Book: algorithms set personalized prices based on surveillance of shoppers

Lindsay Owens' new book "Gouged: The End of a Fair Price" exposes surveillance pricing, where companies like Walmart, Kroger, Instacart and major airlines harvest customer data to charge different shoppers different prices. The FTC has warned such tactics may break the law, and roughly two dozen states have introduced bills to ban or regulate the practice.

• Owens' book details surveillance pricing built on purchase and location data
• Walmart, Kroger, Instacart and airlines use loyalty data to set personal prices
• FTC says personalized prices may be illegal when they differ from other shoppers' prices
• About 24 states have introduced bills to ban or disclose personalized pricing