New FTC Chair Fighting DEI, Cuts Off Public Comments on Surveillance Pricing

While Lina Khan spent most of her four years at the helm of the Federal Trade Commission fighting monopolies and price gouging wars, it seems Donald Trump’s new FTC chairman, Andrew Ferguson, has zeroed in on a single supposed cause for economic woes:: of. Sitting commissioner Alvaro Bedoya doesn’t think that will do the trick, and in one Burning disagreements As for Ferguson’s fight on diversity, the FTC has outlined a number of issues it’s working on but has now shut down the public’s ability to comment.

According to Bedowa’s statement, in which he described Ferguson as “disinterested in the challenges facing regular people,” he pointed to five requests for information that the FTC sought public input on. It includes a question about how the Commission can Protect workers from illegal business practices Like noncompetes and no-pouch clauses, Predatory price warsAnd Help small businesses.

Perhaps most notably, Ferguson declined comment on a related request Surveillance pricing practicesIncluding exploring how companies collect and trade people’s personal data and use that information to set different prices for products.

The practice has become increasingly common, especially online, where companies access large amounts of user data as individuals shop around for products and services. This is a practice most associated with airline tickets – for years it has been believed that airlines Change the price Based on the number of times a consumer looks at a flight. But a A recent FTC studyPublished just before the end of the Biden administration, the practice was found to be far more widespread. Former FTC chairman Khan warned that companies are setting “targeted, fair prices for goods and services” based on everything “from a person’s location and demographics, down to their mouse movement on a webpage.” “

That seems like the sort of thing the FTC should be looking for. Alas, this is apparently no longer on the agenda. Commissioner Bedoya Stated In his contention that Ferguson’s focus on DII is “a game for X’s retweets — the kind of stunt that doesn’t generate a repertoire of regular people who can’t afford to hire.” Of course, the way to reduce the rising cost of living is that Americans are increasingly stressed Debt And poverty But it doesn’t seem to pass through X