Reviews Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary? Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting

Getting Hooked on Quitting

Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary?

Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous

Is College Necessary?

Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear

Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters

‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Reviews Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary? Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting

Getting Hooked on Quitting

Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary?

Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous

Is College Necessary?

Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear

Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters

‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Your rewards card may be spying on you — and impacting how much you pay

A surveillance pricing ban in Maryland leaves out loyalty programs — costing customers more than they save

Published May 18, 2026 6:30AM (EDT)

If you’ve been anywhere online or in stores lately, you’ve likely encountered marketing buzz like “Sign-up to earn loyalty discounts” or “Become a rewards member today!”

Today’s consumers are inundated with the pleas of businesses to sign up for member clubs, loyalty programs, discount cards and more. They often offer exclusive sales, access to limited edition items and maybe even specialized discounts. It’s also commonly understood that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is — so what’s the catch?

Increasingly, companies are using loyalty programs to offer discounts in name only by building hyperspecific profiles on members that determine what deals customers receive and the maximum they’re willing to pay. In other words, it’s all about data, which can be used against the very consumers who assume it benefits them.

This practice falls under the umbrella of surveillance pricing, which is the use of a customer’s personal data to set prices. For example, Customer A is shopping online for grocery pick-up and sees $3.99 for a bag of lemons, whereas Customer B sees $2.99 for the same bag. Based on algorithms that utilize customer data, the grocery store believes Customer A would be willing to pay........

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