View the full episode transcript.
When JetBlue replied to an angry customer on X that they should clear their cookies for a better flight price, it seemed to confirm a long-held consumer belief: companies use your personal data to determine what you should pay in real-time based on your urgency, habits and identity. It’s what’s known as surveillance pricing. According to economic sociologist Lindsay Owens, the practice is rampant. She says companies have been investing for years in sophisticated tools meant to squeeze every last dollar out of consumers — and for the most part, it’s legal. Lindsay joins Morgan to talk about how we got here, the U.S. laws designed to fight back against surveillance pricing and what you can personally do to sidestep the practice.
Guest:
- Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative
Further Reading/Listening:
- The Tiger Mom Tax: Asians Are Nearly Twice as Likely to Get a Higher Price from Princeton Review — Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu and Jeff Larson, Pro Publica
- The hidden way using a rewards card can cost you more — Geoffrey A. Fowler, Washington Post
- Issue Spotlight: The Rise of Surveillance Pricing — FTC Staff, Federal Trade Commission
- Why surveillance pricing bans are suddenly gaining traction this year (and not just in California) — Khari Johnson, CalMatters
- Influencers are peddling ‘the library hack’ as a way to score cheaper flights. Whether it works is beside the point — Grace Snelling, Fast Company
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