Illinois Biometrics Act Enacted

Though it may conjure images of a futuristic James Bond movie, employers and businesses have already begun using “biometric information”—such as fingerprints, retina scans and voice prints—for identification purposes. Businesses are turning to biometric data to make financial transactions more efficient and employers are using it to ensure that access to sensitive locations and private or confidential information is appropriately restricted. In October 2008, Illinois became the latest state to protect biometric information from possible identity theft with the enactment of the Biometric Information Privacy Act (the “Act”),740 ILCS 14/1. The Act regulates private entities’ collection, use, storage, retention, and destruction of biometric information. Private employers who collect and/or use biometric information for any purpose may be covered by the Act.

What Is Biometric Information?

Biometric information includes retina or iris scans, fingerprints, voice prints, and the scan of face geometry. As science continues to develop, other types of biometric information may also become available. Biometric information does not include: writing samples, photographs, tattoo descriptions, or physical descriptions such as weight, hair color, or eye color. It also does not include information captured from a patient in a health care setting or stored for healthcare treatment.

Common examples where companies already use biometric information include: hand scanners to control the entrance into a building or worksite; the collection of thumbprints for use as a means of payment (such at a grocery store check out counter or paying at the pump at a gas station); obtaining fingerprints from job applicants as part of the background screening process; and/or the use of iris or retina scans, or voice prints as a means to control access to sensitive information or locations, among others.