Picture this: You and a friend are on the road trying to hail a cab to get to your destination, but it’s a busy day! You’ll look for one on a ride-sharing app at the same time, hoping to find a cab there. The app on your phone quotes $39, but the same app on your friend’s phone quotes $29! Same destination, same moment. The only real difference is the person holding the phone! That difference has a name, and it’s called surveillance pricing. Surveillance pricing uses your personal data to estimate the most you would pay for a product or service and then charges you close to that amount. It’s also called personalized pricing.
A little more on surveillance pricing
So what led to the quote on your phone being so much higher than your friend’s? It’s your digital footprint. That’s basically all your online activity, including but not limited to your past purchases. Companies gather and analyze all this data and gauge your buyer profile. This profile includes your purchase preferences, which products or services are on your must-have list, and which ones you are price-sensitive to, thus understanding your behaviour as a customer. Product or service prices are adjusted accordingly as a pricing strategy. What’s sneaky is that because it’s such a personalized strategy, you’ll never know you’ve overpaid unless you’re sitting side-by-side with a friend who has a different buyer profile.
Now compare this to standardized pricing. For example, prices on the shelves at a department store where they can’t profile the buyer picking the goods off them. This doesn’t leave room to maximize profits by customizing pricing.
Surveillance pricing is flat-out price discrimination driven down to the individual level and powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
How it works
Every time you browse around, pause, or make a purchase on an e-commerce website, the data is stored. This includes data such as what you purchased and for how much, even what you hovered over while searching. The data is combined across all platforms and fed into pricing algorithms, creating a data-driven pricing strategy for companies.
The common data points collected include:
- Browsing and search history: The products you looked up and how long you hesitated. Are key components to understand consumer preference
- Purchase history: What you purchased and for how much.
- Device and location: An expensive phone used from an affluent location can signal a higher budget.
- Digital wallets used: Also a store for purchase habits
Companies also employ data brokers and web services to collate this information.
You may also notice that when you add a product to your cart and don’t check out, you get notifications offering you another 10% discount to close the sale. Another form of surveillance. This is basically algorithms learning to price a product in real time. They watch your reaction and adjust.
This differs from “dynamic pricing”. Change in weather or inventory, for example: The rise in the price of toilet paper on the night of a storm prediction is a result of the surge in demand.
Some companies blend both, so spotting the pricing discrepancy is very hard.
Why is it concerning
The first problem is the unfairness of it. Greedflation, a phenomenon where companies raise prices higher than their costs require, is anyway adding to the cost-of-living pressure. Add to that the differentials that come along with surveillance.
Secondly, the ethics of it. Most consumers hit agree on the privacy and data usage-related terms and conditions. However, consumers usually assume marketing emails because of the consent given by them, not higher prices or custom pricing.
Yes, personalized pricing could also lead to getting a lower price for some shoppers who might be on a budget. The concern is that consumers are not informed.
Is it happening in Canada?
It’s hard to gauge how much surveillance-based pricing is happening, but it is happening. Companies collecting the data needed to create individual shopper profiles exist and are offering the service to retailers. It’s hard, however, to know the extent to which e-retailers are using them.
What does the law say?
Under personal data protection laws, pricing surveillance could be deemed illegal. A public consultation on pricing algorithms conducted by the Competition Bureau of Canada revealed that many respondents advocated for the government to regulate algorithmic pricing to ensure fairness and transparency in pricing models. Many others also called for it to be banned altogether.
In June 2026, Bill C-36, the proposed Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act, was introduced to Parliament. If enacted, it will widen personal information to cover data inferred about you.
On the provincial front, Manitoba amended its Business Practices Act to bar retailers from using personal information to indulge in higher price quotes. The law passed in June 2026. Ontario, meanwhile, took another course, with Premier Doug Ford citing free markets.
The public consultation by the Competition Bureau goes on to say that while no jurisdiction has a fully comprehensive framework, the United States has the Federal Trade Commission Act and elements of a proposed bill, titled the Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act, such as requiring businesses to disclose algorithmic pricing among other provisions.
How to reduce your exposure
In today’s world, shunning online shopping altogether isn’t an option for many of us. Hence, you can’t help but have your data collected. However, you could make it harder.
- Use private browsing and always log out.
- Delete browsing history and cookies frequently
- Compare across different devices – phone, laptop and even use your neighbour’s or a friend’s.
- App versus shelf. The comparison will help spot any pricing discrepancy
- Turn off location access for apps
- Consider a VPN for big purchases. Especially consumer electronics and travel
A general healthy financial habit is also to keep any frivolous spending in check. Preplanned purchases and budgeting will also keep any personalized price surge away.
Has your financial health already taken a hit because of surveillance pricing? Has it caused debt to pile up and become unmanageable? We can help. One of our trained credit counsellors can work with you to come up with a debt repayment strategy that you can comfortably maintain within your budget.
