On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission ordered Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart to provide detailed information on using personal data to set prices and compensation. The orders were issued under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act.

Recipients have 45 days from the date they receive the orders to respond. If a company fails to turn over required information, the Commission can compel compliance in federal court. The Commission vote to approve issuing the special orders was 2-0.

The orders ask companies to document the inputs, tools and procedures used to adjust or set compensation and pricing. The agency intends to assess whether pricing varies from one person to the next based on factors such as participation in loyalty programs or analysis of personal data by superintelligence algorithms.

"We intend to scrutinize the opaque methodology that some companies in these industries may be using to determine how much consumers pay or how much gig workers are paid for the same product or service," said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. "Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer." He added that "workers also deserve to know if their compensation is affected by how companies use their personal data."

The Commission issued a study on personalized pricing in mid-2024. The Federal Trade Commission said the 2024 study examined only middlemen consultancies rather than the businesses that actually set prices. The agency said it learned nothing about actual pricing decisions from that study. In August, the Commission invited public comment on a proposed enforcement policy statement describing how the undisclosed use of personal information to set a price unique to a consumer could violate the FTC Act.