Last year, SF GATE reported that San Francisco shoppers were charged $500 more per night for a hotel on Booking.com than their counterparts in Phoenix, while shopping for the same room, in the same city, on the same travel dates.
It's a practice called surveillance pricing, and it's become more common with the rise of e-commerce and online shopping.
At a meeting this week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors delayed weighing in on Assembly Bill 2564, which would prohibit retailers in California from using shoppers’ data — like their location, browsing history, and even eye movement — to personalize prices.
San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder introduced a resolution last week to support the state ban.
But during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors Meeting, Supervisor Stephen Sherrill said he had questions about recent amendments to the bill and expressed concern about legislation "inadvertently prohibiting companies from issuing discounts, based on recent purchases.”
The current version of AB 2564 would require companies to display available discounts, and eligibility criteria, on their websites.
But Sherrill sent the city resolution to committee for further discussion.
In an Instagram post, Fielder criticized the timing which she said "delays and effectively relinquishes our ability to weigh in" on the state legislation.
The board is about to enter its annual summer recess and is unlikely to get to the resolution by the end of the legislative session on August 31.
