Is the California Consumer Privacy Act the Answer to Price Discrimination?

Abstract

The sections of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CaCPA) dealing with price discrimination and are ill-conceived, badly written, and do not offer meaningful guidance or an answer to harmful pricing practices. In this article, I argue that the rules prohibiting discrimination based on a consumer’s exercise of her CaCPA rights are completely swallowed up by the exception that permits discrimination that is reasonably related to the value provided to the consumer, resulting in internal contradiction and legal uncertainty. Additionally, CaCPA’s disclosure mandates do not advance pricing transparency. Lastly, the liability sections contain large gaps that will allow businesses and their marketing intermediaries to absolve themselves of responsibility for privacy abuses.

Keywords: Privacy, CaCPA, Price Discrimination, Law, Consumer Protection