A man is getting attention online after conducting an experiment he says tested whether companies use phone data to influence prices. He started by creating a fake person, opening a bank account in their name, and buying a cell phone for them. Wanting to make sure his experiment was accurate, he hired an improv actor to do the leg work.
I literally gasped watching this
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) August 5, 2026
American bought a cheap phone, hired someone to use it in poor neighborhoods, and visit places acting like they have no money
After a day, apps on that phone had cheaper prices than a normal persons phone
Dynamic pricing is real and we are… pic.twitter.com/Ax5q1TwouM
“Big tech is secretly overly charging us based on your personal data and what they think they know about you. So, I decided to fight back and trick the data into giving me lower prices, and my first step was to become someone else.”
He built a new online profile for the experiment. He made sure every app on the phone was tracking data. He and the actor went to a low-income area and started to paint a picture for big tech. He said he hoped the apps would associate the profile with lower spending habits. The actor only searched for free stuff, and it manipulated the prices he received.
They met up in the parking lot to compare data. They tested the theory on the Uber app. The actor’s ride price was about $3 cheaper than the other man's. “On average, Frank’s [the name of the fake identity] prices on the Uber app were 11% lower than mine.”
The Video Raises Questions About Dynamic Pricing
He concluded his hypothesis was correct. Companies use our cell phone data to create dynamic pricing, changing the cost of things depending on our spending habits and location.
“I literally gasped watching this. A man bought a cheap phone, hired someone to use it in poor neighborhoods, and visit places acting like they have no money. After a day, apps on that phone had cheaper prices than a normal person's phone,” the caption on the X post reads. “Dynamic pricing is real and we are being robbed blind. Phone are collecting data and using that data to charge people different prices for the exact same services and items.”
People on X had strong opinions about the experiment. Some thought it was a deeper problem than the video showed. “Yeah, if you're walking around with an unsecured phone that you have no idea how it works, you have given up so much agency in your life. Normies do not understand how much of their life is crafted and controlled by the data from their devices. Intelligence agencies, nation-states, multi-nationals, etc all weave your reality for you. Keep your data. Think deeply about how systems work and how they could be manipulated for gain. Anything you brainstorm already exists. Plan accordingly.”
Others were not as concerned. They thought people could use it to their advantage. “Want to stop it? Start taking your money out of banks, literally start a run on banks and it will panic this totalitarian tech. Take control of your money, and do not spend it for a month, break these people.”
Regardless of where commenters stood, the video sparked discussion about data collection and dynamic pricing.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made in the video or the results of the experiment, which are based solely on the creator's account shared online.
