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Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 2979 into law that will
drastically reduce the penalties companies could face for
improperly collecting biometric data from workers and consumers.
Effective immediately, the change expands the definition of
written release to include electronic signatures and would make
multiple violations of BIPA a single violation if committed
against one individual.
Phil Melin, executive director of Illinois Citizens Against
Lawsuit Abuse, said the old law was crippling to businesses.
“You check into work in the morning, that's one, check out for
lunch that's two, check back in from lunch that's three, check
out from work, that's four, and it’s five-thousand dollars
potentially per violation,” said Melin. “That adds up real
quickly.”
The changes to the law effectively overturn an Illinois Supreme
Court ruling last year that said companies could be held liable
for each time they misused a person's private information and
not only the first time.
Companies have faced massive verdicts and settlements in BIPA
cases. The most notable case was fast food chain White Castle,
which scanned fingerprints of nearly 9,500 employees without
their written consent. The company said it could cost more than
$17 billion if it lost at trial. White Castle earlier this year
settled the case for just over $9 million.
“While this bill is not perfect, the 2nd and 3rd generation
manufacturers who are being subject to these lawsuits feel a
sense of relief that they can keep their doors open and continue
producing for our economy,” said Technology and Manufacturing
Association lobbyist David Curtin.
Curtin added that even though the new law does not provide
retroactivity for cases already decided or pending, lawmakers
made sure to put into the legislative record that “a court or a
reviewing court could take judicial notice of our amendment to
the Act in determining an initial award or reducing an award.”
The health care industry is exempt from BIPA because of the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known
as HIPAA.
“Health care providers’ use of automated dispensing cabinets to
access medications and medical supplies to treat patients is
unquestionably health care treatment under HIPAA,” said attorney
Bonnie DelGobbo, who represented health care providers during a
case in front of the Illinois Supreme Court.
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