Some people keep a separate browser (like Firefox) that they only use for shopping, with no cookies, no history, and no logged-in accounts. It takes 30 seconds to open and can save 10-20%.
- Ask your mates. Seriously. If you're about to buy something expensive online, ask a friend to check the same product on their device. If the price is different, you know the game is being played.
why this matters for small businesses too
If you run a small business, you're buying online every day. Software subscriptions, supplies, services, advertising. And every one of those purchases could be priced based on your data, not the actual cost.
That SaaS tool you've been paying for? Log out and check the price as a new visitor. You might find a lower introductory rate that your loyalty has been quietly pricing you out of.
The flip side is worth knowing too. If you sell online, your competitors might be doing this to your customers. Understanding how it works helps you decide where you stand on it. Personalised pricing might increase revenue in the short term, but customers who find out they've been charged more than the person next to them tend not to come back.
the regulation gap
Right now, there's very little law around surveillance pricing in the UK. The practice sits in a grey area between personalisation and discrimination. Showing different people different prices based on their data isn't technically illegal in most cases, but it raises serious questions about fairness, transparency and consent.
The EU is further ahead, with the Digital Services Act and GDPR providing some protections around how personal data is used in pricing. But even there, enforcement is patchy and the technology moves faster than the law.
For now, the best protection is awareness. If you know the game is being played, you can choose not to play it on their terms.
the 30-second version
Companies are using your data to charge you the highest price they think you'll accept. They're doing it right now, on products you buy every week. The technology is invisible and the regulations haven't caught up.
But you can fight back without much effort. Browse privately, clear your cookies, compare on different devices, and don't assume the price you see is the price everyone sees. It isn't.