Nine Companies Must Now Explain How Your Data Sets Your Price

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an inquiry into whether companies use personal data to set individualized prices, and three major airlines are on the list. Delta, JetBlue and United are among nine companies ordered to hand over detailed information, alongside Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart.

In an October 28 announcement, FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson said consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web-surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price each person will pay. It is a pointed way to frame a practice that shoppers have long suspected but rarely been able to prove.

The orders require the airlines to describe any methodology that uses personal information as an input to adjust or set prices, how widely it has been deployed, and which parts of the price it affects. That could cover fares, fees or add-ons, and the responses may show how far airline pricing has moved beyond simple fare buckets.

Companies are responding. JetBlue told Travel Weekly it does not use personal information in that way. An inquiry of this kind is information gathering rather than an accusation, but the answers could shape future rules, and travelers comparing fares may soon learn much more about why two people see different prices.

Sources: Travel Weekly, Federal Trade Commission