Purpose

This bill would ban surveillance-based price setting by retail food stores in Minnesota. Its goal is to protect consumers from prices that are personalized or adjusted based on observed personal data collected through surveillance technologies. It creates rules for what counts as surveillance, what prices can and cannot be set based on personal information, and when certain pricing or data practices are allowed.

Key terms and how they are used

• Surveillance-based price setting: offering or changing an item’s price for a specific consumer or group based on personal information gathered by surveillance technologies.
• Electronic surveillance technology: tools like sensors, cameras, device tracking, biometric monitoring, or other methods that collect personal information about a consumer.
• Biometric data: data from automatic measurements of biological characteristics (e.g., fingerprints, facial recognition, voice prints, iris/retina scans, gait).
• Facial recognition technology: tech that identifies or analyzes a person based on facial features or related data.
• Personal information: a broad set of data that can identify or be linked to a person, including immutable traits (race, eye color), mutable traits (address, weight, citizenship, family status), identifiers (names, IDs, IP addresses), purchase history, online activity, geolocation, and inferences about preferences, psychology, or behavior.
• Electronic shelf label: digital price tags or displays used in stores.
• Retail food store: a store that sells food to the public, excluding online-only sales.

Main provisions and what the bill seeks to accomplish

• Prohibition of surveillance-based pricing: Retail food stores cannot offer, set, or adjust prices for an item for a specific consumer or group based on the consumer’s personal information or data gathered by electronic surveillance technologies (including biometric or facial recognition data).
• Definitions and scope: The bill defines all relevant terms (biometric data, electronic surveillance technology, facial recognition technology, personal information, price, etc.) and applies to stores that sell food in person (not those that only sell online).
• Exceptions to the prohibition (when price differences or discounts may occur without violating the ban):
  • Differences in price based solely on reasonable costs to provide the item to different consumers.
  • Discounts offered to members of a group defined by publicly disclosed criteria (occupation, age, military service, student status, etc.), where the discount is available to all who meet the criteria.
  • Discounts or rewards offered uniformly to all consumers who meet the disclosed criteria, with personal information used only to offer/administer the discount and not for other targeted purposes.
  • Discounts tied to a bona fide loyalty program, where participation is voluntary and the discount is offered to enrollees.
• Biometric data usage rules (allowed under strict conditions):
  • Stores may use biometric data if the consumer voluntarily provides it to verify identity, and the store provides written notice about purpose, retention period, and sharing with law enforcement; the consumer must sign a written release; the store cannot sell or share biometric data with third parties.
  • The bill clarifies that biometric data can be used in this limited, consent-based way, but not for other purposes beyond the stated discount/verification scenario.
• Purchase history-based discounts: Stores may use a consumer’s purchase history to offer discounts, provided they follow the conditions in the group-based/loyalty-discount provisions (i.e., not using data for targeted advertising or surveillance-based pricing beyond the allowed discount framework).
• Required facial recognition signage: If a store uses facial recognition technology, it must post clear, plain-language notices at the main entrance describing the technology’s purpose and use.
• Restrictions on electronic shelf labels (for large stores):
  • Stores larger than 10,000 square feet cannot use electronic shelf labels unless prices are changed no more than once per day at a disclosed time, and they must also provide a non-digital price presentation for each item (e.g., signs or labels that show the price without digital display).
• Public disclosure and transparency: The bill emphasizes disclosures about the use of surveillance technologies and how personal information is used in pricing.

Significant changes to existing law

• Introduces a broad prohibition on price-setting practices that rely on consumer data gathered by surveillance technologies, which could restrict dynamic or personalized pricing practices in physical retail.
• Creates explicit definitions for biometric data, electronic surveillance technology, and facial recognition to regulate how these tools can be used in pricing.
• Adds mandatory disclosures and signage for any use of facial recognition technology.
• Places new limits on the use of electronic shelf labels in large retail food stores, requiring that any price changes occur only once daily and that nondigital price presentation be available.
• Allows certain narrowly defined, consent-based or loyalty-based pricing mechanisms, but tightly constrains when and how personal data can be used for pricing.

Relevant terms - Surveillance-based price setting - Biometric data - Electronic surveillance technology - Facial recognition technology - Personal information - Electronic shelf label - Retail food store - Price (as it relates to consumer transactions) - Loyalty program - Group-based discount - Buy-now personalization (implied through targeted pricing concepts) - Consent and disclosure related to biometric data