Natalie Prescott of Mintz Levin
The plaintiffs’ class action bar has shifted its focus to biometric privacy class actions. To minimize their risk, businesses must implement heightened awareness of the current and anticipated laws, be aware of the technical requirements, be vigilant with respect to compliance, and be aggressive in defending against litigation.
The number of biometric privacy class actions continues to skyrocket, with the decade-old Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) continuing to pose the greatest threat to companies. While BIPA remains the only biometrics legislation that provides for a private right of action, five other states (Texas, Washington, California, New York, and Arkansas) have now passed their own biometric statutes or expanded existing laws to include biometric identifiers. These five states, however, either do not address the private right of action or expressly allow enforcement by the state attorneys general.
