Is your harvested personal data being used against you? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suspects it might be. On Tuesday, the agency approved a probe into “surveillance pricing” — requesting information from corporations such as MastercardMA

, JPMorgan ChaseJPM

, and McKinsey & Co. about how they use customer data and artificial intelligence to adjust prices.

• The FTC warns of a “shadowy ecosystem of pricing middlemen” collecting information on your location, credit profile, and browsing history.
• “Now firms could be exploiting this vast trove of personal information to charge people higher prices,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan, committing to investigate the impact (Reuters).

Digital footprint to your price tag: 81% of Americans are worried about how their data is used, highlighting a push for greater privacy and possible regulatory changes. It’s easy to see why Americans are concerned: Their personal data can be used against them to set “bespoke pricing,” where companies charge higher prices to those who appear willing to pay more. This could amplify existing inequalities, with lower-income consumers paying more, raising ethical concerns. As AI becomes more common in pricing strategies, this investigation could impact the price you pay — not just in dollars but also in personal data.