(The Center Square) – An expert in workplace litigation is highlighting the dangers that companies will face in Illinois under the state’s strict privacy statutes.
The controversial Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, was enacted by the Illinois General Assembly in 2008. The law states that any company looking to gather biometric data must first obtain the written consent of the individual, even if they are just clocking into work.
At issue is the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling that a separate claim accrues each time an individual’s biometric information is scanned. In making the ruling, the high court acknowledged the law could be a potential business killer. Even without proof of actual harm, statutory damages can be $1,000 per violation, or $5,000 per violation if it is deemed intentional or reckless.
“Right now, 15 BIPA class-actions are getting filed everyday because it’s kind of the wild, wild west and potentially it can crush these employers or these companies and right now they are kind of exploiting the system,” said attorney Jerry Maatman, chair of the Duane Morris Class Action Defense Team.
Despite a call from a coalition of business, health and education groups to amend BIPA, the Illinois General Assembly took no action on the law in 2023.
The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that health care workers who use fingerprints to access things like medication and patient health information are exempt from the law.
Lawsuits have been filed over security cameras as well. DoorDash and UPS Inc. delivery drivers sued Arlo Technologies in October over cameras with a person detection feature. Security cameras powered by artificial intelligence don’t violate BIPA, the company argued while seeking to dismiss the class action before a California federal court.
Maatman said in 2024, there are probably going to be a lot of jury verdicts in BIPA cases that eventually will end up in appellate courts.
“There is going to be a shifting out of the legal issue of if BIPA applies and if BIPA was violated, what is the measure of damages and right now that is all over the place,” Maatman said.
At least 15 states are considering modeling their future biometric privacy laws from the Illinois statute.
