Provides that surveillance-based price discrimination is an unfair or deceptive trade practice or act. (8/1/26)

Senate Bill 362 creates a new statute, Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:1430, that prohibits surveillance-based price discrimination and establishes it as an unfair or deceptive trade practice under Louisiana consumer protection law. The bill defines surveillance-based price discrimination using nine key terms: automated decision system, behaviors, biometrics, consumer, individualized, insurer, personal characteristics, price, and surveillance data. The core prohibition is straightforward: no person may engage in surveillance-based price discrimination. The statute then provides three categories of safe harbors where price differences do not constitute prohibited discrimination: when differential prices are justified by actual cost differences in providing goods or services; when differential prices reflect publicly available discounts offered uniformly to all consumers on equal terms with specific safeguards around how surveillance data is used; and when a refusal to extend credit or enter a transaction is based on consumer reports governed by federal Fair Credit Reporting Act standards.

The practical effect of this legislation extends to retailers, online merchants, financial service providers, and other businesses that use data analytics or automated decision systems to set prices. Consumers gain a private right of action and can pursue remedies available under Louisiana's existing unfair trade practices law against businesses that charge different prices based on surveillance data, biometric information, inferred behaviors, or personal characteristics. Insurance companies receive a specific exemption allowing them to use risk-relevant data in automated systems to determine policy premiums, provided they operate under Louisiana insurance licensing requirements. Small businesses offering loyalty programs or member discounts will need to ensure their discount structures meet the statutory requirements, particularly that surveillance data used for discount administration is not simultaneously used for profiling or individualized pricing of non-discounted products or services.

This legislation operates within Louisiana's broader consumer protection framework established in Chapter 1 of Title 51, which governs unfair and deceptive trade practices. The statute's enforcement mechanism relies on the existing private right of action established in R.S. 51:1409 and subjects violators to any penalties provided in that chapter. The bill's effective date is August 1, 2026. The statute's safe harbors, particularly the exemption for insurers using risk-relevant data and the Fair Credit Reporting Act exception, reflect existing federal consumer protection schemes and anti-discrimination principles embedded in Louisiana law, suggesting the legislature intended this measure to complement rather than conflict with federal regulatory standards and existing state insurance regulation under R.S. 22:481 et seq.