Lawmakers introduced a bill to revise the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (“BIPA”) that would, in part, change the manner in which violations of BIPA accrue.

The Illinois State Supreme Court ruled in Cothron v. White Castle Sys., Inc. “that a claim accrues under the Act with every scan or transmission of biometric identifiers or biometric information without prior informed consent” in violation of BIPA.

The proposed bill would change the accrual of violations so that each initial collection of a biometric identifier would amount to one violation, rather than under each scan or transmission. The change would significantly diminish the amount of statutory damages available for BIPA violations. Use of biometric data in the context of employee timekeeping may involve only one initial collection but several scans during a work day to clock in and clock out. Under the new bill, violations would no longer accrue for any of the scans beyond the initial collection. The bill also adds “electronic signature” to the definition of “written release” under the law.

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