A buried provision in Connecticut's HB05563 will ban a pricing practice many auto service owners may not have considered—but should understand before 2027.
Most Connecticut auto service owners haven't heard of "surveillance pricing," but a new state law is about to make it illegal anyway. Buried in HB05563—An Act Concerning Various Criminal Law And Criminal Justice Proposals—is a retail pricing restriction that could affect how your shop sets prices and manages customer data.
Starting July 1, 2027, Connecticut retailers—including auto service shops—are barred from charging individual customers higher prices based on personal data collected about them. This applies specifically to data gathered through biometric monitoring, cameras, device tracking, or sensors. The law covers data your shop collects directly as well as data you purchase or receive from third parties.
In plain terms: you cannot use information about a specific customer's location history, browsing behavior, financial status, or other tracked personal characteristics to justify charging that customer more than you'd charge someone else for the same service.
If your business uses any form of customer tracking—whether through loyalty apps, security cameras with analytics, GPS data, or purchased consumer data—you need to review how pricing decisions are made. The law treats violations as unfair trade practices, enforceable by the Connecticut Attorney General.
This doesn't prohibit standard business practices like volume discounts, seasonal pricing, or loyalty rewards available to all customers equally. It specifically targets *personalized* price increases tied to surveillance data about individual consumers.
For auto services, the practical impact is straightforward: if you're considering dynamic pricing based on what you know about a particular customer's ability or willingness to pay—derived from tracked data—that's now off the table in Connecticut.
The provision takes effect July 1, 2027. That gives you roughly two and a half years to audit your current pricing systems and data practices. If your shop currently uses any surveillance-based pricing model, now is the time to consult with your accountant or attorney about compliance.
This provision is found in Section 11 of HB05563, on page 25 of the bill text. The law applies to any "retail seller" doing business in Connecticut, which includes automotive service providers.
Connecticut's retail community—from gas stations to repair shops to restaurants—is affected. The state legislature grouped this pricing restriction with other consumer protection measures, recognizing that surveillance-based price discrimination is an emerging practice worth preventing before it becomes widespread.
If you want a deeper dive into how this applies to your specific business model, resources tailored to Connecticut service businesses are available to help you understand your obligations under the new law.
Source: HB05563, Section 11, effective July 1, 2027.