“This policy stops corporations from using personal data to squeeze more money out of shoppers,” Wilson said in the announcement of her new initiative. “They’re not compiling all this information about us to charge us less; they’re trying to maximize what they can charge. Businesses are free to set their prices in a fair and transparent manner. The same product, in the same store, should cost the same no matter who’s pushing the cart.”
It would be a first in the nation law.
Wilson’s office says the bill has been crafted after months of engagement with labor unions, consumer privacy advocates, and “industry partners.”
The bill is the latest thrust in Seattle efforts to regulate industry efforts around dynamic and algorithmic pricing. In 2025, the city council passed a ban on “algorithmic rent fixing” after the state sued property management software company RealPage and a group of large landlords alleging they colluded to inflate rents through a price-fixing scheme.
It is also City Hall’s latest salvo against the grocery industry. 2025 also brought a ban on “negative use restrictions” prohibiting the use of covenants preventing a property from being used as a grocery store or pharmacy after a large chain closes a store.
Under the proposal unveiled this week, large grocery retailers defined as chains with 20 or more global locations, such as Safeway and QFC, and major delivery platforms like Instacart and DoorDash would be barred from setting individualized prices based on sensitive personal metrics including race, employment status, browsing history, location tracking, or AI chatbot interactions.
The ordinance also prohibits using electronic shelf labels to display algorithmically altered prices.
Thanks for posting. I wasn’t able to load the capitolhillseattle.com link because CloudFlare blocked me.
I know some grocery stores have been switching to app-based coupons as a way to save money on paper mailers, but also because they can tailor the coupons based on each individual customer’s likelihood of buying. I sent a message to the city council in support.
Ah I was just about to post about this!
Source for these quoted segments
When I saw the headline, I immediately thought of the RealPage bullshit and rent fixing. This is great news!
Thanks for posting. I wasn’t able to load the capitolhillseattle.com link because CloudFlare blocked me.
I know some grocery stores have been switching to app-based coupons as a way to save money on paper mailers, but also because they can tailor the coupons based on each individual customer’s likelihood of buying. I sent a message to the city council in support.
The actual proposed bill is here
appreciate the link but… is that the right one? “An ordinance relating to domestic worker labor standards in Seattle;”
You’re right. I copied the wrong one out of the commitee agenda doc.
Here’s the right one:
https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15745977&GUID=30A54712-2A1D-4EFE-BFDE-8BCCE843730F
that’s a good link, ty!
Thank you for linking to the proposed bill!