Colorado bill to ban surveillance prices, wages vetoed by Gov. Polis
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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill that would have prohibited corporations from using someone's personal data to set individual wages and prices.
This article was originally published by Colorado Newsline.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill on Tuesday that would have prohibited corporations from using someone’s personal data to set individualized wages and retail prices, writing in his veto letter that the policy is overly broad and could inadvertently discourage discounts for consumers.
House Bill 26-1210 was among a trio of bills concerned with affordability touted by Democratic lawmakers early in the 2026 legislative session, but became the only one out of the three to pass the Legislature before it adjourned last month.
“Instead of specifically defining and targeting unethical conduct and practices, the bill takes a broader approach to capture any technology that incidentally influences a price or wage amount,” Polis wrote. “Because of the broad sweep, the bill would punish differentially lower prices, not just higher prices.”
The bill would have banned algorithms and software that use data processes like statistical modeling, data analytics and artificial intelligence to set an individual price or wage for a person. That is commonly known as surveillance pricing, because it uses personal data like someone’s browsing history and habits to often set a price at the highest amount someone is willing to pay. Drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft might get different payout offers for the same ride, grocery shoppers could pay different prices for the same product, or someone researching vacation destinations online could face a more expensive plane ticket.
The bill was narrowed and amended in the Legislature to allow loyalty and rewards programs, which often use the technology described in the bill. Even with the consumer discount definitions in the bill, Polis wrote that the bill could prevent corporations from lowering prices and offering personalized discounts based on data. A handful of Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill.
‘It makes logical sense to specifically address unethical price gouging that targets a consumer with an unfair, significantly
higher price. In practice, this means that many Coloradans won’t get discounts on items they buy if I were to sign this,” Polis wrote. “This opens the door to some perfectly acceptable consumer discount, if not appropriately captured by the definitions in this bill, being subject to scrutiny and enforcement under the Consumer Protection Act.”
There is similar legislation related to surveillance pricing in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A Maryland law signed this year bans surveillance pricing in grocery stores that result in higher prices for shoppers.
Polis vetoed two other bills on Tuesday afternoon. One dealt with arbitration reform, and another would have limited when restaurants can include plastic utensils with takeout orders.