How companies use your data to set prices

If you've ever wondered why the same flight, hotel room, or grocery item seems to cost a different amount depending on who's buying it, you’re not imagining things. Companies are using the data we expose online, including our location, our browsing habits, even assumptions about our income, to decide what prices to charge us. It's called surveillance pricing, and it's becoming more common across the retail world – from airlines to grocery chains right here in the Bay Area.

KALW’s personal finance reporter Francesca Fenzi found out just how personal, and hard to escape, this practice really is.