Denver, CO — A broad coalition of lawmakers and advocacy organizations today applauded passage of House Bill 26-1210, legislation to ban “surveillance pricing” and “surveillance wages,” the practice of corporations using personal data to set individualized prices and wages based on what they believe a person will pay or accept.

The legislation is led by State Representative Jennifer Bacon (D–Denver), Assistant Majority Leader, and State Representative Javier Mabrey (D–Denver), and is sponsored in the Senate by State Senators Mike Weissman (D–Aurora) and Iman Jodeh (D–Aurora). The bill would prohibit companies from using sensitive personal data, including location, browsing behavior, and demographic information, to determine prices or compensation.

“Right now, Coloradans aren’t participating in a fair market, they’re playing against a supercomputer designed to extract as much as possible from them,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon. “When corporations use personal data to decide what you’ll pay or what you’ll earn, that’s not supply and demand, it’s exploitation. This legislation restores basic fairness by making sure people are protected, not just informed.”

The use of algorithmic pricing and wage-setting has expanded rapidly across industries, from airline tickets and hotel bookings to gig work and online retail. Advocates warn that these systems can reinforce discrimination and deepen economic inequality by charging higher prices or offering lower wages based on a person’s perceived vulnerability or willingness to pay.

“This is economic exploitation dressed up as technology,” said Rep. Javier Mabrey. “Corporations are using surveillance data to figure out the maximum you’ll pay or the minimum you’ll accept, and that’s not a free market. This bill draws a clear line: your personal data should not be used against you to squeeze more profit out of every transaction.”

The coalition supporting the legislation includes consumer protection advocates, labor groups, and economic policy organizations who argue that current law has not kept pace with the ways companies are using data to shape markets in real time.

“Surveillance pricing is what happens when corporate power goes unchecked in the digital economy,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Instead of competing on price or quality, companies are using algorithms and personal surveillance data to determine how much they can extract from each individual. Colorado is stepping in to restore honest competition, one where prices are fair, transparent, and not secretly rigged against consumers and workers. We commend Reps. Bacon and Mabrey for championing this vital bill, and look forward to debate in the Senate.”

“Barring corporations from spying on us in order to charge us more and pay us less is key to affordability and market fairness,” said Nina DiSalvo, Policy Director at Towards Justice. “This bill ensures that Colorado consumers can get discounts without trading away their personal information, Colorado workers can receive wages based on the value of their work, and Colorado small businesses can compete without investing in tech, data, or surveillance. I am so grateful to our legislative leaders for getting the bill this far, and excited to continue to support their work as the bill moves to the Senate.”

“I can’t compete with those big data fueled pricing models,” said Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct in Colorado Springs. “Not only can’t I change my prices ten times per day or for ten different people, I don’t want to. I reject the idea that the consumer or the worker is a pocket to be picked with the latest AI tool.”

If enacted, the bill would make Colorado the first state in the country to directly prohibit the use of personal data for individualized price and wage setting, creating a model for other states considering similar legislation.

Advocates say the measure is part of a broader effort to rein in corporate practices that rely on opaque algorithms and data collection to maximize profits at the expense of consumers and workers.

“Markets only work when the rules are clear and applied fairly,” Rep. Bacon added. “This bill ensures that technology serves people, not the other way around.”

Learn more about the surveillance pricing here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.