Exclusive | The secret ways stores are charging you more than your friends for the same thing and its legal
Your browsing history is making your Uber rides cost more than your friends’ — even if you’re going to the same place.It’s a controversial practice called surveillance pricing, or “personalized pricing” as noted by The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).The sneaky scheme has put a spotlight on major companies like Uber, Target and Kroger, all of which have been accused of setting individual prices based on what they think you’re willing to pay.Here’s how surveillance pricing works: Retailers scrape data from your phone and laptop — things like your purchase history, browsing behavior, whether you comparison shop, your location, your age and more.
Like a freaky science fiction film, that intel gets filtered into an invisible dossier and analyzed by an AI bot or algorithm, which tells companies how much you’ll likely spend on a service or item.After learning about this somehow-legal scam, my co-worker and I decided to do an experiment:We both ordered an Uber to the exact same location.We were in the same spot and requested a ride at the same time — but I was charged $36.95 and he was charged $33.94, nearly 10% less.We tried the same experiment with Uber’s main competition, the rideshare app Lyft.
Again, we used the exact same pickup point.This time, my ride was $24.98 and his was $31.95 — almost 28% more expensive.“Weird,” said my co-worker.
It was, which is why we kept testing our product pricing.The Post compared a slew of items from Target, Walmart, Kroger, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash — all mega-companies that have been accused of surveillance pricing online.But the biggest offender, The Post found, was on ridesharing apps Uber and Lyft.In another experiment, a friend — 33, in Brooklyn — typed in the same pickup location as I did, with the drop-off location at our Midtown office.The popular rideshare app charged me $52.93 and her $47.20 — almost $6 more.We then tried JFK Airport and once again the difference was huge — mine was $...