NetChoice opposes SB 1807’s prohibition on personalized algorithmic pricing as the definition is far too broad, capturing routine and beneficial commercial practices like loyalty discounts and personalized promotions alongside genuinely harmful ones. The bill would disadvantage Tennessee-based businesses relative to out-of-state competitors, since local companies using standard pricing software would face litigation risk while larger national players could structure around the law.
NetChoice Testimony in Opposition to TN SB 1807
March 3, 2026
Tennessee Legislature
Tennessee Senate Commerce and Labor Committee
Dear Chair Bailey, Vice-Chair Taylor and Members of the Committee:
NetChoice, a trade association of leading internet companies committed to free expression and free enterprise online, appreciates the opportunity to provide testimony on Senate Bill 1807. We respectfully urge the Committee to oppose this legislation, which, while well-intentioned, would create serious harm to Tennessee businesses, consumers and workers through overbroad restrictions on common and beneficial commercial practices.
The Definitions in this Bill are Dangerously Overbroad
The bill prohibits “personalized algorithmic pricing” — defined as dynamic pricing set by an algorithm using personal data. The definition of personal data is sweeping: any data that “identifies or could reasonably be linked with, directly or indirectly, a specific consumer or device.” In practice, this captures an enormous range of ordinary commercial activity.
Consider what that definition could encompass. An e-commerce retailer that uses a returning customer’s purchase history to offer a relevant promotion could be in violation. A hotel or airline that adjusts prices based on a logged-in user’s search history could be prohibited. A subscription service that offers a lapsed member a discounted re-enrollment rate based on their account history could face liability. A small business using off-the-shelf pricing software that incorporates any customer data could unknowingly be in violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.
None of these scenarios involve exploitation. They describe the personalized, efficient, consumer-friendly commerce that Tennesseans use and benefit from every day. Banning the underlying technology does not protect consumers from these practices; it eliminates the benefits those practices deliver.
The Bill Would Harm the Workers and Consumers It Purports to Protect
SB 1807 would place Tennessee businesses at a significant disadvantage relative to competitors in other states. National and global companies that can serve Tennessee consumers from outside the state while structuring their operations to limit legal exposure here will face less friction than Tennessee-based businesses trying to compete using the same tools. The practical effect is to handicap homegrown Tennessee businesses and startups — the companies most likely to be building the next generation of commerce technology — while doing little to constrain large out-of-state actors.
Tennessee has worked hard to attract technology investment and build a competitive business environment. Legislation that makes the state an outlier on commercial technology regulation sends the wrong signal to the companies and entrepreneurs the state wants to attract.
The Enforcement Mechanism Creates Serious Litigation Risk
Violations of this bill constitute unfair or deceptive acts or practices under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, a designation that carries significant penalties and private litigation exposure. Given how broadly the bill is written, virtually any business using modern pricing software that incorporates account or behavioral data could face a colorable claim. The compliance uncertainty alone will impose real costs on businesses that simply want to serve their customers efficiently and competitively.
Smaller businesses, which lack large legal teams, will bear this burden most heavily. Unlike large national retailers that can afford to build proprietary, closed-loop pricing systems from scratch, small Tennessee businesses rely on off-the-shelf third-party pricing tools to stay competitive. This bill effectively forces a choice between abandoning those tools or facing litigation exposure — a choice that large out-of-state competitors, operating beyond the reach of Tennessee law, will never have to make. The predictable result is that the legislation doesn’t level the playing field; it tilts it further against the homegrown businesses Tennessee most wants to support.
Conclusion
We share the sponsors’ concern about genuinely predatory uses of personal data, such as charging a diabetic consumer more for medical supplies, or exploiting a desperate worker’s financial circumstances to suppress wages. These are serious harms that deserve serious attention. But the remedy should be targeted at specific and demonstrable harms, not a sweeping prohibition that treats beneficial personalization as equivalent to predatory exploitation.
If the Committee’s goal is to protect consumers from opaque or exploitative pricing, we urge a transparency-based approach rather than an outright ban. Requiring businesses to disclose when algorithmic pricing is in use — so that consumers know a personalized price is being offered — addresses the core concern about information asymmetry without eliminating the practice itself. This approach protects consumer awareness while preserving the personalized discounts, loyalty offers and retention pricing that benefit Tennesseans every day. Prohibition is a blunt instrument; disclosure is a precise one.
We urge the Committee to work with stakeholders to craft narrower legislation that addresses documented abuses without placing Tennessee businesses at a competitive disadvantage or depriving consumers of the benefits of modern commerce.
For these reasons, we respectfully ask the Committee to oppose SB 1807 in its current form.
Amy Bos
Vice President of Government Affairs, NetChoice (The views of NetChoice expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of all NetChoice members.)
NetChoice is a trade association that works to protect free expression and promote free enterprise online.