Led by Delta, many airlines are now working with AI firms to expand the industry’s use of big data for price setting. Using new surveillance techniques, these firms exploit consumer privacy to set “personalized” prices to jack up fares.

After Delta Air Lines faced public backlash for expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to set fares for passengers, the airline sent a letter to federal lawmakers on Friday denying that it uses “personalized pricing” to price-gouge consumers.

But many airlines, led by Delta, the nation’s largest, are working with AI consulting companies that boast of their “hyperpersonalized” price setting. This new airfare apparatus is part of the airline industry’s long-standing experiments with big data–driven pricing strategies that have laid the groundwork

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