Residents of the beach are very aware that the price of a condo rental on the 4th of July is going to be more expensive than during the month of November. The price of a flight to New York City during Christmas is going to be much higher than a weekday flight in February. This is called dynamic pricing and it is rates are the same for all bookers seeking those times and dates.

A new form of rate setting has become popular this year called "Surveillance Pricing" and it uses your own online shopping habits to set a price you will pay for each item.

“Most of these companies are charging you a different price based on some data they have about you. It could be your location, it could be your proximity to the store, it could be your shopping history, knowing that you bought a product previously and are willing to pay for it again," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.

Imagine a common ride service app having your online history and seeing that you have paid high prices in the past to go to a concert or dinner. Now you need to go to the same venue again but the price is different. Maybe you notice that you regular online grocery bill has gone up slightly for the same items you ordered in the past?

Don't think this could happen to you? Instacart, which provides online shopping services from several local stores in the area, just announced it will end their surveillance pricing. They admitted they have used the algorithmic pricing based off user profiles.

The proverbial genie is out of the bottle and consumer data is in the hands of online shopping platforms. In recent online shopping experiments by Consumer Reports, those who had a digital history of shopping for deals were shown the most competitive prices. While those who purchased quickly were shown higher prices for the same products.

It is impossible to know how many companies are using surveillance pricing but the nation's largest shopping service, airline and ride service are already being viewed by the FTC. The algorithmic pricing formula is currently legal in the United States.

Digital experts state that using an "incognito" browser window is one way to circumvent the specialized pricing.