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Bill Haase Raises Questions About 'Surveillance Pricing' and Whether Consumers Are Secretly Paying More
Bill Haase
As consumer prices continue to rise, Bill Haase says AI-driven pricing may be quietly changing what shoppers pay online
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, May 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- What if two people shopping for the exact same product at the exact same time were charged completely different prices? Financial author Bill Haase says this is already happening through a growing practice known as “surveillance pricing,” where companies use AI, algorithms, and consumer data to determine how much individual shoppers are willing to pay.
According to Haase, pricing can vary based on browsing habits, loyalty memberships, spending history, location, or even the device someone is shopping on.
“Surveillance pricing tracks spending habits and whether you regularly shop for higher-end or lower-end products,” says Haase. “Algorithms can start figuring out what you’re willing to pay before you even realize it.”
Airlines, retailers, rideshare apps, and delivery services increasingly use personalized pricing powered by real-time data analysis. According to Haase, price differences can range from 2% to 20%.
“That’s where privacy laws start becoming part of the conversation,” says Haase. “If one person is paying more than another for the exact same thing based on personal data, people are naturally going to question whether that’s fair.”
Concerns over surveillance pricing are now reaching lawmakers. In New Jersey, proposed legislation would ban supermarkets from using algorithms and personal data to charge different prices to different shoppers for the same products. A bill called the One Fair Pricing Act is being proposed at the federal level.
To help reduce tracking exposure, Haase recommends changing VPN locations, browsing in incognito mode, clearing cookies and cache files, and comparing prices across multiple devices, although he notes none of these methods is guaranteed to fully block algorithmic pricing systems.
“Most people don’t realize how advanced this technology already is,” Haase says. “People need to stop chasing status symbols they can’t afford. We’ve become so conditioned to looking successful that people are willing to drain themselves financially just to maintain an image.”
Haase also questions whether rising costs alone fully explain today’s price increases, citing reports that Fortune 500 companies generated a record $1.89 trillion in profits last year.
“It leads me to believe there has to be some price gouging going on,” says Haase. “If costs to bring products to market have increased so much, with many companies claiming they are not passing all these costs to the consumer, then how are companies still reporting record profits? However, if some consumers are quietly being charged more than others, profits increase.”
The topic is explored further in Haase’s book, Our Mindset on Money: It’s Easy to Control, So Why Don’t We?, which examines financial habits, consumer behavior, and money mindset.
“What you’re not aware of controls you,” Haase concludes. “What you’re aware of, you control.”
Haase will appear at Avalon Hollywood for the National Social Media Association Awards on June 7 in Los Angeles. Additional upcoming events include speaking engagements in New Zealand from June 15–22 and work with military groups in Oahu, Hawaii, from June 23–28.
About the Author
Bill Haase is a financial author, speaker, and educator with more than 38 years of experience in finance, banking, and trading. He spent 20 years trading in the Chicago pits and became the first person in the U.S. to execute simultaneous pit and electronic trading in 2004. Today, he speaks and writes about consumer awareness, money management, and financial mindset.
Learn more at https://moneymindsetmedia.com/
Bill Haase is available for interviews.
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