LANSING, Mich. (May 20, 2026) — Today, Sens. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) and John Cherry (D-Flint) introduced legislation to ban surveillance pricing for e-commerce and dynamic pricing for retail stores. Used by airlines, rideshares, online retailers, hotels, and increasingly grocery stores, these deceptive practices work to benefit businesses’ bottom line at the expense of the consumer.
“Michiganders deserve to know that the price they see is the same price everyone sees — not a number an algorithm picked because it decided they’d pay more,” said Sen. McMorrow. “While big business attempts to weaponize our personal data for their own profit, my legislation pulls from the best of what other states are already doing — California’s approach to geolocation and device-based pricing, and New York’s protections around personal characteristics — and brings those protections to Michigan consumers.”
Surveillance pricing occurs when businesses use AI-powered algorithmic pricing tools to track consumers’ private information — including income level, browsing history, and even what kind of phone they’re using — to charge what they think each person would be willing to pay. It’s an increasingly common practice utilized by online retailers and apps, like the ones used to shop for groceries or purchase a plane ticket, that aims to influence their online purchasing behavior. Senate Bill 991 would put a stop to this exploitative practice by prohibiting price discrimination based on the type of device someone is using, their geolocation data, and protected class data, such as race or income.
“Between the price of gas and rising utility bills, Michiganders are already having a hard time staying afloat, and companies’ exploitative pricing tactics are only making it worse,” said Sen. Cherry. “People shouldn’t be charged more for shopping in a certain zip code or just because they’re picking up a few groceries on their way home from work after the 5 o’clock hour. Our legislation aims to crack down on these increasingly common algorithmic pricing practices, protecting both Michigan consumers’ peace of mind and hard-earned money.”
Dynamic pricing occurs when companies adjust the price of a consumer item at any time in response to real-time factors such as the time of day, day of the week, or the current weather or temperature. Senate Bill 992 would ban retailers from using price displays that are subject to this deceptive practice, preventing, for example, a customer from being charged more from the moment they pick their item off the shelf to when they check out at the register.
This legislation now heads to the Senate Committee on Economic and Community Development, where it will be taken up tomorrow for testimony.