Editor’s Note: Cross-posted from OIRA Watch.
OIRA Watch Editor’s Note: The White House’s Big Data Review website is available here. The White House’s Interim Report, BIG DATA:SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES, PRESERVING VALUES” is available here. The White House’s Big Data and Differential Pricing Report is available here.
From: The National Law Review
Morgan Kennedy | Covington & Burling LLP
Yesterday the White House released a report discussing how companies are using big data to charge different prices to different customers, a practice known as price discrimination or differential pricing. The report describes the benefits of big data for sellers and buyers alike, and concludes that many concerns raised by big data and differential pricing can be addressed by existing antidiscrimination and consumer protection laws.
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Policy Framework
The report opines that “[b]ig data clearly holds both promise and peril for the individual consumer.” While the report acknowledges that big data raises discrimination and transparency concerns, it argues that existing antidiscrimination and consumer protection laws can address these issues. However, it also stresses that “ongoing scrutiny” is necessary where companies are using sensitive information in ways that are nontransparent or fall outside the boundaries of the existing regulatory framework.
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