Daria Ilgen Pledges Action Against Surveillance Pricing and Price Gouging
Technology industry veteran and candidate for state representative unveils consumer protection plan targeting surveillance pricing, price gouging and hidden price increases.
POULSBO, Wash. [August 27, 2026] — Daria Ilgen, Democratic candidate for State Representative in Washington’s 23rd Legislative District, said he will push for stronger protections against surveillance pricing, price gouging, and other practices that unfairly raise the cost of everyday essentials as part of his broader effort to lower everyday costs for Washington families.
Consumers across Washington are under growing financial pressure. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer prices in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area were roughly 28% higher in 2025 than five years earlier. Food prices rose nearly 28%, while grocery prices increased by more than 23%. Over the past year alone, overall prices rose another 4.5%, while gasoline prices increased by 24.7%.
“Families, seniors and small-business owners need relief now. They are trying to survive month to month, and many are at their breaking point,” Ilgen said. “One mother I met while campaigning was heartbroken because her daughter missed the school bus and she could not afford the gas to drive her to school. Too many Kitsap families cannot absorb much more, and Olympia needs to treat affordability with the urgency people are already living with every day.”
Ilgen will bring to Olympia 20 years of experience in technology, global partnerships and business strategy, including helping companies build new technologies, navigate complex operations and grow. He said that experience gives him firsthand insight into how large corporations make decisions, how technology is reshaping markets, and how lawmakers can protect consumers without standing in the way of responsible innovation.
“Because I come from the corporate technology world, I understand the value that responsible innovation can create,” Ilgen said. “My background does not mean I will give corporations a pass. It means I know how to hold them accountable, what questions to ask, what standards to set and what consequences should follow when companies put profits ahead of fairness — especially when their systems affect people’s finances, privacy or access to essential goods.”
Ilgen’s agenda will focus on two growing concerns: surveillance pricing, in which personal information such as location, browsing behavior or purchasing history can influence the price offered to an individual consumer; and price gouging, when businesses exploit emergencies, shortages or major market disruptions to impose excessive price increases when consumers have few alternatives.
Ilgen will support legislation requiring businesses to disclose when personal data or automated systems influence prices and banning the use of sensitive information to price essential goods, while strengthening enforcement against deceptive or discriminatory pricing. He will also seek clear limits on price increases during emergencies and shortages, require businesses to justify significant temporary increases, and give the Attorney General stronger authority to investigate violations, recover money for consumers and impose meaningful penalties.
“The price of eggs should not depend on your income, address, shopping history or how urgently an algorithm thinks you need it,” Ilgen said. “Technology should create value for consumers, not invisible ways to extract more money from them.”
Ilgen will also push for stronger protections against price gouging during emergencies, shortages and major market disruptions, with clearer standards for when temporary increases are justified and greater accountability when prices stay high after costs come down. Recent tariff refunds underscore the problem: major retailers that quickly passed higher import costs on to consumers have since received billions of dollars back.
“If higher costs can be passed on to consumers overnight, lower costs should be passed through just as transparently,” Ilgen said. “A temporary shortage should not become a permanent justification for a higher price.”
Elsewhere, Maryland adopted the nation’s first sweeping surveillance pricing ban earlier this year, and Florida law prohibits price gouging during a declared state of emergency by restricting unconscionable price increases for essential commodities and services. A previous Washington bill with a similar focus was introduced by Rep. Mary Fosse (D-Everett). Ilgen said Washington should evaluate these approaches and make practical, enforceable consumer pricing safeguards a priority in Olympia.
Ilgen said the principle is the same for government and business: transparency must be matched by accountability. His recently announced Taxpayer Accountability Standard [Link] applies that approach to state government by calling for greater discipline, transparency and accountability in how taxpayer dollars are raised and spent.
“People are tired of being asked for trust without being shown the results,”Ilgen said.“Kitsap families deserve something basic: a fair price, a fair deal and an honest answer about where their money is going.”
