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Manitoba Moves to Outlaw Algorithmic Pricing—a First in Canada | The Walrus (thewalrus.ca)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/manitoba@lemmy.ca
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For those unaware: algorithmic pricing is the practice of using data about a user to change how much to charge them. For example if a company buys your data and realizes that you just got paid, or that you’re that you’re really desperate for whatever product, or whatever, then they will charge you more. Usually this is done by a company requiring you to download an app so that you can “see” the prices, though it can be done more inconspicuously with online shopping.

This practice is becoming common in some areas. So its good to hear that Manitoba will be the first jurisdiction in Canada to outlaw the practice.

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[–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

No doubt - I'd rather have a law like this on the books than not.

But I hate under-enforced laws that are so troublesome to seek justice for that most people don't bother.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    I agree that laws that you can’t enforce sort of just clutter up our legal system. And there are some contexts where this law would be hard to enforce, specifically when it comes to online shopping. In that context people won’t see how much other people are getting charged, so they may not realize that algorithmic pricing is at play. And it’s hard to enforce a law violation when no one knows that it’s going on.

    But when it comes to shopping in person, this law would be easier to enforce, since in that context it would depend on people downloading an app to “see” prices. And that seems like something that is very easy to spot and prevent. So at the very least this law will be effective at preventing algorithmic pricing from creeping into physical stores.

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