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In the past few weeks, five putative class action lawsuits have been filed under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), 740 ILCS 14/1 et seq., targeting defendants in the health care, senior living, commercial baking, meat processing and security industries. These recent suits join previously filed BIPA class actions against day care operators, tanning salons, video game manufacturers, hotel groups and supermarkets as well as much larger entities, including Facebook, Google, Shutterfly, Six Flags and Snapchat. All of these suits have similar allegations at their core; that defendants utilized employees’, customers’, or other persons’ biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, voiceprints, retina scans or facial recognition technology, in violation of BIPA’s disclosure and consent requirements. All seek recovery of BIPA’s statutory liquidated damages of $1,000 for each negligent violation, or $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation, injunctive relief, and recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs.

BIPA Background

Until the past 18 months, when the first of these suits was filed, BIPA has been a little-known statute. Enacted in 2008, BIPA was passed to protect against risk of identity theft resulting from the growing use of biometric technology to facilitate financial transactions and security screenings. 740 ILCS 14/5.

BIPA applies to both biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, voiceprints, retina scans, and facial geometry, and other biometric information based on those identifiers to the extent used to identify an individual. 740 ILCS 14/10. BIPA is an important measure because, unlike such things as Social Security numbers and passwords that can be changed if necessary, biometrics are biologically unique and, when compromised, leave an individual without recourse. 740 ILCS 14/5.
Continue Reading The Rise of Biometric Lawsuits in Illinois

As published in State Bar of Michigan Health Care Law Section

“In recent years, the likelihood of suffering a data breach has risen significantly for American companies across numerous industries. Health care providers, in particular, have been targeted due to the value of the sensitive information they hold regarding their patients and employees, including birth

On July 20, 2015, the Seventh Circuit reinstated a data breach class action in Remijas v. Neiman Marcus Group, LLC, No. 14-3122, after a 2013 malware attack on Neiman Marcus’s computer systems that resulted in the theft of customers’ credit and debit card information. The plaintiffs argued that they had constitutional standing to pursue their claims against the retailer based on an alleged increased risk of future fraudulent charges and greater susceptibility to identity theft. This decision is troubling and could have a potentially significant and wide-ranging impact on pending and future class actions brought in the wake of similar data breaches. In fact, plaintiffs’ lawyers already are citing the decision in other data breach class actions facing Rule 12 standing challenges. See, e.g., In re Barnes & Noble Pin Pad Litigation, No. 12-08617, U.S. Northern District of Illinois.
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Resurrects Data Breach Class Action and Stymies Standing Challenge