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EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0148*
HOUSE BILL 148
I3, K3, S1 6lr0698
(PRE–FILED)
By: Delegate Vogel
Requested: August 14, 2025
Introduced and read first time: January 14, 2026
Assigned to: Economic Matters
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Consumer Protection and Labor and Employment – Surveillance–Based Price 2
and Wage Setting – Prohibition 3
FOR the purpose of prohibiting a person from engaging in certain surveillance–based price 4
setting; making a certain violation of this Act an unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade 5
practice that is subject to enforcement and penalties under the Maryland Consumer 6
Protection Act; prohibiting an employer from engaging in certain surveillance–based 7
wage setting; and generally relating to surveillance–based price and wage setting. 8
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 9
Article – Commercial Law 10
Section 13–301(14)(xlvii) 11
Annotated Code of Maryland 12
(2025 Replacement Volume) 13
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 14
Article – Commercial Law 15
Section 13–301(14)(xlviii) 16
Annotated Code of Maryland 17
(2025 Replacement Volume) 18
BY adding to 19
Article – Commercial Law 20
Section 13–301(14)(xlix) and 14–1330 21
Annotated Code of Maryland 22
(2025 Replacement Volume) 23
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 24
Article – Labor and Employment 25
Section 3–103(a) 26
2 HOUSE BILL 148
Annotated Code of Maryland 1
(2025 Replacement Volume) 2
BY adding to 3
Article – Labor and Employment 4
Section 3–103(e)(7) and 3–718 5
Annotated Code of Maryland 6
(2025 Replacement Volume) 7
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 8
Article – State Finance and Procurement 9
Section 3.5–801(a) and (c) 10
Annotated Code of Maryland 11
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 12
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 13
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 14
Article – Commercial Law 15
13–301. 16
Unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practices include any: 17
(14) Violation of a provision of: 18
(xlvii) Title 14, Subtitle 50 of this article; [or] 19
(xlviii) Section 13–411.1(c)(2) of the Transportation Article; or 20
(XLIX) SECTION 14–1330 OF THIS ARTICLE; OR 21
14–1330. 22
(A) (1) IN THIS SECTION THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE MEANINGS 23
INDICATED. 24
(2) “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGEN CE” HAS THE MEANING STATED IN § 25
3.5–801 OF THE STATE FINANCE AND PROCUREMENT ARTICLE. 26
(3) (I) “AUTOMATED DECISION SY STEM” MEANS A SYSTEM , 27
SOFTWARE, OR A PROCESS THAT USES COMPUTATION TO ASSIST, APPROXIMATE, OR 28
REPLACE HUMAN DECISION MAKING. 29
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(II) “AUTOMATED DECISION SY STEM” INCLUDES A SYSTEM , 1
SOFTWARE, OR A PROCESS DERIVED FROM MACHINE LEARNING , STATISTICS, OR 2
OTHER DATA PROCESSING OR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES. 3
(III) “AUTOMATED DECISION SY STEM” DOES NOT INCLUDE 4
PASSIVE COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE. 5
(4) “SURVEILLANCE–BASED PRICE SETTING” MEANS THE USE OF 6
SURVEILLANCE DATA IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN AUTOMATED DECISION SYSTEM TO 7
OFFER OR INFORM A CUSTOMIZED PRICE FOR A GOOD OR SERVICE FOR A SPECIFIC 8
INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE STATE. 9
(5) (I) “SURVEILLANCE DATA” MEANS DATA OBTAINED THROUGH 10
OBSERVATION, INFERENCE, OR SURVEILLANCE OF A N INDIVIDUAL RELATING TO 11
PERSONAL OR GENETIC INFORMATION , BEHAVIOR, OR BIOMETRICS OF THE 12
INDIVIDUAL OR A GROU P, BAND, CLASS, OR TIER TO WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL 13
BELONGS. 14
(II) “SURVEILLANCE DATA ” INCLUDES DATA GATHERED, 15
PURCHASED, OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED. 16
(B) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO A PERSON THAT OFFERS A 17
CUSTOMIZED PRICE TO A CONSUMER OR GROUP OF CONSUMERS WHEN THE 18
DIFFERENT PRICES: 19
(1) ARE BASED ON DIFFEREN CES IN COST TO PROVIDE A GOOD OR 20
SERVICE TO DIFFERENT CONSUMERS; OR 21
(2) REFLECT A DISCOUNT OR REWARD OFFERED TO ALL CONSUMERS 22
ON EQUAL TERMS IN WHICH: 23
(I) THE TERMS OF THE DISCOUNT OR REWARD ARE AVAILABLE 24
AND ACCESSIBLE TO EACH CONSUMER; 25
(II) THE DISCOUNT OR REWARD IS OFFERED UNIFORMLY TO 26
EACH CONSUMER WHO MEET S THE DISCLOSED ELIGIB ILITY CRITERIA , SUCH AS 27
STATUS AS A SENIOR, STUDENT, TEACHER, VETERAN, OR MEMBER OF THE MILITARY; 28
AND 29
(III) ELIGIBILITY FOR THE D ISCOUNT OR REWARD IS BASED ON 30
INFORMATION AFFIRMATIVELY AND VOLUNTARIL Y PROVIDED BY THE CONSUMER 31
TO THE PERSON OFFERING THE DISCOUNT OR REWARD. 32
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(C) ANY SURVEILLANCE DATA US ED TO OFFER A CUSTOMIZED PRICE IN 1
ACCORDANCE WITH SUBSECTION (B) OF THIS SECTION MAY NOT BE USED FOR AN Y 2
OTHER PURPOSE , INCLUDING PROFILING , TARGETED ADVERTISING, OR THE 3
SETTING OF A PRICE I N ANY OTHER MANNER NOT CONSISTENT WITH SUBSECTION 4
(B) OF THIS SECTION. 5
(D) A PERSON MAY NOT ENGAGE IN SURVEILLANCE–BASED PRICE SETTING. 6
Article – Labor and Employment 7
3–103. 8
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Commissioner may conduct 9
an investigation to determine whether a provision of this title has been violated on the 10
Commissioner’s own initiative or may require a written complaint. 11
(e) (7) THE COMMISSIONER MAY INVESTIGATE WHETHER § 3–718 OF 12
THIS TITLE HAS BEEN VIOLATED ON RECEIPT OF A WRITTEN COMPLAI NT OF AN 13
EMPLOYEE. 14
3–718. 15
(A) (1) IN THIS SECTION THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE MEANINGS 16
INDICATED. 17
(2) “AUTOMATED DECISION SYSTEM” HAS THE MEANING STATED IN § 18
14–1330 OF THE COMMERCIAL LAW ARTICLE. 19
(3) “SURVEILLANCE–BASED WAGE SETTING” MEANS THE USE OF 20
SURVEILLANCE DATA IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN AUTOMATED DECISION SYSTEM TO 21
OFFER OR INFORM A CUSTOMIZED WAGE FOR A SPECIFIC EMPLOYEE OR GROUP OF 22
EMPLOYEES IN THE STATE. 23
(4) “SURVEILLANCE DATA” HAS THE MEANING STATED IN § 14–1330 24
OF THE COMMERCIAL LAW ARTICLE. 25
(B) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO AN EMPLOYER WHO: 26
(1) OFFERS A CUSTOMIZED WAGE BASED ON DATA SPECIFIC TO AN 27
EMPLOYEE THAT IS: 28
(I) DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE TASK THE EMPLOYE E WAS 29
HIRED TO PERFORM; OR 30
HOUSE BILL 148 5
(II) BASED ON THE LOCATION WHERE T HE EMPLOYEE WORKS 1
AND THE COST OF LIVING IN THAT LOCATION; AND 2
(2) BEFORE HIRING AN EMPLOYEE WHOSE WAGES ARE SET IN WHOLE 3
OR IN PART THROUGH A N A UTOMATED DECISION SYSTEM, DISCLOSES IN PLAIN 4
LANGUAGE TO THE EMPL OYEE WHAT DATA IS CONSIDE RED AND HOW THE 5
AUTOMATED DECISION SYSTEM CONSIDERS THE DATA. 6
(C) AN EMPLOYER MAY NOT ENGAGE IN SURVEILLAN CE–BASED WAGE 7
SETTING. 8
(D) THIS SECTION DOES NOT DIMINISH THE RIGHT O F COVERED 9
EMPLOYEES TO COLLECT IVELY BARGAIN OVER T ERMS AND CONDITIONS OF 10
EMPLOYMENT IN EXCESS OF THE PROTECTIONS UNDER THIS SUBTITLE. 11
(E) (1) WHENEVER THE COMMISSIONER DETERMIN ES THAT THIS 12
SECTION HAS BEEN VIOLATED, THE COMMISSIONER SHALL: 13
(I) TRY TO RESOLVE ANY I SSUE INVOLVED IN THE VIOLATION 14
INFORMALLY BY MEDIATION; OR 15
(II) ASK THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO BRING AN A CTION ON 16
BEHALF OF THE APPLICANT OR EMPLOYEE. 17
(2) THE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY BRING AN ACTION UNDER THIS 18
SUBSECTION IN THE CO UNTY WHERE THE VIOLA TION ALLEGEDLY OCCURRED FOR 19
INJUNCTIVE RELIEF, DAMAGES, OR OTHER RELIEF. 20
Article – State Finance and Procurement 21
3.5–801. 22
(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 23
(c) “Artificial intelligence” means a machine–based system that: 24
(1) can, for a given set of human–defined objectives, make predictions, 25
recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments; 26
(2) uses machine and human –based inputs to perceive real and virtual 27
environments and abstracts those perceptions into models through ana lysis in an 28
automated manner; and 29
(3) uses model inference to formulate options for information or action. 30
6 HOUSE BILL 148
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 1
October 1, 2026. 2