The Federal Trade Commission has ordered Walmart and Target to turn over information about their pricing practices, seeking to determine whether personal data helps set what individual shoppers pay.

The retailers are among nine companies named in the agency’s Oct. 28 inquiry, alongside Delta, United, JetBlue, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart. The study also examines whether companies use workers’ personal information to determine their compensation.

The inquiry draws a distinction between prices that change with market conditions and prices tailored to particular people. Dynamic pricing can respond to supply, demand or competitors’ prices; airline fares and ride-hailing surge charges are familiar examples. Personalized pricing uses information about a shopper to help determine the price that person is offered, including estimates of how much they would be willing to spend.

“Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.

Approved in a 2-0 vote, the orders were issued under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act—what allows the agency to conduct market studies without a specific law enforcement purpose. To note, issuance alone does not establish that any recipient violated the law.

The agency’s 15-page order seeks details on the data, software and methods companies use to set prices, including how they divide customers into groups and when they override a pricing decision.

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