HB 1439: Georgia Surveillance Pricing Act; enact

Georgia law currently does not stop stores from using personal data, cameras, or digital price tags to charge different customers different prices for the same product, a practice known as surveillance pricing. This bill, called the Georgia Surveillance Pricing Act, would add that ban to the state's Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393), applying it specifically to large retail food establishments, generally stores of at least 15,000 square feet that sell food for off-site consumption, or larger stores dedicating at least 10 percent of floor space to food sales. The ban would not apply to standard discounts for groups like students, military members, or seniors, loyalty program rewards, or electronic shelf labels used to adjust prices throughout the day, as long as those price changes apply to everyone equally, are not based on protected characteristics, do not raise the price of essential goods like milk, bread, or diapers more than once a day, and are posted with a clear daily maximum price. Violations would be treated as unfair or deceptive business practices, enforceable by the Attorney General or through private lawsuits.

• Adds a new violation category to Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393) for failing to follow the new surveillance pricing rules.
• Bans covered retail food establishments from setting prices for individual shoppers based on personal data, including data gathered through cameras, sensors, or facial recognition.
• Creates exceptions for standard group discounts, loyalty program rewards, and electronic shelf labels used under specific safeguards.
• Limits price increases on essential commodities like milk, bread, eggs, baby formula, and over-the-counter medications to no more than once every 24 hours when using electronic shelf displays.
• Requires stores using electronic shelf displays to post a clear daily maximum price for each item.
• Allows the Attorney General to enforce violations and allows consumers to bring private lawsuits under existing Fair Business Practices Act enforcement provisions.

Large grocery stores and food retailers meeting the size thresholds, their customers, and companies that supply electronic shelf label or surveillance pricing technology. The Attorney General's office would gain enforcement duties, and consumers would gain the ability to sue over violations.

If enacted, large food retailers could no longer set individual prices based on tracking a shopper's personal data or protected characteristics, though loyalty discounts and time-of-day pricing on shelf tags would still be allowed under conditions. Consumers would gain new legal tools to challenge pricing practices they believe are discriminatory or based on covert data collection.

• Section 2 lays out legislative findings that surveillance pricing raises privacy and discrimination concerns and could threaten jobs if left unregulated.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393 to make violating the new surveillance pricing rules an unfair or deceptive business practice.
• Section 4 adds new Code Section 10-1-393.22, defining terms like 'electronic shelf label,' 'personal data,' 'protected class data,' and 'retail food establishment.'
• Section 4 bans covered retailers from surveillance pricing except for specific carve-outs for group discounts, loyalty programs, and regulated electronic shelf label pricing.
• Section 4 caps essential commodity price increases via electronic shelf displays at once per 24 hours and requires posting a daily maximum price.
• Section 4 assigns enforcement to the Attorney General under Code Section 10-1-397 and to consumers via private lawsuits under Code Section 10-1-399.
• Section 5 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-26House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-25House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)Primary sponsor
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
• Stacey Evans (D, HD-057)
• Sheila Jones (D, HD-060)

• surveillance pricing
• consumer protection
• grocery stores
• data privacy
• retail regulation