The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it is investigating a little-known ecosystem of middlemen, including corporate giants Accenture, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mastercard and McKinsey & Co., to explore how it helps clients set different prices for different consumers based on browsing histories, past purchases, credit histories and other personal information.

The FTC calls the technique “surveillance pricing,” which it describes as a “new frontier” made possible by advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The agency says it wants to learn how surveillance pricing affects privacy, competition and consumer protection.