Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Recently, the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District issued a significant decision on the question of which statute of limitations govern claims for violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”). In its opinion, the Court ruled that claims for unlawful profiting from or disclosure of biometric data, those brought under sections section 15(c) and (d) of the BIPA, are subject to a one year limitations period while claims involving violations of the notice, consent and retention requirements, those brought under sections 15(a), (b), and (e) of the BIPA, are subject to a limitations period of five years. This decision should bring much needed clarity to class-action plaintiffs and defendants alike.
The BIPA, one of the most robust privacy statutes in the country, imposes various obligations on anyone that collects, stores or uses biometric identifiers such as fingerprints, retina or iris scans, voiceprints, or face geometry from Illinois residents. Failure to comply with the BIPA’s requirements can be costly as violations of the statute entitle successful plaintiffs to statutory damages ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 for each violation (plus attorney fees). This can add up quickly as claims for violations of the BIPA are frequently brought as a class action as we have seen in recent years.
The underlying case was brought by two former drivers for Black Horse Carriers, a trucking and logistics company. The plaintiffs filed the case as a class action. In their lawsuit, the former drivers alleged that Black Horse failed to obtain consent to use drivers’ fingerprints or to institute a retention schedule. They also accused the company of unlawfully disseminating their biometric data by sharing fingerprints with a third-party vendor that processed timekeeping records for the company.
Black Horse sought to dismiss the claims on the grounds that they were filed outside of the statute of limitations. The trial court denied the motion but granted Black Horse permission to file an interlocutory appeal on the question of the appropriate limitations period for claims under the BIPA. Black Horse contended that the claims were subject to a one-year limitations period found in section 13-201 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which applies to state law claims for actions involving the “publication of matter violating the right of privacy.” The plaintiffs argued instead that the catchall five-year limitations period found in section 13-205 governed the claims.
On appeal, the Court clarified that certain types of violations are subject to the shorter one-year limitations period while others were governed by the longer five-year limitations period. In reaching its decision that different BIPA claims are subject to different limitations periods, the Court concluded that section 13-201 does not encompass all privacy actions but only those where “publication is an element or inherent part of the action.”
A company could violate sections 15(c) or (d) of the BIPA by selling or trading biometric data or disclosing or disseminating biometric data without consent respectively. In these instances, the Court reasoned that the one-year limitations period under section 13-201 would apply since “publication or disclosure of biometric data is clearly an element” of such violations. However, the Court found that because the obligations imposed under sections 15(a), (b) and (e) of the BIPA do not have an element of publication or dissemination, the five-year catchall limitations period under section 13-205 would apply.
The Court’s full opinion is available online here.
Our Chicago class-action and business dispute attorneys handle individual and class-action claims, data breach, privacy rights, deceptive advertising, predatory lending, unfair debt collection, lemon law, and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class-action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spearheaded have resulted in recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for affected class members.
The Chicago class action lawyers at Lubin Austermuehle are proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations to obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection and class-action lawsuits, you too can help ensure that other consumers’ rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.
Our South Barrington and Deer Park consumer attorneys provide assistance in a data breach, privacy violation, fair debt collection, consumer fraud, and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can click here to see a description of some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases our Chicago consumer lawyers have handled. You can contact one of our Skokie and Niles class action attorneys who can assist in consumer fraud, consumer rip-off, lemon law, unfair debt collection, predatory lending, wage claims, unpaid overtime, and other consumer class action cases by calling our phone number at 630-333-0333 or filling out the contact form at the side of this blog or by clicking here.