A bill (SB2979) amending Illinois’ Biometric Information and Privacy Act (“BIPA”), passed by both houses of the legislature on May 16 and now on Governor J.B. Pritzker’s desk, effectively overturns a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling that could have had a catastrophic effect on many companies operating in Illinois.

Reacting to implicit direction from the Illinois high court in its decision in Cothron v. White Castle Systems, Inc., 2023 IL 128004, SB2979 clarified what many previously had viewed as ambiguous statutory language concerning the number of occurrences each BIPA violation constituted. SB2979 specifies that unlawful collection or disclosure of an individual’s biometric identifier or biometric information constitutes a single BIPA violation regardless of how many times it is repeated. Cothron, in contrast, held that a private entity violates BIPA “with every scan or transmission of biometric identifiers or biometric information without prior informed consent.” Gov. Pritzker has up to 60 days to sign or veto SB2979; he is expected to sign the bill into law.

Taken alone, Cothron could have dealt significant damages to Illinois companies collecting biometric information. Considering that the Cothron decision came on the heels of Tims v. Black Horse Carriers, Inc., 2023 IL 127801 – which set the statute of limitations for claims under BIPA at five years – Illinois companies were faced with potentially devastating damages. The newly enacted amendment to BIPA has offered entities collecting biometric information some relief.

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