U.S. Trade Commission Seeks Data From 9 Companies on Personalized Pricing and Wages

Key Facts

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has requested information from Walmart, Uber and 7 other companies about their use of personal data to set individualized prices, wages and job offers, according to a senior commission official cited by Reuters on October 28, 2026. The request covers data such as location, browsing history and income, and asks about the tools and strategies companies use and their effects on prices, wages and job offers. The official said the commission will use the information to prepare a study to help regulators and lawmakers understand personalized pricing and wage-setting practices. The scrutiny is thus expanding to hiring and wage decisions, alongside the prices consumers see. The move came ahead of the U.S. midterm elections scheduled for the following week, as the cost of living tops voters’ priorities, Reuters reported.

Besides Walmart and Uber, the companies that received the request include Target, ride-hailing services Lyft and DoorDash, Instacart, and airlines Delta, United and JetBlue. The commission is seeking to determine whether these companies use individual data to set what each consumer pays or what is offered to workers, and how much the data influence those decisions. The inquiry places different types of commercial activity under the same review, from retail and app-based services to aviation. The information request by itself does not establish that any company used personalized pricing or broke the law. A commission official said the data will inform a study for policymakers, making their collection both a research and regulatory step.

The request follows the commission’s opening of a comment period in August on a draft enforcement policy that defines personalized pricing as the use of data to set a price based on what a company believes a consumer is willing to spend. The commission approved publication of the draft for comment in a 2-0 vote on August 19, according to its statement. The draft says companies that do not disclose to consumers that they use their data to set prices may violate the commission’s law, while the commission, according to its chair, does not have the authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances. The proposed approach therefore focuses on disclosure and enforcement of existing laws, rather than imposing a blanket ban. The commission extended the comment period by 7 days and set September 25, 2026, as the new deadline for submissions.

The commission’s earlier study provides background for the current request, but it examined pricing intermediaries’ documents and did not establish that the nine companies use the practice. In January 2025, the commission said preliminary findings by its staff indicated that precise location and browser history could be used to target consumers with different prices for the same good or service. Staff found that the intermediaries they examined had worked with at least 250 clients selling goods or services; that figure refers to the intermediaries’ clients, not the companies covered by the new request. The commission also said the examples in the report were hypothetical and that the study was still ongoing. The findings show the kinds of data and tools the commission is focusing on, without establishing how widespread the practice is among companies or attributing it to any particular company.

Walmart denied using customer data to set individual prices and said it does not engage in dynamic pricing. The company said it does not and will not use personal information, income, shopping history, a customer’s urgency or willingness to pay to set an individual price. In its statement, it wrote: "We price products, not people." The statement sets out the company’s position in response to the inquiry, which asks a group of companies for information about how they use data, without the request alone determining whether the practices occurred or whether companies complied with the law. Walmart shares closed at $118.67 on October 28, while Uber shares closed at $65.78 on October 27, according to EL7 data.

The federal move comes amid growing debate in the states over the use of data and algorithms in pricing. The Associated Press reported that lawmakers in at least 30 states considered pricing-related bills during 2026, including measures addressing algorithmic and personalized pricing. The agency reported that Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut enacted restrictions on using shoppers’ data to determine what they pay; the laws in the first two states focus on groceries, while Connecticut’s law covers a broader range of retail purchases. The commission continues with its proposed approach of gathering information, requiring disclosure and enforcing existing laws, following the end of the comment period on the draft on September 25. The requested information is intended to inform a subsequent study for regulators and lawmakers.