This is our round table, where we look at one issue from different sides and explain why it matters.

A discussion in which people share different views on a topic.

The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is a U.S. government agency that oversees business practices.

Here, it means the agency watches and checks how businesses operate.

The FTC wants to know whether prices for things like flights, rides and food delivery vary from one customer to another because of loyalty-program membership or analysis of personal data.

Being a member of a company program that rewards repeat customers.

A preliminary FTC report filed in January 2025 found that grocers, clothing companies and others were using outside firms to help personalize online prices.

It means the report was an early version, not a final one.

The report described factors such as a shopper’s location and browsing history, including how long someone left an item in an online cart.

The record of websites or items someone has looked at online.

Loyalty programs are part of the inquiry too, so the agency is asking about more than a person’s browsing history.

Here, it means a record of what a person has looked at online.

JetBlue says it does not use personal information or browsing history to set individual fares, and says fares depend on demand and seat availability.

Here, it means a record of the websites or items a person has looked at online.

The FTC’s question is not only whether a price changes, but whether personal data helps drive that difference.

Here, it means whether personal data helps cause the price difference.

The FTC says it is studying whether ride-share and delivery companies use drivers’ personal data when setting compensation.

Money paid to workers for their work.

The inquiry puts these two questions side by side, rather than treating pricing as only a matter for shoppers.

It means the inquiry considers the two questions together.

JetBlue says it does not use personal information or browsing history to set individual fares, and says fares depend on demand and seat availability.

It means whether seats are still open to buy.

In August, the FTC proposed requiring businesses to clearly disclose when they use personalized pricing and what kinds of data they use.

Here, it means to make the information known clearly.

That proposal is not a rule in force.

It means the proposal is not currently an active rule.

The FTC says it could ask a federal court to compel the companies to provide information if they fail to turn it over.

Here, it means to use the court’s power to make the companies provide the information.