Privacy / Regulation / AI Governance
FTC orders nine airlines, ride-hail, delivery and retail firms to explain personal-data pricing and pay
Section 6(b) orders to Delta, Uber, Walmart and six others ask for the inputs, tools and procedures behind individualised prices and gig-worker compensation. Recipients have 45 days to respond.
The US Federal Trade Commission has issued special orders under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act to nine companies: Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart. The agency wants to know whether prices, and gig-worker pay, vary between individuals based on personal data or loyalty-programme participation.
The orders ask each firm to document the inputs, tools and procedures used to set or adjust prices and compensation. The FTC cites driver data such as phone usage and offer-acceptance history as possible inputs to pay. Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson called the methodology “opaque”.
The FTC says its 2024 study looked only at consultancies, not price-setters. Recipients have 45 days from receipt to respond, and the FTC can seek court enforcement. The Commission voted 2-0. A proposed enforcement policy statement on undisclosed personalised pricing went out for comment in August.
Why it matters
The orders treat pricing and pay algorithms as data-processing systems whose inputs must be documented and explained. Organisations using customer or worker data, including loyalty or browsing data, in pricing or compensation models need lineage that shows which personal attributes feed which decisions. Combined with the August proposed policy statement on undisclosed personalised pricing, this signals that a lack of disclosure about personal-data use in pricing may be treated as a potential FTC Act issue.
Status: Investigation. 6(b) study orders issued; no enforcement purpose or findings yet
What to check
- Check whether you can document the inputs, tools and procedures used by any model that sets or adjusts individual prices or worker compensation.
- Identify whether personal data such as browsing behaviour, loyalty-programme membership, phone usage or offer-acceptance history feeds pricing or pay decisions.
- Review whether customers and workers are told when personal data influences the price they pay or the pay they receive.
Sources
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Governance areas
Enforcement
- Action
- Investigation
- Authority
- US Federal Trade Commission
- Concerning
- Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target, Walmart
- Law
- FTC Act, Section 6(b) (study orders)
Case status: Open
Enforcement trackerInstitutions
Who should care
- DPO
- Legal & compliance
- AI governance lead
- Data stewards