Grocery stores banned from using your data to charge you more

What it does

This bill prohibits grocery stores from price gouging (charging grossly excessive prices) and from using personal data collected through surveillance technology to set different prices for different customers. It also bans large grocery stores from using electronic price tags and requires stores using facial recognition to post notices. The FTC enforces the rules, and consumers can sue stores that violate it.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a dual prohibition: (1) price gouging limits enforced by the FTC and private right of action, and (2) a ban on surveillance-based price discrimination. Both are consumer-protection measures that restrain corporate pricing and data practices.

What the text implies

• Electronic shelf label ban (Section 5) applies only to stores >10,000 sq ft, creating a compliance cliff that may disadvantage large chains more than smaller competitors and could increase labor costs for manual price updates.
• The 'grossly excessive price' standard is delegated entirely to FTC rulemaking (Section 2(d)), leaving the operative definition undefined in statute; enforcement will depend on FTC guidance issued 180 days post-enactment, creating regulatory uncertainty.
• Private right of action (Section 6(c)) allows consumers to sue for $3,000 per violation or actual damages (whichever is greater), with treble damages for willful violations and mandatory attorney's fees; this creates significant litigation exposure for stores and may incentivize class actions.
• Affirmative defense (Section 2(b)) requires stores to prove cost increases were 'not within their control'—a burden-shifting provision that may be difficult to satisfy in practice and could chill legitimate cost-pass-through pricing.
• Biometric data collection (Section 3(c)) is permitted only with written consent and specific disclosures, but the bill does not explicitly prohibit stores from conditioning discounts or services on biometric enrollment, potentially creating coercive consent scenarios.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Consumers gain direct protections: price-gouging limits, bans on surveillance-based price discrimination, and a private right of action with attorney's fees. The bill restricts corporate data practices (facial recognition, personalized pricing) that harm ordinary people, and creates enforceable remedies.

Named in the bill

Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Retail food stores, State attorneys general, Consumers

Where it stands

95 cosponsors: 95 Democrats.

• Aug 12, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Aug 12, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

5 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $4,214,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 16 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.

Rashida Tlaib, the sponsor, reported $42,050 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Walmart Inc — $2,060,000 on 1 filing
• AFL-CIO — $760,000 on 1 filing
• Food Marketplace Inc — $584,000 on 1 filing
• United Food & Commercial Workers International Union — $460,000 on 2 filings
• Kroger Co — $350,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.