Senate Bill 6312 — Surveillance-Based Price Discrimination and Surge Pricing (Washington, 2026)

Summary

Senate Bill 6312, State of Washington, 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session, read first time 01/26/26 and referred to the Committee on Business, Trade & Economic Development. The title describes an act relating to prohibiting surveillance-based price discrimination and surge pricing for retail goods. The bill requires a person to clearly post the price of goods in a retail location and prohibits surveillance-based price discrimination and surge pricing. It bars electronic shelf label systems in retail locations 15,000 square feet or larger until January 1, 2030, and directs the department to report to the legislature on a study of those systems by June 30, 2029. It provides that the chapter is known as the "fair pricing and transparency act."

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Full text

     S-4261.1

                                 SENATE BILL 6312


     State of Washington         69th Legislature      2026 Regular Session

     By Senators Saldaña, Alvarado, Conway, Dhingra,      Frame,    Hasegawa,
     Lovelett, Nobles, Shewmake, Stanford, and Valdez

     Read first time 01/26/26.   Referred to Committee on Business, Trade &
     Economic Development.




1        AN   ACT   Relating  to   prohibiting   surveillance-based price
2    discrimination and surge pricing for retail goods; adding a new
3    section to chapter 43.330 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW;
4    creating a new section; and providing expiration dates.


 5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:


 6       NEW SECTION.    Sec. 1.   The legislature finds that the use of
 7   algorithms for surveillance-based price discrimination and surge
 8   pricing threatens fair market access to grocery goods. The use of
 9   automation and dynamic pricing models in retail grocery sales
10   exacerbates inequality and undermines consumer trust. The price of
11   retail grocery goods should be rooted in fairness, not in profiling
12   or prediction.
13       The legislature further finds that comprehensive consumer
14   protection is needed to prevent discriminatory and opaque pricing
15   practices in retail grocery sales as businesses increasingly adopt
16   data-driven technologies to set prices. Innovation should not come at
17   the expense of transparency, fairness, or access to grocery goods.
18       The   legislature   further   finds  that   the   prohibition  of
19   surveillance-based price discrimination and surge pricing will
20   protect consumers from profiling and ensure equitable and fair
21   pricing of grocery goods.
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 1       The legislature further finds that a moratorium on the use of
 2   electronic shelf label systems by grocery businesses will protect
 3   consumers from data collection without their knowledge from their
 4   electronic devices, such as smartphones, to modify the price of
 5   grocery goods for individual shoppers. Pricing should remain
 6   consistent and be clearly posted.
 7       Therefore, the legislature intends to ban surveillance-based
 8   price discrimination and surge pricing and establish a four-year
 9   moratorium on the use of electronic shelf label systems in retail
10   grocery locations to allow further study of the impact on pricing
11   transparency and employee job security.

12       NEW SECTION.   Sec. 2.   The definitions in this section apply
13   throughout  this   chapter unless  the   context  clearly  requires
14   otherwise.
15       (1) "Algorithm" means a computational process that uses a set of
16   rules to define a sequence of operation including, but not limited
17   to, artificial intelligence systems and facial recognition software.
18       (2) "Behaviors" means a consumer's observable, measurable, or
19   inferred actions, habits, preferences, interests, or vulnerabilities,
20   including the consumer's political, personal, or professional
21   affiliations, web browsing history, internet protocol addresses used,
22   locations frequented, purchase history, financial circumstances,
23   consumer behaviors, or inferences associated with a group, band,
24   class, or tier of consumers in which the consumer belongs.
25       (3) "Consumer" means a natural person who is a Washington
26   resident and who acts only in an individual or household context,
27   however identified, including by any unique identifier. The location
28   of a person in Washington state creates the presumption that the
29   person is a Washington resident.
30       (4) "Electronic shelf label system" means any hardware, software,
31   or   connected  technology   used   to   display  or   update   prices
32   electronically, including electronic shelf labels, pricing servers,
33   wireless beacons, and consumer-facing applications, that have the
34   capacity, directly or indirectly, to collect, receive, infer,
35   analyze, or use consumer data for the purpose of modifying,
36   personalizing, or varying the price of goods. Any electronic shelf
37   label system, regardless of whether it is enabled, disabled, or
38   actively utilized, is an electronic shelf label system for the
39   purposes of this act.
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 1       (5) "Goods" means retail products for sale in a grocery
 2   establishment as defined in RCW 49.85.015.
 3       (6) "Inferred data" means data, assumptions, predictions, or
 4   classifications about a consumer that are derived, in whole or in
 5   part, from personally identifiable information, device identifiers,
 6   online activity, loyalty program participation, or other behavioral
 7   information, including, but not limited to, inferences about income,
 8   education level, household composition, likelihood to purchase
 9   certain products, race, ethnicity, age, disability status, or any
10   other protected characteristic.
11       (7) "Person" means any business engaged in the retail sale of
12   goods to consumers. For the purposes of this act, "person" does not
13   include a "small business," as defined in RCW 19.85.020.
14       (8) "Personalized pricing" or "algorithmic pricing" means pricing
15   that is determined or modified in whole or in part through the use of
16   an automated system, artificial intelligence, machine learning model,
17   or algorithm that relies on consumer data or inferred data to
18   determine the price a consumer or group of consumers will be charged.
19       (9)(a) "Personally identifiable information" means information
20   that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of
21   being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or
22   indirectly, with a particular consumer or household. Personally
23   identifiable information includes, but is not limited to, the
24   following if it identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably
25   capable of being associated with, or could be reasonably linked,
26   directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household:
27       (i) Identifiers such as a real name, alias, postal address,
28   unique personal identifier, online identifier, internet protocol
29   address, email address, account name, social security number,
30   driver's   license  number,   passport   number,  or   other   similar
31   identifiers;
32       (ii) Any information that identifies, relates to, describes, or
33   is capable of being associated with, a particular consumer,
34   including, but not limited to, his or her name, signature, social
35   security number, physical characteristics or description, address,
36   telephone number, passport number, driver's license or state
37   identification card number, insurance policy number, education,
38   employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card
39   number, debit card number, or any other financial information,
40   medical information, or health insurance information;
                                     p. 3                          SB 6312
 1       (iii)   Characteristics   of   protected   classifications  under
 2   Washington or federal law;
 3       (iv) Commercial information, including records of personal
 4   property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or
 5   other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies;
 6       (v) Biometric information;
 7       (vi) Internet or other electronic network activity information,
 8   including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and
 9   information regarding a consumer's interaction with an internet
10   website application, or advertisement;
11       (vii) Geolocation data;
12       (viii) Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar
13   information;
14       (ix) Professional or employment-related information;
15       (x) Education information, defined as information that is not
16   publicly available personally identifiable information as defined in
17   20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g as it existed on December 18, 2025;
18       (xi) Inferences drawn from any of the information identified in
19   this section to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the
20   consumer's   preferences,   characteristics,   psychological  trends,
21   predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and
22   aptitudes; or
23       (xii) Sensitive personal information.
24       (b) "Personally identifiable information" does not include
25   publicly available information or lawfully obtained, truthful
26   information that is a matter of public concern.
27       (c) "Personally identifiable information" can exist in various
28   formats, including, but not limited to, all of the following: (i)
29   Physical formats, including paper documents, printed images, vinyl
30   records, or video tapes; (ii) digital formats, including text, image,
31   audio, or video files; and (iii) abstract digital formats, including
32   compressed or encrypted files, metadata, or artificial intelligence
33   systems that are capable of outputting personally identifiable
34   information.
35       (10)(a) "Publicly available" means any of the following:
36       (i) Public records;
37       (ii) Information that a person has a reasonable basis to believe
38   is lawfully made available to the general public by the consumer or
39   from widely distributed media; or


                                     p. 4                          SB 6312
 1       (iii) Information made available by a person to whom the consumer
 2   has disclosed the information if the consumer has not restricted the
 3   information to a specific audience.
 4       (b) "Publicly available" does not mean biometric information
 5   collected by a person about a consumer without the consumer's
 6   knowledge.
 7       (11) "Surge pricing" means increasing the price of a good or
 8   service based on real-time or predicted demand, consumer behavior,
 9   consumer characteristics, or algorithmic determination of willingness
10   to pay, rather than changes in the person's actual costs of providing
11   the good or service.
12       (12)   "Surveillance   pricing"   means  the   practice of   using
13   personally identifiable information, personal data, inferred data,
14   device   information,   browsing    history,  geolocation,  purchasing
15   behavior, demographic characteristics, or any other consumer-specific
16   information to set, vary, modify, or optimize the price of a good or
17   service for a consumer or a group of consumers. Surveillance pricing
18   does not mean offering the same price for a good or service to all
19   consumers.
20       (13) "Surveillance-based price discrimination" means the practice
21   of setting, altering, or manipulating the price of goods or services
22   offered to a consumer based in whole or in part on monitoring,
23   tracking, or automated analysis of the consumer's behavior, location,
24   demographic characteristics, biometric data, or other personally
25   identifiable information, rather than on the actual cost of providing
26   the good or service.


27       NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) A person must clearly post the price
28   of goods in a retail location.
29       (2) A person may not use surveillance-based price discrimination
30   to modify the price of goods for a consumer.
31       (3) A person is prohibited from using surge pricing to modify the
32   price of goods regardless of the frequency or duration of the price
33   change, including price changes that occur within minutes, hours,
34   days, or across separate transactions.
35       (4) Surveillance-based price discrimination and surge pricing do
36   not include a reduction in the posted price that is uniformly offered
37   or made available to all consumers who meet the disclosed eligibility
38   criteria. A person may offer a loyalty, membership, or reward program
39   if any personally identifiable information collected for the purpose
                                     p. 5                          SB 6312
1    of administering the program is not used to personalize, optimize, or
2    otherwise modify the price of goods offered for sale to a consumer.


 3       NEW SECTION.   Sec. 4.   (1) A person may not use an electronic
 4   shelf label system in retail locations 15,000 square feet or larger
 5   until January 1, 2030.
 6       (2) This section expires June 30, 2031.

 7       NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.   The legislature finds that the practices
 8   covered by this chapter are matters vitally affecting the public
 9   interest for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act,
10   chapter 19.86 RCW. A violation of this chapter is not reasonable in
11   relation to the development and preservation of business and is an
12   unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce and an unfair method of
13   competition for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act,
14   chapter 19.86 RCW.


15       NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This chapter shall be known as the "fair
16   pricing and transparency act."


17       NEW SECTION.     Sec. 7.    Sections 2   through   6   of   this   act
18   constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.


19       NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 43.330
20   RCW to read as follows:
21       (1) The department shall study the use of electronic shelf label
22   systems, as defined in section 2 of this act, and the impact of such
23   systems on pricing transparency and employee job security. The
24   department shall submit a report to the legislature with its findings
25   and recommendations by June 30, 2029, in compliance with RCW
26   43.01.036.
27       (2) This section expires June 30, 2031.

                                  --- END ---




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