联邦贸易委员会下令九家大公司交定价数据：查个人数据是否被用来给每位顾客开不同价钱
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）宣布，已依据《联邦贸易委员会法》第6(b)条向九家大公司发出特别命令，要求它们提交详细资料，供委员会研究企业是否利用个人数据为不同消费者设定不同价格、为零工劳动者设定不同报酬。
收到命令的九家公司是达美航空、联合航空、捷蓝航空、Lyft、Uber、DoorDash、Instacart、塔吉特（Target）与沃尔玛（Walmart）。
FTC主席安德鲁·弗格森（Andrew N. Ferguson）表示，委员会将审视这些行业中可能存在的不透明定价方法：消费者有权知道，企业是否利用他们的网上浏览习惯或其他个人数据，估算出能向每位顾客收取的最高价格；劳动者同样有权知道，自己的报酬是否受到企业使用其个人数据的影响。
命令要求各公司交代其调整或设定价格与报酬所依据的输入、工具与程序，包括顾客参与忠诚度计划的情况、超级智能算法对个人数据的分析，以及网约车与外卖平台司机的接单历史、手机使用等数据。各公司须在收到命令后45天内答复；如拒不提交，委员会可诉请联邦法院强制执行。
FTC说明，这是一项研究而非执法行动，企业收到命令本身不代表已被认定违法。委员会2024年曾就个性化定价开展研究，但当时只调查了居间咨询机构，没有触及真正为消费者定价的企业本身，未能了解到实际的定价决策；今年8月，委员会还就一项拟议执法政策征求了公众意见，内容涉及未披露地使用个人信息为个别消费者设定独特价格是否违反《联邦贸易委员会法》。
这批特别命令经委员会以2票对0票批准发出。
FTC Orders Nine Major Companies to Hand Over Pricing Data for a Study of Personalized Pricing and Pay
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it has issued special orders to nine major companies under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, requiring them to provide detailed information for a study of whether businesses use personal data to set different prices for different consumers and different pay for gig workers.
The nine recipients are Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said the Commission intends to scrutinize the opaque methodology that some companies in these industries may be using to determine how much consumers pay or how much gig workers are paid for the same product or service. Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer, he said, and workers deserve to know whether their compensation is affected by how companies use their personal data.
The orders require the companies to document the inputs, tools and procedures used to adjust or set pricing and compensation, including customers' participation in loyalty programs, analysis of personal data by superintelligence algorithms, and driver data such as phone usage and acceptance history for past offers. Each company has 45 days from receipt to respond; if a company fails to turn over the required information, the Commission can seek enforcement in federal court.
The FTC stressed that the inquiry is a study, not an enforcement action, and that receiving an order does not establish wrongdoing. A Commission study in mid-2024 examined only middleman consultancies rather than the businesses that actually set prices, and the agency said it learned nothing about actual pricing decisions from it. In August, the Commission also invited public comment on a proposed enforcement policy statement on how the undisclosed use of personal information to set a price unique to a consumer could violate the FTC Act.
The Commission voted 2-0 to approve issuing the special orders.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：联邦贸易委员会总部所在地 Apex 大楼（资料图）。公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Apex Building, headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission (file photo). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
