• The FTC wants information about how companies personalize prices.
• The Commission said that it sent orders to companies from Uber to Walmart.
• The orders ask about web use habits and other personal information.

The Federal Trade Commission is asking companies from food delivery services to airlines about how they use personalized prices.

The Commission said on Wednesday that it sent orders to the companies asking for details about what kind of personal information they use to determine prices. The orders target a wide range of companies, from retailers Walmart and Target to food delivery services Uber and DoorDash to airlines like Delta and United.

"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," said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson.

"Workers also deserve to know if their compensation is affected by how companies use their personal data," Ferguson added.

Several companies pushed back against the FTC's claims.

"There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal data," a Delta spokesperson said.

"We do not use personal information to set prices, and we never will," Instacart said in a statement.

Walmart and Target previously said they would be transparent about their pricing strategies as more stores start using digital price tags.

A growing number of companies are using dynamic pricing to determine what customers pay for everything from concert tickets to jeans.

Some companies use similar methods to determine how much workers get paid. Uber presents its drivers with potential payouts that aren't based on a per-mile or per-minute rate, for instance, but instead consider factors such as demand.

The FTC's orders ask the companies to submit information about their pricing methodologies, including how they use AI, going back to January 1, 2023. It also asks for research that the companies have done on their pricing strategies, such as A/B tests.

The Commission is also seeking information about how the companies used similar technology to offer workers jobs, according to the orders.

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• The FTC and 20 US states are suing Dollar General over its pricing practices.
• A complaint filed Monday alleges the company repeatedly mislabeled products and overcharged customers.
• Dollar General said it will defend the lawsuit while remaining open to discussing a resolution.

Dollar General is facing fresh federal scrutiny over its pricing practices.

The US Federal Trade Commission said Monday it has filed a lawsuit, along with 20 states, accusing the discount retailer of deceptive pricing on its shelves, price tags, and advertisements.

"Dollar General has, for years, repeatedly mislabeled prices, overcharged consumers and failed to correct the issue despite extensive corporate knowledge of the problem," the FTC said in a statement.

The company operates more than 21,000 US stores and typically serves customers in more rural and low-income areas of the country.

The filings say Dollar General has received tens of thousands of complaints from shoppers who said they did not receive an advertised price and that the company failed to adequately address the problem.

As a result, Dollar General received millions of dollars from overcharging customers, the FTC alleged.

In a statement, Dollar General said it will defend the lawsuit while remaining open to discussing a resolution.

"The lawsuit filed today by the Federal Trade Commission and several States suggests that we have abandoned our mission and willfully disregarded the affordability needs of our customers. Nothing could be further from the truth," the statement said.

Dollar General said its goal is accuracy between shelf and register prices. When discrepancies occur, store teams are expected to make things right for customers.

The company said it cooperated with the investigation since February, producing documents, data, and testimony. The FTC and the company had exchanged potential remedies when the lawsuit was filed, the company said.

The action comes less than two weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James reached a settlement of nearly $1.9 million in food and personal items as a civil penalty for overcharging shoppers in the state. New York did not join the FTC's complaint.

US consumers have been particularly worried about fairness in retail pricing as more stores introduce digital price tags. Both Walmart and Target have issued public statements promising price transparency and consistency online and at the register. Home Depot recently did the same.