- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Your personal data, including your precise location, browser history, and even your mouse movements, is being used by some companies to show different prices for the same products—a phenomenon the FTC has dubbed “surveillance pricing.”
According to a new FTC report, retailers are hiring “intermediary firms” to algorithmically tweak and target their prices.
“Instead of a price or promotion being a static feature of a product, the same product could have a different price or promotion based on a variety of inputs—including consumer-related data and their behaviors and preferences, the location, time, and channels by which a consumer buys the product,” the FTC says.
“Why pay for more Internet than you need to? Introducing MyPlan! Internet bills are getting out of control these days! And with tariff pricing looming in the near future, we understand how many folks need to curb their spending a bit to make ends meet. MyPlan only charges you for the Internet you use–and not for all that extra bandwidth you’re wasting month after month. Call one of our service representatives today!”
A plan like this would actually work if it were capped at the same price as an unlimited plan.
It never is though. Once I was lucky enough to exploit 1TB from a $70/month 5GB plan back in the days that my ISP didn’t offer anything competitive. I ran that hustle for years.
Sadly, I think the flat rate (which is inevitable) would be way more than what we want to pay. Then paying for the internet we use… So frickin expensive 😔 Great idea otherwise. It’d be awesome. We never use what we’re paying for… But it’s the minimum.