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A comment on Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law. Parent comment

Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by joshklein on Thursday September 19, 2019 @04:42PM (#21020544)
Charging different customers a different price for the same product is illegal under US law, and California laws don’t change that.

EDIT: Several comments below point out the innumerable businesses operating in such a way as to make mine an impossible claim.

Enumerating the established methods to avoid meeting the legal parameters of price discrimination is not the same as price discrimination being legal.

My bar for following just laws is higher than the minimum required to avoid being prosecuted. I’m sure experts can help work around any future privacy laws too, so why even worry?

Surveillance already creates a different product one can charge more for, though your lawyer might advise you call it “personalization” in memos.

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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by reaperducer on Thursday September 19, 2019 @05:10PM (#21020799)
Charging different customers a different price for the same product is illegal under US law

Demonstrably untrue.

It is illegal to charge a different price based on a protected class like race or gender. But travel sites, for example, are notorious for charging different people different prices based on their GeoIP, whether they're on mobile or desktop, or Windows vs Macintosh.

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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by lightedman on Thursday September 19, 2019 @09:05PM (#21022358)
"Demonstrably untrue."

Robinson-Patman Act says "Please read me, and understand me and the Clayton Anti-Trust Act which I amend."

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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by matthewmcg on Thursday September 19, 2019 @04:46PM (#21020574)
That's not generally true. Businesses are free to vary their pricing provided they aren't violating some other law in doing so (e.g. laws prohibiting discrimination based on race or sex or laws requiring common carriers or utilities to charge prices set on a tariff).
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by mattnewton on Thursday September 19, 2019 @04:45PM (#21020571)
This is suprising to me. I assume it is much more nuanced than that? How does insurance work then? Isn't insurance fundimentally the same plan with different prices for different groups depending on assessed risk?
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by vonmoltke on Thursday September 19, 2019 @05:50PM (#21021074)
> that is not the same as price discrimination being legal

From refurb's link below:

"Price discriminations are generally lawful"

See https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a...

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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by joshklein on Thursday September 19, 2019 @08:54PM (#21022288)
You’ll love their take on net neutrality.
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by lightedman on Thursday September 19, 2019 @09:04PM (#21022350)
"EDIT: Several comments below point out the innumerable businesses operating in such a way as to make mine an impossible claim."

They have no clue about the Robinson-Patman Act amendments to the Clayton Act.

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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by CamperBob2 on Thursday September 19, 2019 @05:07PM (#21020783)
Not even remotely true unless you're selling to the government. The GSA does get a bit testy if they think you're cutting someone else a better deal.
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by refurb on Thursday September 19, 2019 @04:58PM (#21020707)
How do car dealerships do it then?
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by connicpu on Thursday September 19, 2019 @05:08PM (#21020784)
Because when you buy a car you aren't usually buying "a [year] [make] [model] [with these features]". You're buying "that specific car with that unique identifier"
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by refurb on Thursday September 19, 2019 @05:14PM (#21020830)
The correct answer is “it’s not the law”. Or at least the way the OP described it.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a...

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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by emiliobumachar on Friday September 20, 2019 @06:33AM (#21025112)
Really? So all it takes to work around this supposed law is to give your products unique identifiers?
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by briandear on Friday September 20, 2019 @03:21AM (#21024014)
Airplane tickets. Car rental rates. Hotel rates. Buying a car. Loans: if I want to borrow $100k for 10 years, I will pay a different price than my next door neighbor asking for the same terms.
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Re:Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law by ummonk on Thursday September 19, 2019 @05:07PM (#21020780)
I have a coupon code that says otherwise.
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