Post #4241026

2026-07-30 12:52 UTC

With "surveillance pricing," businesses have finally found something AI can do way, way, *way* better than people: price gouging. -- If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: https://pluralistic.net/2026/07/30/pay-for-privacy/#ab2654 1/

Replies (2)

@pluralistic@mamot.fr 2026-07-30 12:53

As the name suggests, "surveillance pricing" is the practice of charging every customer a different price for every transaction, based on the massive surveillance dossiers that Big Tech companies and data-brokers have assembled on everyone in the world. Congress hasn't updated federal consumer privacy law since 1988 (when they passed a law banning the disclosure of VHS rentals), so pretty much any form of consumer surveillance is fair game. 2/

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@ildiavolorosso@sfba.social 2026-07-30 13:11

@pluralistic@mamot.fr This one hits close to home…literally half a mile, where the SF Board of Supervisors meet. The billionaire oligarchs have poured hundreds of millions into city elections in recent years, buying a majority on the board…and a mayoralty. My district supervisor certainly supports the resolution, but the rest of the board is composed of oligarch-financed neoliberals who will likely shoot the resolution down.

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