On August 2, 2024, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker signed
legislation reforming Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy
Act (BIPA). Senate Bill 2979 immediately amends BIPA to limit a
private entities' potential liability for collecting or
sharing biometric data without consent.
The BIPA amendment followed a call for action directed at the
legislature from the Illinois courts. Previously, the question of
damages liability had wound its way through appellate review in
Illinois courts. This amendment changes the course of the Illinois
Supreme Court interpretation of BIPA claim accrual, which had held
that each unlawful collection or disclosure constituted a new BIPA
claim but that damages were discretionary.
