US regulator asks nine companies how personal data sets their prices and pay
The Federal Trade Commission wants to know whether what companies know about you changes what you pay, and what gig workers earn.
Picture made for ABURA Bureau.
On 28 October 2026 the US Federal Trade Commission sent special orders to nine companies: three airlines, two ride-hailing firms, two food-delivery firms and two large retailers. The orders, a study power the agency uses to gather facts rather than to bring a case, ask each company to explain the inputs, tools and steps it uses to set prices and workers' pay.
The question is whether prices differ from one person to the next because of loyalty schemes or analysis of personal data, and whether pay offers to gig workers depend on data such as how they use their phones or which offers they accepted before. The companies have 45 days to answer.
For anyone who holds customer data, the direction is clear. Using personal data to set an individual price is moving from a quiet practice to one regulators expect to see explained. Data that is collected and used openly, with people's agreement, keeps its value; data used out of sight is turning into a liability.
