FTC demands answers from 9 big companies on how they set prices

The Federal Trade Commission has ordered nine companies to explain how they set prices and pay workers. The agency announced it Wednesday, Oct. 28. It wants to know whether personal data plays a role. The nine are Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart.

What the FTC wants to know

The agency will look at whether prices change based on things like loyalty program use or an AI analysis of personal data. It will also check whether pay for ride and delivery drivers changes based on phone usage or past offers they accepted or turned down.

• Each company has 45 days from receiving the order to respond.
• The FTC can go to federal court to force a company to answer.
• Chairman Andrew Ferguson said consumers deserve to know if web surfing habits are used to estimate the highest price they will pay.

In August, the FTC published a bulletin warning that using personal data to set prices could break the law.

What is not known yet

Delta said it has never used, tested or planned a fare that targets customers with individual offers based on personal data. PYMNTS asked the other eight companies for comment and had not heard back. Nothing in the report shows that any of them uses personal data this way. The orders only require answers, and the report does not say what the FTC will do afterward.