There are a number of topics about dynamic pricing where prices change for contrived (or genuine) reasons, such as higher fares at peak times for airline seats, etc.
While not new per se, we are increasingly facing surveillance pricing enabled by the extraordinary amounts of data ‘about us and how we live’.
Saw a post on FB from Robert Reich on this matter. Its enough to make you want to quit internetting entirely. I have friends who manage to keep most of their “stuff” away from prying eyes, but they are of the luddite persuasion… Maybe thats a good thing.
Are those with the interest and ability to work around tracking also at risk of disadvantage? To consider whether an enterprise might see potential customers they cannot connect are a minority not worth competing for with the lowest offer.
Does it need an industry insider or ACCC Inquiry to reveal the extent of Surveillance Pricing - IE which enterprises, how it is used and the tools or methods applied.
Possibly a complex task given dynamic/demand pricing and member discounting/preferential offers can also influence the price on the day. To also consider the use of pre-bookings can influence the apparent pricing and availability of a product. EG The Victorian Puffing Billy Rail Experience - direct purchased tickets booked out 2-4 weeks in advance at present but available on 2 days notice through popular tour operators as a package costing 3-4 times. Value added by the tour operator and pricing also variable.
US centric but a harbinger of what is to come - unless governments decide to stop it. I’ll not hold my breath.
Capitalism at its finest.
I guess we will see (unless the gummint bans it). It would come as no surprise that I work assiduously to minimise my online profile.
It’s unclear whether this is related to the Congress bill (or indeed whether the bill was passed?), but individual States have been taking some legislative action.
Of course, any such legislation is only as good as its enforcement …
Let’s hope our government will at least give us the means to find out what data’s being kept / inferred about us, and to have such data removed on request.
I agree with the headline. We see unfetterred capitalism more and more encoroaching on our lives - meaning that smart or reasonably smart people will be able to avoid getting punished, or even get ahead, but the not-so-smart or many of the elderly will pay through their noses. It’s actually becoming a textbook of Darwinism.
What to do about it? I’ve taken to paying in cash more often. I use a VPN with different locations at random to confuse my location. I also use different email addresses for online purchases to make it more difficult to establish profiling of me… Still, when I use PayPal, doesn’t it void all my efforts? Not sure.
Anyway, the question is why should I have to jump through all these hoops. Why do I have to spend my precious time to avoid being ripped of? What’s exactly wrong here? I think you and I know the answer. The question is: What dow we do about it?
