California Panel Strips Down Surveillance Pricing Measure

A California privacy measure that would ban data-driven pricing was significantly scaled back Friday by a Senate panel amid claims from businesses that it would derail common practices like loyalty programs.

The state Senate Appropriations Committee voted to narrow the first-in-the-nation legislation (AB 446) that would place major curbs against surveillance pricing, a practice where a company charges different prices to consumers based on their personal data. The panel applied the restrictions to only grocery prices.

Senate appropriators considered the surveillance pricing bill in a rapid-fire markup of all Assembly-sponsored measures that have a fiscal impact on the ...