EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center

06/05/2026

Last night, New York became the third state to pass a surveillance pricing ban, following Maryland and Connecticut.

The legislation builds on New York’s Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act, a transparency-focused bill passed last year that required businesses to disclose any surveillance pricing use to consumers. While last year’s measure was a good first step, the One Fair Price Act will much more effectively protect consumers from the affordability and privacy harms that surveillance pricing causes because it prohibits this harmful practice.

EPIC urges Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign this important bill into law.

Read more:

The New York Legislature passed the One Fair Price Act on Thursday, making it the third state to pass a surveillance pricing ban after Maryland and Connecticut. The bill will soon advance to the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul, and EPIC urges her to sign this important legislation.

06/05/2026

Yesterday, Connecticut became the second state to enact a surveillance pricing ban. The first was Maryland, whose law was enacted last month.

EPIC applauds Gov. Ned Lamont for protecting Connecticut consumers by signing the legislation into law.

Surveillance pricing is the unfair practice of using shoppers’ personal data to set individualized prices. It hurts affordability, invades people’s privacy, takes advantage of consumers at their most vulnerable, and can discriminate against people based on protected characteristics such as race.

Connecticut’s law is a great first step toward mitigating these harms and marks an improvement upon the scope and enforcement provisions in Maryland’s law. However, Connecticut’s law does have some weaknesses, particularly loopholes within discount rules and a lack of clarity around enforcement mechanisms, that should be strengthened in future legislative sessions.

Today, June 4, 2026, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed a surveillance pricing ban into law, making Connecticut the second state after Maryland to pass a law prohibiting businesses from using shoppers’ personal data to set individualized prices. Surveillance pricing is an unfair practice that ...

06/04/2026

Today, the Massachusetts House passed the Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act, which includes crucial consumer protections including data minimization provisions and a private right of action.

EPIC applauds Massachusetts lawmakers’ decision to prioritize Bay Staters’ privacy by passing this landmark bill.

The MCDPA adopts many of the most privacy-protective provisions from other state privacy laws, including: data minimization provisions, a prohibition on the sale of geolocation data, enhanced protections for minors, strong civil rights language, and a private right of action.

“Today’s vote sends a clear message: People should not have to surrender their privacy to participate in modern life," said EPIC Deputy Director and Policy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald. "We hope this legislation serves as a model for states across the country.”

Read the press release: https://shorturl.at/1qFaD

06/04/2026

EPIC applauds the Illinois Legislature for its Monday passage of the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, which Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to sign into law.

“While big tech abandons its responsibility to keep our kids safe online, Illinois has stepped in to force them to,” he said in a statement.

The bill regulates harmful platform design features, such as addictive feeds and overnight push notifications, and many of its provisions mirror the model Age-Appropriate Design Code that EPIC released earlier this year.

Read more:

The Illinois state legislature voted Monday to pass HB 5511, the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, which regulates harmful platform design like addictive feeds and overnight push notifications.

06/04/2026

On Tuesday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill that would have banned surveillance pricing that EPIC testified in support of in April. The bill would have given Colorado residents strong protections from surveillance pricing and wage-setting, practices in which companies use shoppers’ personal data to charge them different prices for the same goods or pay workers different wages for the same work.

In his veto message, Gov. Polis stated that the bill would have prohibited important discounts that consumers enjoy, but that just isn’t true. The legislation had carefully crafted exemptions for a long list of pro-consumer discounts and would have protected Coloradans’ pocketbooks.

This is an unfortunate setback for consumers in the state, and we urge the Assembly to pass the bill again next session to protect Coloradans’ wallets.

On Tuesday, June 2, Colorado Governor Jared Polis vetoed HB 26-1210, a bill that would have protected Coloradans from surveillance pricing and wage setting. EPIC testified in favor of the bill because it would have provided Colorado residents with strong protections from surveillance pricing and wag...

06/03/2026

ICYMI: Today, EPIC Deputy Director and Policy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald testified before a subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce to explain the incalculable ways the GOP’s SECURE Data Act would harm U.S. consumers.

“Congress should not pass a federal privacy law that fails to address the very real data abuses and privacy harms that Americans are asking them to fix,” she said. “And it certainly should not strip Americans of privacy rights they already have.”

Numerous Democrats on the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade subcommittee agreed.

“I’m not going to mince words,” said Florida Rep. Kathy Castor. “I think this bill is an appalling betrayal of hardworking Americans.”

Read more, and watch the hearing here:

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– On Wednesday, EPIC Deputy Director and Policy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House

06/03/2026

TODAY at 10:15 a.m.: EPIC Deputy Director and Policy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald will testify before a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee about how the SECURE Data Act fails to protect Americans’ privacy.

Watch the hearing live: https://www.youtube.com/user/energyandcommerce

And get up to date on the “privacy” bill, which protects corporate interests over consumers’ privacy, here: https://epic.org/america-needs-a-strong-privacy-law-the-secure-data-act-isnt-it/

The Official YouTube of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Chairman Brett Guthrie (KY-02). The Energy and Commerce Committee is at the forefront of all issues and policies powering America’s economy, including our global competitive edge in energy, technology, and health care.

06/02/2026

🚨Tomorrow at 10:15 a.m., EPIC Deputy Director and Policy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald will testify before a subcommittee of House Energy and Commerce about the SECURE Data Act, a bill that EPIC strenuously opposes.

America needs a strong federal data privacy law. But passing the SECURE Data Act would be worse than passing no federal data privacy bill at all.

Read EPIC's written testimony:https://epic.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Fitzgerald-Testimony-SECURE-Data-Act-June2026-1.pdf

Learn more about the hearing, which is open to the public and will also be live-streamed: https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chairmen-guthrie-and-bilirakis-announce-hearing-on-establishing-a-federal-data-privacy-law

Get up to date on the bill: https://epic.org/america-needs-a-strong-privacy-law-the-secure-data-act-isnt-it/

06/01/2026

In May, EPIC encouraged the FTC and DOJ to use forthcoming antitrust guidance to prioritize data privacy by including data minimization standards and robust protections against surveillance-driven personalized pricing.

The agencies should underscore the crucial role of privacy in competition, EPIC noted in its comments, including data minimization standards and robust protections against surveillance-driven personalized pricing.

“Privacy, especially in the age of big data, plays a vital role in business collaboration and competition,” the filing read. “Any guidance issued should reflect that.”

Read more:

On Thursday, EPIC submitted comments to the FTC in response to the agency’s joint public inquiry with the DOJ Antitrust Division, which sought guidance on antitrust concerns raised by collaboration among competitors.  

05/29/2026

📬 May's edition of The EPIC Alert is live! Our monthly newsletter is the best way to stay up to date on all things EPIC, from lawsuits to legislation.

In this issue you’ll find:

•Our new report on manipulative design patterns in opt-out processes;
•EPIC Counsel Suzanne Bernstein’s testimony before a New Jersey Assembly Committee in support of an anti-surveillance pricing bill;
•A coalition letter we signed urging the FTC to investigate Roblox for employing manipulative design features that put children at risk;
•And much more!

Didn't receive The EPIC Alert in your inbox this morning or not yet a subscriber? Take a look at this month's issue here:

This month, EPIC published a new report: Good Luck Opting Out: Manipulative Design Patterns in Opt-Out Processes.