#liberals

English – The Conversation | Your browsing history could soon set your grocery bill — and Canada isn’t ready for it by Jake Okechukwu Effoduh, Assistant Professor, School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Surveillance pricing – also called algorithmic personalized pricing – lets retailers show different shoppers different prices for the same item at the same time by using data such as browsing history, location and purchase patterns, and a recent parliamentary vote rejected an NDP motion to ban the practice; while most Canadians are unfamiliar with the term, a March poll found 52 % would support a ban, and a U.S. investigation of Instacart revealed shoppers paying up to 23 % more for identical groceries, prompting the company to halt the program after backlash. Canadian stores are increasingly equipped with digital shelf labels and AI pricing engines, yet existing consumer‑protection, competition and privacy laws do not address individualized price discrimination, leaving shoppers in the dark. By contrast, New York’s Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act and the EU’s 2019 consumer‑rights reforms require notices when algorithms set prices, and Manitoba’s proposed Bill 49 would outright prohibit surveillance pricing. In the short term, consumers can try private browsing or disabling loyalty accounts, but meaningful protection will likely require a federal disclosure mandate or a ban similar to those being considered elsewhere, because current regulations and the Competition Bureau’s remit are ill‑suited to curb this opaque practice. Read more: https://theconversation.com/your-browsing-history-could-soon-set-your-grocery-bill-and-canada-isnt-ready-for-it-281618 #NDP #Liberals #CompetitionBureau #CompetitionAct #AlgorithmicPricing