The bill would ban using personal data to charge customers different prices for the same goods

For those unaware: algorithmic pricing is the practice of using data about a user to change how much to charge them. For example if a company buys your data and realizes that you just got paid, or that you’re that you’re really desperate for whatever product, or whatever, then they will charge you more. Usually this is done by a company requiring you to download an app so that you can “see” the prices, though it can be done more inconspicuously with online shopping.

This practice is becoming common in some areas. So its good to hear that Manitoba will be the first jurisdiction in Canada to outlaw the practice.

    • a_gee_dizzle@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      7·
      3 days ago

      He is very cool. Have you seen his old rap videos? The conservatives tried to publicize this during the election here to make him look bad, but it backfired because it just made him look based af

    • a_gee_dizzle@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      4·
      3 days ago

      Hard to say. I think there is strong public opposition to this practice though, so if there it occurs I think the chance of it being reported is pretty high. There is of course more follow up work that needs to be done after that, but thats still promising

      • ValueSubtracted@startrek.websiteMEnglish
        4·
        3 days ago

        No doubt - I’d rather have a law like this on the books than not.

        But I hate under-enforced laws that are so troublesome to seek justice for that most people don’t bother.

        • a_gee_dizzle@lemmy.caOPEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          I agree that laws that you can’t enforce sort of just clutter up our legal system. And there are some contexts where this law would be hard to enforce, specifically when it comes to online shopping. In that context people won’t see how much other people are getting charged, so they may not realize that algorithmic pricing is at play. And it’s hard to enforce a law violation when no one knows that it’s going on.

          But when it comes to shopping in person, this law would be easier to enforce, since in that context it would depend on people downloading an app to “see” prices. And that seems like something that is very easy to spot and prevent. So at the very least this law will be effective at preventing algorithmic pricing from creeping into physical stores.

  • streetfestival@lemmy.caEnglish
    3·
    3 days ago

    It’ll be great to shut it (!), but ride share apps (eg, uber) have already blown this door open. Not just surge pricing (ie, when there’s high demand on the app, which doesn’t use individual data per se). But folks, mostly with mobility issues, have told me that once they start making the same trip regularly in an app (eg, to the grocery store and back weekly) then that trip starts gets significantly more expensive for them in the app

    • a_gee_dizzle@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      I wonder if this would mean that Uber and Lyft will need to change how they charge people in Manitoba. I think you could make a case that its not the same though, because basing price based off availability of drivers is not necessarily the same as using personal data about a user to tailor the price to them specifically. In the first case it applies to everyone using the service at that time, in the second case it still varies person to person