Colorado's Governor Chose Corporate Pricing Algorithms Over His Own Voters

Key Takeaways

• Colorado Governor Jared Polis vetoed HB26-1210 on June 2, 2026, rejecting what would have been the strongest surveillance pricing ban in the United States.
• The bill would have prohibited companies from using personal data, including browsing history, biometrics, and online behavior, to set individualized prices or wages through AI-powered algorithms.
• Polis argued the bill was too broad and could inadvertently penalize consumer discounts, despite the bill having been amended to explicitly allow loyalty and rewards programs.
• Bill sponsors noted that nearly 80% of Coloradans support banning the use of personal data in price-setting, calling the veto a missed opportunity.
• Maryland has already enacted a surveillance pricing ban, and more than 40 bills across at least 24 states are advancing similar legislation.

What HB26-1210 Actually Did

Surveillance pricing is what happens when a company knows you've been searching for flights to Denver three times this week, knows your approximate income bracket, knows you usually buy at the last minute, and charges you accordingly. The algorithm calculates your personal ceiling and prices according to it, and that’s exactly what so many countries and states are now enacting bills to go against.

On June 2, 2026, Governor Polis vetoed HB26-1210, a bill that would have made Colorado the first state to comprehensively ban surveillance pricing across all sectors. The bill defined surveillance data as anything obtained through observation, inference, or surveillance of consumers or workers, covering personal characteristics, online behaviors, and biometrics, and barred companies from feeding that data into price or wage-setting algorithms. The final act passed the House 41-23 and the Senate 19-15 before landing on Polis's desk.

The Governor's Reasoning Does Not Survive Contact with the Bill

Polis's stated justification was that the bill swept too broadly, potentially catching "innocuous" uses of technology that benefit consumers, including discounts. "Because of the broad sweep," he wrote, "the bill would punish differentially lower prices, not just higher prices." He pointed to SB26-189, a bill he did sign, as already addressing some of the issues.

But the bill had already been amended to explicitly allow loyalty programs, rewards pricing, and other promotional discounts. The legislature narrowed it precisely to address concerns like Polis's. Sponsor Representative Javier Mabrey put it plainly: "Nearly eighty percent of Coloradans support banning the use of their personal data to set the prices they pay. This veto ignores the clear will of the vast majority of Coloradans."

The discount argument is unconvincing to say the least. A company setting a lower price based on your personal data profile is still running that profile on you. The problem was never whether the output was higher or lower. It was that your browsing history, your inferred income, and your online behavior were being fed into a machine to determine what you specifically would pay. All that Polis’ veto does is protect the infrastructure that makes predatory pricing possible.

Every Other State Is Moving While Colorado Steps Back

Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed the Protection From Predatory Pricing Act on April 28, 2026, making Maryland the first state to enact a surveillance pricing ban, with the law taking effect October 1. And as for the rest of the US, more than 40 bills across at least 24 states are now targeting surveillance and algorithmic pricing in some form. New York enacted its Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act in 2025. New Jersey, Connecticut, Tennessee, and Illinois all have active legislation.

Colorado had the strongest version of any of these laws, with the broadest scope, clearest prohibitions, private right of action, and civil enforcement. Polis had the opportunity to set the national standard and chose to put it down instead. The tech industry celebrated his decision, with the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce thanking the governor for protecting "everyday affordability tools," which is a pretty cute name for an algorithm that knows more about your finances than your bank does.

The data pipeline this legislation was trying to shut down is exactly the kind of infrastructure that compounds over time, as age verification systems have already shown. Each "reasonable" exception creates the architecture for the next intrusion.

Colorado's sponsors say they will try again. I hope they do, and I hope the next version is harder to veto. Polis was handed the strongest consumer data protection bill in the country and decided the tech industry's concerns outweighed 80% of his own electorate. That is a choice he will need to explain to every Coloradan who gets a personalized price they did not ask for and cannot see around.