FTC 6(b) Orders Demand Personalized Pricing Data from Nine Firms
The FTC's October 28 Section 6(b) orders compel nine airline, ride-sharing, delivery and retail companies to show how personal data drives prices and worker pay, with responses due in 45 days.
On October 28, 2026, the FTC issued Section 6(b) orders to nine companies across the airline, ride-sharing, delivery and retail industries, directing each to document how personal data feeds pricing, job-assignment and worker-compensation decisions, with 45 days from receipt to respond. The Special Order seeks pricing methodologies, the personal-information inputs used, the tools and software involved, how outputs affect outcomes, circumstances of human override, A/B testing, and disclosures to consumers and workers. The FTC has not explained why these companies were selected, and inclusion in the study is not an allegation of wrongdoing. The orders follow the agency's August proposed policy statement warning that undisclosed use of personal data to set prices may be unfair or deceptive, and arrive alongside new state restrictions in New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland and New York's algorithmic-pricing disclosure mandate. Target, Instacart and JetBlue, said to be among the recipients, already face scrutiny, including a putative JetBlue class action alleging willingness-to-pay pricing that JetBlue denies. Practical takeaway: clients should map pricing data inputs, algorithms and vendor contributions now, because explaining why a given consumer saw a given price is the question regulators, plaintiffs and consumer groups are asking.