Executive Summary: Biometric litigation is a significant emerging risk that insurers must now take into consideration, says Jim Blinn, vice president, Client Solutions, Zywave.
States are increasingly passing biometric laws to prevent companies from collecting and disseminating data such as fingerprints and facial recognition without permission.
Illinois was the first to pass such legislation – the 2008 Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) – and nine other states, including New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland, have recently introduced biometric legislation, which gives individuals the right to private action with statutory damage.
Class actions are on the rise with some eyewatering payouts. In 2021, Facebook (now Meta) agreed to pay out $650 million to settle a lawsuit relating to data privacy claims, while Google paid out $100 million last year, and ByteDance, the parent