Although the defending company announced its plans to appeal the decision of the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the plaintiffs’ success at the trial level may further embolden individuals to pursue their own BIPA claims.įinally, in February 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court held in Cothron v. It was not until October 2022 that the first-ever jury verdict in a BIPA class action lawsuit was handed down in Rogers v. history, to resolve claims it collected user biometric data without consent. Facebook, Inc. reached a conclusion when Facebook agreed to a $650 million settlement, one of the largest consumer privacy settlements in U.S. Compass Group USA, Inc. clarified that such a person has suffered an injury-in-fact sufficient to support standing under BIPA Section 15(b).Īlso in 2020, the Facebook BIPA class action lawsuit Patel v. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Bryant v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. held that a plaintiff can be considered an “aggrieved person” under the statute and “be entitled to liquidated damages and injunctive relief” without alleging an actual injury. Biometrics, however, are biologically unique to the individual therefore, once compromised, the individual has no recourse, is at heightened risk for identity theft, and is likely to withdraw from biometric-facilitated transactions.”īIPA also defines a “biometric identifier,” in part, as “a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or scan of hand or face geometry.” Prominent BIPA lawsuitsĪ decade after its enactment, several recent cases have put BIPA in the headlines and made it easier to file BIPA suits.įirst, in 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court in Rosenbach v. For example, social security numbers, when compromised, can be changed. The law requires entities that use and store biometric identifiers to comply with certain requirements and provides a private right of action for recovering statutory damages when they do not.īIPA specifies that “iometrics are unlike other unique identifiers that are used to access finances or other sensitive information. In 2008, Illinois became the first state to enact a biometric data privacy law. The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) A person’s biometric data – their specific measurements – can be used as unique identifiers.Īs tools to collect biometric data become more advanced and increasingly employed, laws like the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) are being introduced and considered to prevent private entities from collecting biometric information without disclosure and consent. What is biometric data?īiometrics are measurements related to a person’s unique physical characteristics, including but not limited to fingerprints, palmprints, voiceprints, facial, retinal, or iris measurements, and more. An increase in biometric privacy class action lawsuits and arbitration, an uptick in proposed legislation, and widespread criticism of both facial and voice recognition technologies suggest that biometrics will remain a hot topic for legal professionals. As states and localities enact more robust laws related to consumer data privacy and security, biometric laws – such as the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) – are front of mind for both legislators and businesses.
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