Kouri Marshall, senior director of state and local government affairs at Chamber of Progress, said to Colorado lawmakers that there is no evidence consumers are being systematically harmed by surveillance-based pricing, as legislators are reportedly considering a bill aimed at banning the practice.
He made the comments during a hearing before the Colorado House Business Affairs and Labor Committee, where lawmakers reviewed HB26-1210, a proposal sponsored by Reps. Jennifer Bacon and Javier Mabrey. The measure would prohibit companies from using surveillance-derived data to set individualized prices or wages.
Marshall pushed back on claims that personalized pricing systems are broadly harming consumers, arguing that existing research does not support that conclusion.
“No one has demonstrated that consumers are being systematically overcharged through personalized pricing. Not the FTC report, which documented that the capability exists, but stopped well short of finding that it’s harming consumers at scale,” Marshall said.
He also cited other studies frequently referenced in the debate, saying they similarly fail to show widespread consumer harm.
“Not the Instacart study, whose own authors acknowledged the price differences they found couldn’t be linked to consumer characteristics. We heard the sponsors make a lot of claims about surveillance pricing today, but they just didn’t present any evidence to support their claims,” he added.
The discussion comes amid increased scrutiny of data-driven pricing practices at both the state and federal level.
The Federal Trade Commission voted in July 2024 to open an inquiry into surveillance-based pricing models, issuing orders to eight data intermediaries involved in digital pricing systems. A staff report released in January 2025 found that companies have access to large volumes of consumer data that can feed pricing algorithms, but it did not conclude that the systems are causing harm at scale.
The report later drew criticism from the incoming FTC chair, who questioned its timing and framing.
Separately, a December 2025 analysis by Groundwork Collaborative and Consumer Reports examined price differences among Instacart users buying identical products. While the study observed variation in prices, its statistical analysis found no significant link between those differences and demographic characteristics.
Supporters of data-driven pricing argue the tools also enable consumer benefits such as digital coupons, loyalty rewards, and personalized discounts. Groundwork Collaborative has estimated that such programs can save the average household more than $1,400 annually.
Marshall oversees policy engagement across 33 states for Chamber of Progress, a technology industry coalition whose members include Amazon, Google, Uber, and Instacart. He previously worked in the Illinois governor’s office under J.B. Pritzker and served as a state director on Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.
