Illinois Legislature Proposes to Amend the Biometric Informational Act, Deleting Private Right of Action

ABSTRACT: In response to the Illinois Supreme Court's Rosenbach decision, the Illinois Senate introduced SB2134 as a proposed amendment to the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The amendment would delete language allowing a private right of action and change the definition of biometric identifiers to add electrocardiography results from wearable devices.

Proposed amendments to Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act “BIPA” are welcomed by employers who have been bombarded with class action lawsuits in Illinois since the Rosenbach decision. SB 2134 provides that any violation resulting from the collection of biometric information by an employer for employment purposes is subject to the authority of the Department of Labor and must be enforced by the Attorney General. The proposed amendments would likely eliminate the influx of class action litigation into our court system, shifting the claims for violations to the Illinois Department of Labor from the State and Federal Courts. 

This is not the only proposed amendment to BIPA, which shows the legislators’ realization of much needed clarification to the Act. HB3024 was introduced to further define biometric identifier as to include electrocardiography results from a wearable device.  

Until the proposed amendments to BIPA are passed, stripping an individual’s right of action and clarifying the definition of biometric identifiers, Illinois employers will likely face a slew of class action lawsuits.  

The proposed amendments to the BIPA are referred to committee but no hearing dates have been set at this time. We will follow the process of the proposed amendments and update this post as necessary.