Surveillance pricing

Lindsay OwensConsumer protection expert, head of the Groundwork Collaborative think tank, and author of "Gouged"

• Owens says her organization estimates the 'annoyance economy' costs Americans $165 billion a year in lost time and money.

  “the annoyance economy, which is things like fighting chatbots for refunds, is costing Americans $165 billion every single year”

  This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #693 - Consumer Advocate Lindsay Owens (Nov 3, 2026) · Listen from 1:43:29

• Owens argues income and willingness to pay differ, so surveillance pricing exploits desperation rather than only charging the rich more.

  “income and willingness to pay are not the same thing, right? Like that's the key here”

  This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #693 - Consumer Advocate Lindsay Owens (Nov 3, 2026) · Listen from 1:39:37

• Owens argues corporate America has built a surveillance state rivaling what governments could build.

  “corporate America is now built a kind of surveillance state that rivals what any government could build”

  This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #693 - Consumer Advocate Lindsay Owens (Nov 3, 2026) · Listen from 1:22:52

• Owens recommends consumers run their own experiments, such as having friends all check Uber prices at once and booking the cheapest.

  “turn the experiment back around on these companies. They figure out how much they can charge you by running experiments on you. Run experiments on them”

  This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #693 - Consumer Advocate Lindsay Owens (Nov 3, 2026) · Listen from 1:15:46