Online Personalized Pricing As Prohibited Automated Decision-Making Under Article 22 GDPR: A Skeptical View

Abstract

Article 22 GDPR imposes a prima facie prohibition on certain forms of automated decision-making. It has been suggested that Article 22 GDPR may prohibit online personalized pricing, as online personalized pricing involves the making of automatic pricing decisions based on customers’ personal data. However, this paper will argue that Article 22 GDPR should not be relied upon to constrain online personalized pricing. Two main reasons are given in support of this argument. First, Article 22 GDPR does not in fact pose a significant obstacle to online personalized pricing. Second, there are good reasons why a prohibitory stance against online personalized pricing should not be adopted, and a transparency-centric approach should be preferred instead.

Keywords: Personalized Pricing, GDPR, Article 22, Automated Decision-Making, Transparency

JEL Classification: K00