---
title: SB 164. Trade Practices; surveillance based price discrimination and surveillance based wage discrimination; prohibit
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb164
cite_as: SB 164, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb164
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb164.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb164/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70304
date: 2025-02-13
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb164.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 164
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-12
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Nikki Merritt
- Harold Jones
- Kim Jackson
- Derek Mallow
- RaShaun Kemp
- Nabilah Islam Parkes
- Michael Rhett
- Donzella James
- Elena Parent
- Kenya Wicks
- Sally Harrell
- Nan Orrock
- Randal Mangham
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB164/2025
upstream_id: 1968164
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- consumer protection
- data privacy
- algorithmic pricing
- wage discrimination
- artificial intelligence regulation
---
# SB 164. Trade Practices; surveillance based price discrimination and surveillance based wage discrimination; prohibit
## Text
Senate Bill 164
By: Senators Merritt of the 9th, Jones II of the 22nd, Jackson of the 41st, Mallow of the 2nd,
Kemp of the 38th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to selling
and other trade practices, so as to prohibit surveillance based price discrimination and
surveillance based wage discrimination; to provide for definitions; to provide for civil
penalties and enforcement; to provide for exceptions; to provide for certain rule making; to
provide for the promulgation of rules and regulations; to provide for penalties; to provide for
related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to selling and other
trade practices, is amended by adding a new article to read as follows:
"ARTICLE 37
10-1-960.
As used in this article, the term:
(1) 'Automated decision system' means any system, software, or process, including one
derived from machine learning, statistics, or other data processing or artificial intelligence
techniques and excluding passive computing infrastructure, that uses computation, which
is used to assist or replace human decision making.
(2) 'Behaviors' means an individual's observable, measurable, or inferred actions, habits,
preferences, interests, or vulnerabilities, including an individual's political, personal, or
professional affiliations, web browsing history, IP addresses, locations frequented,
purchase history, financial circumstances, consumer behaviors, or inferences associated
with a group, band, class, or tier of individuals of which the individual is associated.
(3) 'Biometrics' means data or information generated by the technological, processing,
measurement, or analysis of a consumer or worker's biological, physical, or behavioral
characteristics which can be processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying an
individual. Such term includes a fingerprint; a voice print; a scan or record of an eye
retina or iris image; a facial map, geometry, or template; genetic information; or other
unique biological, physical, or behavioral patterns or characteristics.
(4) 'Consumer' means an individual who obtains, maintains, uses, purchases, leases, or
receives goods, services, real property, or personal property or the representative of such
individual.
(5) 'Genetic information' means information about an individual's genetic test, the genetic
tests of family members of such individual, and the manifestation of a disease or disorder
in such individual's family members. Such term includes any request for, or receipt of,
genetic services with respect to an individual, or participation by such individual or such
individual's family members in clinical research that includes such genetic services. Such
term includes genetic information of a fetus carried by a pregnant individual. Such term
includes genetic information of any embryo legally held by an individual or such
individual's family member utilizing reproductive technology. Such term does not
include information about the sex or age of an individual.
(6) 'Individualized' means specific to or inferences about an individual or group, band,
class, or tier of individuals with particular personal characteristics, behaviors, or
biometrics.
(7) 'Insurer' means every person engaged as a principal, indemnitor, surety, or contractor
in the business of making contracts of insurance.
(8) 'Personal characteristics' means individual qualities, features, attributes, or traits,
including immutable characteristics such as race and eye color; mutable characteristics
such as a mailing address, weight, citizenship, or parental status; and any other personally
identifiable information that could be used to uncover an individual's identity, including
social security number, full name, or telephone number.
(9) 'Price' means the amount charged to a consumer in relation to a transaction, including
all related costs and fees, and any other material terms of such transaction that has a
direct bearing on the amount paid by the consumer or the value of the good or service to
the consumer.
(10) 'Surveillance based price discrimination' means using an automated decision system
to inform individualized prices based on surveillance data regarding a consumer.
(11) 'Surveillance based wage discrimination' means using an automated decision system
to inform individualized wages based on surveillance data regarding a worker.
(12) 'Surveillance data' means data obtained through observation, inference, or
surveillance of an individual that is related to personal characteristics, behaviors, or
biometrics of such individual or a group, class, tier, or band of which the individual is
associated. Such term includes information gathered, purchased, or otherwise acquired.
(13) 'Wage' means the material terms offered to a worker in exchange for labor,
including the amount to be paid for such labor, whether as an hourly rate, piece rate,
salary, bonuses, commissions and incentives, scheduling, task assignment, and any other
similar material terms that have a direct impact on earnings of such worker.
(14) 'Worker' means a natural person performing work as an employee, and includes any
individual, including a migratory laborer, performing labor or services for the benefit of
an employer and any other individuals performing labor or services on behalf of or for
the benefit of an employer or other person. For the purposes of this article, such term
includes relevant factors in determining whether an individual is an employee including
the degree of control such employer may exercise or does exercise over such individual
and the degree to which such individual performs labor or services that is the primary
work of the employer; provided, however, that an individual primarily free from control
and direction in the performance of such labor or services, both under his or her contract
for the performance of such labor or services, and who is customarily engaged in an
independent trade, occupation, profession, or business related to such labor or services
performed is not an employee.
10-1-961.
(a)(1) No person shall engage in surveillance based price discrimination.
(2) A person shall not be considered to have engaged in surveillance based price
discrimination if such person can demonstrate that:
(A) Differential prices are justified based on differences in the cost of providing a good
or service to different consumers; or
(B) Such person operates as an insurer and only inputs risk relevant data into any
automated decision system that informs decisions related to any amount a consumer
must pay for an insurance policy.
(3) Surveillance based price discrimination shall not include the refusal to extend credit
at specific terms or the refusal to enter into a transaction with a specific consumer based
on data provided in a consumer report covered by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act,
15 U.S.C. Section 1681, et. seq.
(b)(1) No person shall engage in surveillance based wage discrimination.
(2) A person has not engaged in surveillance based wage discrimination if such person
can demonstrate that:
(A) Such person offers individualized wages based solely on:
(i) Data specific to a worker that is directly related to the labor or services such
worker was hired to perform; or
(ii) Differences in the cost to the worker of providing labor and services to such
person;
(B) Such person discloses in plain language before hiring a worker to perform labor
or services and to all workers whose wages are set in whole or in part by an automated
decision system and what data is considered and how such automated decision system
considers such data; and
(C) Such person develops and proactively provides to all workers reasonable
procedures to ensure the accuracy of all data considered by an automated decision
system in setting wage rates as determined through rule making.
(3) Surveillance based wage discrimination shall not include a decision not to hire an
individual who such person has not previously employed.
10-1-962.
The Attorney General is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as necessary
for the purpose of implementing and enforcing this article.
10-1-963.
Nothing in this article, including the enforcement authority granted to the Attorney General
and the district attorneys of this state, shall preempt or otherwise affect any other right,
claim, remedy, presumption, or defense available at law or in equity.
10-1-964.
(a) A person that violates any provision of this article engages in a deceptive, unfair, or
unconscionable act or practice.
(b) The Attorney General or any district attorney may bring a civil action on behalf of the
state to seek the imposition of civil penalties as follows:
(1) Any person that violates any provision of this article shall forfeit and pay to the
general fund of this state a civil penalty of not more than $10,000.00 for each such
violation. Each violation of this article shall constitute a separate violation with respect
to each consumer, worker, or transaction involved; and
(2) Costs and attorneys' fees shall be awarded to the Attorney General or a district
attorney in all actions where the Attorney General or the district attorney successfully
enforces the provisions of this article.
(c) In addition to any remedies otherwise provided by law or in equity, a person aggrieved
by a violation of this article may bring a civil action on behalf of themselves or a group of
similarly situated persons to restrain further violations and to recover damages, costs, and
reasonable attorneys' fees, including the greater of:
(1) The amount of actual damages sustained, including prejudgment interest of either
8 percent per year or at the rate provided for in Code Section 7-4-2, whichever is greater,
from the date the claim under this article accrued;
(2) The amount of $3,000.00 for each violation and each such violation of this article
shall constitute a separate violation with respect to each consumer, worker, or transaction
involved; or
(3) Three times the amount of actual damages sustained, if it is established by clear and
convincing evidence that such person violating the provisions of this article engaged in
bad faith conduct or intentionally violated the provisions of this article."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would ban businesses from using automated systems to charge individualized prices or set individualized wages based on personal surveillance data collected about consumers or workers.
### Plain-language summary
This bill adds a new article to Georgia's trade practices law (O.C.G.A. Title 10, Chapter 1) that prohibits two specific practices: surveillance based price discrimination and surveillance based wage discrimination. The first happens when a business uses an automated decision system, such as software driven by artificial intelligence or algorithms, to set different prices for different consumers based on data gathered through observation or inference about their behaviors, biometrics, or personal characteristics. The second happens when an employer uses such a system to set individualized wages for workers based on similar surveillance data.
The bill defines many key terms, including automated decision system, surveillance data, worker, and price. It carves out exceptions, such as price differences justified by real cost differences, insurers using only risk relevant data, and wage differences tied to job specific data or hiring decisions made with proper disclosure. The Attorney General can write enforcing regulations. Violations are treated as deceptive trade practices, with civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation and a private right of action for people harmed, including triple damages for bad faith violations.
### What it does
- Bans businesses from using automated decision systems to charge consumers individualized prices based on surveillance data about their behaviors, biometrics, or personal traits.
- Bans employers from using automated decision systems to set individualized worker wages based on similar surveillance data.
- Creates exceptions for price differences tied to actual cost differences, insurers using only risk-relevant data, and wage differences tied to job-specific factors with proper disclosure.
- Lets the Attorney General or any district attorney sue violators for civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, plus costs and attorneys' fees.
- Gives individuals harmed by violations the right to sue for actual damages, a flat $3,000 per violation, or triple damages if the violation was done in bad faith.
- Directs the Attorney General to write rules and regulations to implement and enforce the new law.
### Who it affects
Businesses that price goods or services differently for different customers, employers that use algorithmic or AI-based systems to set wages, insurers, consumers whose personal data might be used to set prices, and workers whose pay could be set by automated systems. The Attorney General and district attorneys would gain new enforcement duties.
### Why it matters
If enacted, companies using AI or algorithmic tools to personalize prices or wages based on someone's data, such as browsing history, location, or biometric traits, could face lawsuits and financial penalties. Consumers and workers would gain new legal tools to challenge pricing or pay practices they believe were set unfairly through hidden data-driven algorithms.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 creates new Article 37 in Chapter 1 of Title 10, adding Code Sections 10-1-960 through 10-1-964.
- O.C.G.A. § 10-1-960 defines key terms including automated decision system, surveillance data, behaviors, biometrics, wage, and worker.
- O.C.G.A. § 10-1-961 sets the core bans on surveillance based price discrimination and surveillance based wage discrimination, with listed exceptions for cost-based pricing, risk-based insurance data, and job-specific wage factors.
- O.C.G.A. § 10-1-962 authorizes the Attorney General to create rules and regulations to implement and enforce the article.
- O.C.G.A. § 10-1-963 clarifies the law does not preempt other existing legal rights or remedies.
- O.C.G.A. § 10-1-964 classifies violations as deceptive or unfair trade practices, sets a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation for state enforcement, and creates a private lawsuit option with damages including a $3,000 per-violation flat amount or triple actual damages for bad faith conduct.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-12)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-13)
- Sponsors: Nikki Merritt, Harold Jones, Kim Jackson, Derek Mallow, RaShaun Kemp, Nabilah Islam Parkes, Michael Rhett, Donzella James, Elena Parent, Kenya Wicks, Sally Harrell, Nan Orrock, Randal Mangham
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70304
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb164.md?full=1