Maryland Passes Landmark Ban on Surveillance Pricing at Grocery Stores
The Consumer Protection – Surveillance Pricing – Prohibition Act (SB 387 / HB 895) is set to become law on October 1, 2026, making Maryland the first state to prohibit food retailers from using personal data to charge different shoppers different prices for the same grocery item.
Maryland is on track to become the first U.S. state to ban surveillance pricing in retail grocery stores and certain third‑party delivery platforms. Governor Wes Moore has announced he will sign the Consumer Protection – Surveillance Pricing – Prohibition Act (SB 387 / HB 895) after the legislature passed it. The effective date of the law is October 1, 2026, targeting a practice where algorithms use individual consumer data to set different prices for identical products.
🔍 Same Product, Different Price: See How Data Can Change Your Checkout
Tap each digital shelf tag to explore the types of personal data that retailers can use—unless restricted by law.
- Location: Suburban ZIP code; moderate‑income area; two competitor stores within 1.5 miles.
- Shopping habits: Shops weekly; uses paper coupons; no loyalty app installed.
- Inferred income: Middle‑income band; no premium‑credit‑card data detected.
- Browsing behavior: Minimal online browsing before purchases; no persistent cart‑abandonment signals.
- Loyalty data: Enrolled in store loyalty program; purchase history shared with retailer’s analytics engine.
- Geolocation: Lives in a neighborhood with only one grocery option within 3 miles.
- Dietary profile: Frequently buys organic and specialty‑diet products; algorithm flags “low price sensitivity” for these categories.
- App usage: Uses the store’s mobile app; allows location tracking; linked to a premium credit card.
- Residential data: ZIP code correlates with above‑average household income.
- Time‑of‑day signal: Typically shops during peak evening hours; store’s system flags higher willingness to pay during convenience windows.
- Privacy tools: Uses a VPN; clears cookies regularly; shops in incognito mode.
- Obfuscated location: Retailer cannot reliably determine ZIP code or proximity to competitors.
- Sparse data profile: Minimal digital footprint; no loyalty‑card linkage; algorithm defaults to baseline pricing.
📜 What Maryland’s Legislation Requires
- Price Fixation: Grocery prices must remain constant for at least one full business day. Hour‑by‑hour fluctuations based on store traffic, weather, or individual shopper data are prohibited.
- Surveillance Data Ban: Retailers cannot use surveillance data—search history, precise geolocation, inferred purchasing power—to set different prices for different individuals for the same item at the same time. Protected‑class data (such as ethnicity and religion) and sensitive data (such as biometric information) are also explicitly off‑limits for ad targeting and pricing under the law.
- Enforcement: Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive trade practices under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act. Only the Maryland Attorney General can bring action—there is no private right to sue under these specific provisions. Retailers receive a 45‑day cure window before penalties apply.
- Exceptions Allowed: The Act expressly permits promotional pricing, loyalty/rewards programs offered publicly with consent, objective cost differences such as shipping or taxes, public discount criteria, price corrections, and price resets after system outages. (Enrolled bill text)
📅 How We Got Here
The Consumer Protection – Surveillance Pricing – Prohibition Act establishes that grocery prices seen on a Maryland store shelf must be the same price paid at the register by every shopper that day, regardless of what personal data the retailer has collected. The legislation addresses the intersection of AI‑driven data analytics, electronic shelf labels, and consumer data. It builds on the state’s Online Data Privacy Act of 2024 and treats violations under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.
The enforcement framework grants authority solely to the Maryland Attorney General, with a 45‑day correction window for retailers before civil penalties—starting at $10,000 for a first offense and $25,000 for subsequent violations—can be imposed. Loyalty program pricing remains exempt, a gap that Consumer Reports has urged legislators to close. California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, and other states are exploring similar measures, while New York has already enacted a related pricing transparency law.
