Senator Kelda Roys of Madison has introduced new legislation aimed at ensuring fair and transparent pricing for groceries and other consumer goods in Wisconsin. The bill seeks to address concerns about dynamic pricing practices, where retailers use personal data to set different prices for different consumers.
According to Senator Roys, advances in mass surveillance, data collection, and artificial intelligence have enabled some retailers to access detailed information about shoppers—such as age, race, gender, salary, credit score, and purchase history—and adjust prices accordingly. The proposed legislation would prohibit the use of such dynamic pricing by retail sellers both in physical stores and online.
Roys stated: “Today, big retailers are taking advantage of our mass surveillance state and AI to charge different prices to different people based on who you are. That’s not fair, and it’s not good for our economy. All Wisconsin families deserve to know that the price they pay at the grocery store or online is the same price their neighbor will pay.”
She continued: “Corporations are collaborating in secret to amass massive amounts of data without meaningful permission or oversight and then feeding that data into AI algorithms designed to maximize profit and extract the highest possible price from each wallet for every widget. The result is jacked up prices. This is dystopian and makes a mockery of the free market.”
Roys added: “Fairness, transparency, and competition are needed for markets to function. There’s nothing acceptable about discriminatory pricing that lets retailers use your race, salary, credit, or purchase history to have AI charge you more than the person who purchased the same product right before you.”
She concluded: “The cost of living is already rising at unsustainable rates for Wisconsinites, and dynamic pricing is making it worse. This bill will help lower the cost of groceries and household goods, and is a necessary consumer protection against unfair practices by big corporations.”
Senator Roys has previously contributed to criminal justice reforms and advanced compassionate care legislation during her time in office (https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/26/roys/about/). She was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2009 and served until 2013 (https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/26/roys/about/). Her background includes serving on boards such as Clean Lakes Alliance, ACLU of Wisconsin, and Common Cause (https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/26/roys/about/). Roys holds degrees from New York University and the University of Wisconsin Law School (https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/26/roys/about/) and has focused on issues including reproductive freedom through her participation in caucuses like the Reproductive Freedom working group and LGBTQ+ Caucus (https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/26/roys/about/).
