Businesses operating in Illinois may experience a significant shift in legal and insurance proceedings following the enactment of a new law aimed at reducing potential damages under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed S.B. 2979 on August 2, which immediately amended the BIPA to cap the amount of damages plaintiffs can claim for violations. This legislative adjustment seeks to address concerns from businesses facing escalating class-action lawsuits and insurers’ refusals to cover related claims.
The amended statute redefines the repeated collection of identical biometric data — such as fingerprints or facial recognition scans — without informed consent as a single, collective violation instead of multiple infractions. Previously, each unauthorized collection was treated as a separate violation, leading to potentially excessive damages. This new interpretation is intended to mitigate the financial exposure companies face under BIPA and to encourage insurers to offer coverage for these claims.
However, the move may not eliminate litigation surrounding biometric privacy entirely. While it is expected to reduce the “astronomical” damages previously pursued in biometric privacy violations, legal battles are likely to persist as nuanced interpretations of the amended law unfold. Businesses and their legal teams should closely monitor how these changes impact ongoing and future BIPA-related litigation and insurance disputes.
For further details on the amendments and their implications, visit the Bloomberg Law report.