New York Introduces Its Own Version Of Illinois' BIPA

In 2010, Illinois passed the Biometric Information Privacy Act, leading to over one thousand class action complaints between the years 2015 and 2020, alone. On January 6, 2021, the New York state legislature introduced Assembly Bill 27, titled the New York Biometric Privacy Act ("BPA"), which is a carbon copy version of the Illinois law.

New York's BPA proposes to prohibit private entities from capturing, collecting, or storing a person's biometrics without first implementing a policy and obtaining the person's written consent. The New York BPA would provide for the identical remedies as the Illinois version, specifically, a private right of action with the ability to recover $1,000 for each negligent violation, $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation, along with reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.