THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2025 Page 17 which they practice. My bill removes the 1-year residency requirement. This law was most likely put in place to prevent grifters or con artists from coming into a town and scamming people.” PROHIBIT GROCERY STORES FROM USING BIOMETRICS TO INCREASE PRICES OR SUGGEST ITEMS (H 99) — The House gave initial approval to a measure that would prohibit grocery stores from suggesting items or adjusting the prices of any item directly or indirectly based on the biometric data of individuals collected on the premises of a grocery store. Grocery stores would be allowed to use biometrics to allow customers to voluntarily verify their identity at the point of sale. Violations by a grocery store would result in the store being fi ned for the amount of actual damages or $5,000, whichever is higher. According to the website SupermarketNews.com, the biometrics can often involve the scanning of customer fi ngerprints or retinas. “I filed this bill after learning that the largest grocery store chain in the U.S. is rolling out facial recognition technology and electronic price tags,” said sponsor Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (DNorthampton). “These technologies, when put together, allow grocery stores to identify individual customers, their characteristics like race and gender and shopping habits. It has been shown time and time again that pricing algorithms are designed to take more money out of consumer pockets, and there is no place for this at the grocery store.” In April at a public hearing, Woodrow Hartzog, a professor at Boston University’s School of Law, told the Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity that surveillance pricing allows companies to fi gure out the highest price that customers are willing to pay. “This disastrous practice leads to price gouging, discrimination by proxy, an inability to budget, data hoarding and the suffocating feeling that every choice you BHRC | SEE Page 21 Notice is hereby given in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 185 of the Acts of 1983, and Chapter 13 of the Acts of 1984, that the Public Hearing: Location Carey Avenue Direction Southerly To Cary Avenue (At the RHS Parking Lot) Location Carey Avenue Direction Northerly Cary Avenue Location Direction Winthrop Avenue and Webster Street Location Direction Beach Street Northwest Corner Direction Beach Street To North Shore Road Location Archer Street Lawson Avenue Wadleigh Avenue Beckett Avenue Blanchard Avenue River Avenue Gilbert Avenue Frank Avenue Tobin Avenue Northwest Corner Beach Street To North Shore Road Type E. Mountain Avenue To E. Mountain Avenue To Type Type Type Type Location Direction Archer Street Lawson Avenue Wadleigh Avenue Beckett Avenue Blanchard Avenue River Avenue Gilbert Avenue Frank Avenue Tobin Avenue translation@revere.org” To Type restrictions
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