A new Connecticut law effective July 2027 prohibits restaurants from using personal data to charge different customers different prices.
Most Connecticut restaurant owners have never heard of surveillance pricing—and that's precisely why they need to understand it now. A provision buried in HB05563, An Act Concerning Various Criminal Law And Criminal Justice Proposals, quietly restricts how you can use customer data to set menu prices. The law takes effect July 1, 2027, giving you nearly three years to understand what it means for your business.
Surveillance pricing happens when a business charges different customers different prices based on personal information collected about them. For restaurants, this could theoretically mean charging a higher price to a customer because data shows they have higher income, live in a wealthy neighborhood, or have a history of spending more. The data might come from biometric monitoring (facial recognition, fingerprints), cameras, device tracking, or sensors—collected either directly by your business or purchased from third parties.
While surveillance pricing is still rare in food service, it's increasingly common in other retail sectors and online commerce. Connecticut's law stops it before it becomes standard practice in restaurants.
Under Section 11 of HB05563 (pages 25-27), any retail seller doing business in Connecticut—including retail food establishments—is prohibited from setting customized higher prices based on consumers' personal data. The law is specific: it covers data collected through biometric monitoring, cameras, device tracking, or sensors, whether you gather it yourself or buy it from a data broker.
The key word is "higher." The law targets price increases tied to personal data, not discounts. This distinction matters for your business model.
If your restaurant operates in Connecticut, this applies to you—whether you're a single location or a multi-state chain. It covers all retail food establishments. If you use any form of customer tracking, facial recognition, device monitoring, or purchase consumer data to inform pricing decisions, you need to review those practices before July 1, 2027.
Third-party data purchases matter too. Even if you don't collect customer data directly, buying data from vendors and using it to set personalized prices violates the law.
Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive trade practices under Connecticut law, enforced by the Connecticut Attorney General. This means violations can trigger investigation, cease-and-desist orders, and potential penalties—the same enforcement mechanism used for other consumer protection violations.
Review any pricing software, customer tracking systems, or data partnerships you currently use. If you're considering implementing dynamic pricing or personalization tools before 2027, consult with legal counsel about compliance. The law doesn't ban dynamic pricing itself—only pricing that varies based on personal data collected about individual customers.
The effective date of July 1, 2027 gives you time to adjust systems, but it's worth understanding the requirement now rather than scrambling later.
Source: Connecticut HB05563, Section 11, pages 25-27.