FTC orders nine companies (Walmart, Delta, Uber, DoorDash, others) to detail how personal data shapes prices and pay (Oct 28)
What happened
The Federal Trade Commission on Oct. 28 issued Section 6(b) orders to nine airlines, ride-hailing, delivery and retail companies — Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart — demanding detailed information on how they use consumers' personal data to set prices and, for ride-hailing and delivery platforms, how they use drivers' personal data to set compensation. The FTC wants to assess whether prices for tickets, rides, food deliveries and other products vary from person to person based on loyalty-program participation or AI/algorithmic analysis of personal data. FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said: '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.' The Commission has not accused any of the nine of breaking the law, and recipients have 45 days to respond. Delta responded that it has 'zero tolerance for discriminatory or predatory pricing' and that no fare product targets customers with individualized offers based on personal data; JetBlue said it doesn't use personal information or web-browsing history to set individual prices.
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Who’s affected
- Directly ordered: Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Delta (DAL), United (UAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT), DoorDash (DASH), Instacart (owned by DASH via pending $17B deal). Sector read-through: algorithmic/pricing-software vendors and gig-economy models face regulatory headline risk; airlines and e-commerce platforms exposed to potential disclosure requirements on fare/pricing practices.