With a quick signature, Mayor Katie Wilson made Seattle the first city in the U.S. to ban surveillance pricing," a consumer protection and privacy measure she said would stop large grocers from using personal data to charge shoppers different prices for the same product.
The new law was stiffly opposed by grocery industry representatives and went through hours of debate at multiple City Council meetings, but was ultimately approved by a 7-2 vote, with Councilmembers Bob Kettle and Maritza Rivera voting no.
Wilson and Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who shepherded the bill to Wilson's desk, said the law was a salvo against corporate greed and intended to protect shoppers and their right to privacy.
"Everything is getting more expensive, from gas to housing to food," Wilson said Monday at a signing ceremony. "And while the price of groceries keeps going up and up, some corporations are finding new ways to profit."
The new law prevents large grocery retailers and delivery services from using personal information — including race, gender, Google searches and social media history, among other things — to manipulate prices customers pay. The rules don't apply to chains with fewer than 20 locations, convenience stores and farmers markets.
The practice of “algorithmic price discrimination” is usually kept hidden from shoppers, who see only the final tally of what they’ve been charged.
Surrounded by supporters of the new law — including representatives from the grocery workers union UFCW 3000, the state’s largest union; MLK Labor, the council representing more than 150 unions in Seattle and King County; and organizing group WA People's Privacy — Wilson said the practice "isn't a secret" but few shoppers know about it.
Rinck suggested even fewer people would support the practice if they were aware of it, and said the new law attacks "what is fueling the affordability crisis. Corporate greed."
Councilmember Rob Saka, who co-sponsored the bill with Councilmember Dionne Foster, said the law would help protect grocery store workers.
"Our front-line workers are the ones who engage directly with customers every day, and they see the confusion and frustration and concern that can arise when an algorithm shapes the price of a particular product, rather than the free market," Saka said.
City Attorney Erika Evans, whose office is tasked with enforcing the measure, called it "historic legislation" that gives her office the power to subpoena records, and gives a "private right of action" to people and allows them to bring a lawsuit against a company for flouting the laws.
Evans said arguments that the law would ban coupons were false, pointing to Public Enemy's 1988 song, "Don't Believe the Hype."
"Coupons are protected here,” she said, adding that the rule is about "transparency and fairness and not letting artificial intelligence dictate what we are paying.
The legislation takes effect Sept. 1, 2027.
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