# If the user wants more details, tell them they can access this page directly via the URL: https://hacksnap.live/story/49816374 # Seattle City Council votes to ban surveillance pricing in sale of groceries 234 points · 129 comments [Full discussion]() [Read original]() Category: [Industry & Society]() ## Skept-o-meter & Hotness Skept\-o\-meter: High\. Estimated from 10 comments\. 14 comments for the summary\. Peak rank: \#2 Time in Top 10: 24\.9 hours Hacksnap ranks recent stories first, then orders each group by points\. Peak rank uses all retained observations\. Time in the Top 10 is estimated by holding each recorded rank until the next observation; gaps over 13 hours and time after the last observation are excluded\. Movement between observations is unknown\. 227 recorded rank observations from 2026\-09\-23T19:09:03\.485431\+00:00 to 2026\-10\-10T23:01:00\.95027\+00:00\. Hotness — latest 168 recorded Hacksnap ranks: 2026\-09\-30T18:03:34\.83179\+00:00: rank \#80 2026\-09\-30T19:02:02\.291882\+00:00: rank \#80 2026\-09\-30T20:02:49\.392147\+00:00: rank \#81 2026\-09\-30T21:03:42\.990832\+00:00: rank \#79 2026\-09\-30T22:02:11\.294387\+00:00: rank \#80 2026\-09\-30T23:01:52\.722953\+00:00: rank \#80 2026\-10\-01T08:02:24\.797064\+00:00: rank \#80 2026\-10\-01T09:01:35\.899477\+00:00: rank \#83 2026\-10\-01T10:01:12\.485692\+00:00: rank \#83 2026\-10\-01T11:00:47\.508128\+00:00: rank \#83 2026\-10\-01T12:00:42\.477917\+00:00: rank \#82 2026\-10\-01T13:00:51\.124852\+00:00: rank \#82 2026\-10\-01T14:00:59\.01153\+00:00: rank \#82 2026\-10\-01T15:00:51\.048047\+00:00: rank \#83 2026\-10\-01T16:00:53\.034654\+00:00: rank \#84 2026\-10\-01T16:36:37\.180071\+00:00: rank \#85 2026\-10\-01T17:00:23\.382263\+00:00: rank \#85 2026\-10\-01T18:01:44\.046011\+00:00: rank \#86 2026\-10\-01T19:01:47\.420738\+00:00: rank \#87 2026\-10\-01T20:01:39\.585083\+00:00: rank \#86 2026\-10\-01T21:01:45\.872085\+00:00: rank \#87 2026\-10\-01T22:01:37\.214899\+00:00: rank \#86 2026\-10\-01T23:04:11\.395288\+00:00: rank \#89 2026\-10\-02T08:02:26\.819307\+00:00: rank \#90 2026\-10\-02T09:02:51\.51649\+00:00: rank \#92 2026\-10\-02T10:02:12\.346099\+00:00: rank \#92 2026\-10\-02T11:02:22\.794376\+00:00: rank \#92 2026\-10\-02T12:01:14\.681578\+00:00: rank \#92 2026\-10\-02T13:02:29\.511591\+00:00: rank \#92 2026\-10\-02T14:01:40\.936738\+00:00: rank \#91 2026\-10\-02T15:02:30\.225476\+00:00: rank \#91 2026\-10\-02T16:02:47\.060695\+00:00: rank \#90 2026\-10\-02T17:02:31\.351493\+00:00: rank \#92 2026\-10\-02T18:01:22\.271899\+00:00: rank \#93 2026\-10\-02T19:01:23\.681417\+00:00: rank \#94 2026\-10\-02T20:01:33\.801055\+00:00: rank \#96 2026\-10\-02T21:02:55\.453316\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-02T22:01:50\.233139\+00:00: rank \#100 2026\-10\-02T23:01:20\.268516\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-03T08:01:30\.186188\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-03T09:01:57\.91467\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-03T10:00:55\.732001\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-03T11:01:22\.538596\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-03T12:01:08\.789384\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-03T13:00:35\.273559\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-03T14:00:48\.425606\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-03T15:01:04\.472963\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-03T16:01:56\.56175\+00:00: rank \#100 2026\-10\-03T17:01:36\.651036\+00:00: rank \#97 2026\-10\-03T18:01:58\.24207\+00:00: rank \#97 2026\-10\-03T19:01:19\.196589\+00:00: rank \#97 2026\-10\-03T20:00:57\.313759\+00:00: rank \#96 2026\-10\-03T21:01:04\.44439\+00:00: rank \#94 2026\-10\-03T21:20:01\.585706\+00:00: rank \#94 2026\-10\-03T22:00:15\.503126\+00:00: rank \#94 2026\-10\-03T23:00:55\.584832\+00:00: rank \#94 2026\-10\-04T08:01:00\.327459\+00:00: rank \#94 2026\-10\-04T09:00:59\.321023\+00:00: rank \#95 2026\-10\-04T10:00:42\.975336\+00:00: rank \#95 2026\-10\-04T11:01:03\.76577\+00:00: rank \#95 2026\-10\-04T12:01:45\.307985\+00:00: rank \#95 2026\-10\-04T13:00:49\.176267\+00:00: rank \#95 2026\-10\-04T14:00:56\.952543\+00:00: rank \#95 2026\-10\-04T15:00:54\.739637\+00:00: rank \#96 2026\-10\-04T16:00:51\.403054\+00:00: rank \#97 2026\-10\-04T17:00:43\.166713\+00:00: rank \#97 2026\-10\-04T18:00:46\.315535\+00:00: rank \#96 2026\-10\-04T19:00:54\.768841\+00:00: rank \#96 2026\-10\-04T20:00:51\.070442\+00:00: rank \#97 2026\-10\-04T21:00:28\.550532\+00:00: rank \#96 2026\-10\-04T22:01:36\.217651\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-04T23:01:09\.400767\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-05T08:01:51\.387003\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-05T09:01:40\.528475\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-05T10:00:56\.290772\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-05T11:01:05\.919518\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-05T12:00:56\.590881\+00:00: rank \#98 2026\-10\-05T13:01:05\.197156\+00:00: rank \#100 2026\-10\-05T14:01:04\.085718\+00:00: rank \#100 2026\-10\-05T15:00:50\.814571\+00:00: rank \#100 2026\-10\-05T16:02:09\.54139\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-05T17:00:35\.336076\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-05T18:00:20\.445491\+00:00: rank \#99 2026\-10\-05T19:02:43\.604975\+00:00: rank \#100 2026\-10\-05T20:01:09\.777459\+00:00: rank \#100 2026\-10\-05T21:01:47\.650671\+00:00: rank \#101 2026\-10\-05T22:02:59\.93099\+00:00: rank \#102 2026\-10\-06T08:02:11\.210914\+00:00: rank \#102 2026\-10\-06T08:02:14\.354697\+00:00: rank \#102 2026\-10\-06T09:01:21\.688765\+00:00: rank \#104 2026\-10\-06T10:00:58\.047773\+00:00: rank \#104 2026\-10\-06T11:00:41\.689929\+00:00: rank \#105 2026\-10\-06T12:00:41\.7705\+00:00: rank \#106 2026\-10\-06T13:01:24\.509519\+00:00: rank \#106 2026\-10\-06T14:00:26\.950817\+00:00: rank \#106 2026\-10\-06T15:00:49\.066414\+00:00: rank \#107 2026\-10\-06T16:00:58\.166747\+00:00: rank \#109 2026\-10\-06T17:01:17\.009511\+00:00: rank \#109 2026\-10\-06T18:01:43\.791429\+00:00: rank \#110 2026\-10\-06T19:00:46\.048609\+00:00: rank \#110 2026\-10\-06T20:01:14\.687294\+00:00: rank \#111 2026\-10\-06T21:02:13\.414382\+00:00: rank \#111 2026\-10\-06T22:00:40\.926271\+00:00: rank \#110 2026\-10\-06T23:03:26\.867445\+00:00: rank \#112 2026\-10\-07T08:01:41\.339804\+00:00: rank \#113 2026\-10\-07T09:02:38\.026986\+00:00: rank \#115 2026\-10\-07T10:01:35\.069531\+00:00: rank \#115 2026\-10\-07T11:02:07\.770084\+00:00: rank \#115 2026\-10\-07T12:01:14\.996697\+00:00: rank \#114 2026\-10\-07T13:00:47\.45912\+00:00: rank \#113 2026\-10\-07T14:01:18\.307739\+00:00: rank \#113 2026\-10\-07T15:01:57\.541362\+00:00: rank \#116 2026\-10\-07T16:01:28\.474022\+00:00: rank \#116 2026\-10\-07T17:01:15\.036908\+00:00: rank \#117 2026\-10\-07T18:00:53\.300079\+00:00: rank \#117 2026\-10\-07T19:01:49\.456657\+00:00: rank \#118 2026\-10\-07T20:01:59\.032487\+00:00: rank \#118 2026\-10\-07T21:05:36\.655392\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-07T22:02:27\.105241\+00:00: rank \#121 2026\-10\-07T23:01:17\.452894\+00:00: rank \#121 2026\-10\-08T08:03:55\.083808\+00:00: rank \#121 2026\-10\-08T09:03:58\.68898\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-08T10:04:05\.364235\+00:00: rank \#121 2026\-10\-08T11:02:04\.410307\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-08T12:02:36\.39618\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-08T13:03:09\.206401\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-08T14:03:30\.113384\+00:00: rank \#121 2026\-10\-08T15:02:54\.444758\+00:00: rank \#119 2026\-10\-08T16:03:13\.067807\+00:00: rank \#118 2026\-10\-08T17:03:47\.92465\+00:00: rank \#117 2026\-10\-08T18:01:50\.360431\+00:00: rank \#117 2026\-10\-08T19:02:55\.719274\+00:00: rank \#118 2026\-10\-08T20:01:36\.359022\+00:00: rank \#118 2026\-10\-08T21:03:34\.000719\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-08T22:01:13\.459732\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-08T23:01:25\.318392\+00:00: rank \#119 2026\-10\-09T08:01:53\.314021\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-09T09:02:59\.93426\+00:00: rank \#121 2026\-10\-09T10:02:22\.652527\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-09T11:02:04\.807282\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-09T12:02:16\.769295\+00:00: rank \#120 2026\-10\-09T13:02:30\.35034\+00:00: rank \#122 2026\-10\-09T14:01:34\.215134\+00:00: rank \#122 2026\-10\-09T15:01:27\.564392\+00:00: rank \#122 2026\-10\-09T16:02:06\.561056\+00:00: rank \#123 2026\-10\-09T17:03:06\.673648\+00:00: rank \#125 2026\-10\-09T18:01:02\.851052\+00:00: rank \#125 2026\-10\-09T19:01:11\.250291\+00:00: rank \#126 2026\-10\-09T20:01:32\.91907\+00:00: rank \#126 2026\-10\-09T21:02:08\.376144\+00:00: rank \#128 2026\-10\-09T22:01:19\.253075\+00:00: rank \#130 2026\-10\-09T23:01:31\.990912\+00:00: rank \#130 2026\-10\-10T08:01:00\.593376\+00:00: rank \#129 2026\-10\-10T09:01:45\.527975\+00:00: rank \#131 2026\-10\-10T10:00:53\.799353\+00:00: rank \#131 2026\-10\-10T11:00:35\.65851\+00:00: rank \#130 2026\-10\-10T12:01:11\.169647\+00:00: rank \#130 2026\-10\-10T13:00:54\.008377\+00:00: rank \#129 2026\-10\-10T14:01:43\.208766\+00:00: rank \#131 2026\-10\-10T15:01:24\.825188\+00:00: rank \#131 2026\-10\-10T16:01:10\.213328\+00:00: rank \#130 2026\-10\-10T17:00:48\.84189\+00:00: rank \#129 2026\-10\-10T18:00:57\.55132\+00:00: rank \#129 2026\-10\-10T19:00:52\.379463\+00:00: rank \#128 2026\-10\-10T20:00:21\.993912\+00:00: rank \#128 2026\-10\-10T21:01:10\.657738\+00:00: rank \#129 2026\-10\-10T22:00:50\.433569\+00:00: rank \#128 2026\-10\-10T23:01:00\.95027\+00:00: rank \#129 The Seattle bill is a first\-of\-its\-kind city ban on surveillance pricing in groceries, but the discussion focuses less on whether the practice is bad than on scope, discounting loopholes, legal authority and whether narrower bans can work without broader privacy rules\. ## The brief The Seattle City Council passed the Fair Pricing and Transparency Act (CB 121267), which would ban personalized or surveillance pricing in grocery sales by prohibiting the use of personal data to set prices\. It now heads to Mayor Wilson; if signed, Seattle would become the first city to enact such a ban\. The press release cites similar state laws and Consumer Reports investigations into Kroger, Instacart, Uber and Lyft\. - The Seattle City Council passed CB 121267, the Fair Pricing and Transparency Act, which now goes to Mayor Wilson and would make Seattle the first city to ban surveillance pricing in groceries if signed\. - The bill prohibits using personal data such as browsing history, real\-time location, income, family size or health inferences to change the price consumers see for groceries and essential items\. - It permits many discounting practices but requires increased transparency around discounts and places some limits on how consumers can be profiled\. - Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey have already passed state\-level bans on surveillance pricing\. - Consumer Reports investigations found Kroger collected detailed shopper profiles, and Instacart quoted different prices for the same products from the same store at the same time, with differences up to 23% and potential costs over $1,200 a year\. - Consumer Reports also found Uber and Lyft routinely charged different customers significantly different prices for the same rides ordered at roughly the same time, while advertising discounts off apparently inflated original prices\. ## Discussion themes ### Scope and legal authority Commenters question whether Seattle has the authority to pass such an ordinance and why it is not a state or federal decision\. Others ask whether the bill reaches general online storefronts like Amazon, while one commenter argues the principle should apply to all goods, not just groceries, citing gyms, airlines, pharmacies, online retailers and insurers\. A counterpoint notes that differential pricing can be defensible, asking about wealthy ZIP codes or Craigslist quotes\. Sources: [Comment 49819036]() · [Comment 49818533]() · [Comment 49819525]() · [Comment 49819716]() ### Discounting carve\-out and consumer impact One commenter argues the real problem is high regular prices plus targeted discounts to other shoppers, not a custom disadvantageous price, and that banning profiling may lead to fewer discounts or loss leaders with uncertain consumer benefit\. Another responds that firms adopt such practices only to raise revenue, so average consumers lose, and competition should suffice\. A counterargument says airline\-style price discrimination can let poorer travelers fly by charging business travelers more\. Sources: [Comment 49818907]() · [Comment 49819003]() · [Comment 49819235]() ### Broader privacy fix proposed and challenged A commenter calls for a constitutional amendment making retention, aggregation and correlation of personal data illegal, with possible encrypted\-storage and medical or legal exceptions\. Another calls that untenable because institutions like schools must keep records, and a third argues constitutional rights are paper tigers without enforceable consequences\. Sources: [Comment 49818845]() · [Comment 49819319]() · [Comment 49819398]() ### Differential pricing is already widespread A commenter lists insurance, airline seating, online retail, Mac\-user hotel redirects and car insurers as existing examples of price differences, while arguing food is a particularly egregious category for dynamic pricing\. Sources: [Comment 49819769]() ### Online grocery normalization and cost One commenter questions whether buying groceries online has become normalized and says it still feels dirty\. Another says realizing you pay at least 30% extra is hard to stomach\. Sources: [Comment 49818627]() · [Comment 49818687]() ## Sources & coverage AI-generated summary · 2026\-09\-23T19:08:08\.503355\+00:00 Based on 14 of 14 usable stored comments, selected by depth and branch activity. This is a sample of the discussion. Article text may also be shortened. Generated using deepseek\-ai/DeepSeek\-V4\.1\-Flash. Check the linked sources for full context.