The federal government is looking to put its finger on the pulse of biometric privacy with the proposed National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020 (S. 4400), introduced by United States Senators Bernie Sanders (Vermont) and Jeff Merkley (Oregon), “to regulate the collection, retention, disclosure, and destruction of biometric information.”

Class action litigation over biometric privacy has already exploded across the country under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“Illinois BIPA”), currently the only statute in the United States providing a private right of action for individuals whose “biometric identifier” or “biometric information” is collected without their informed written consent. In the last few years alone, cases have been brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of claimants. If enacted, the National Biometric Information Privacy Act (“National BIPA”) will all but ensure this number increases exponentially.