This past Friday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB2979, a bill that amends certain provisions of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, into law. Most importantly for companies operating in Illinois, the amendment overturns the Illinois Supreme Court’s holding in Cothron v. White Castle System, Inc. that an individual can recover statutory penalties for each separate biometric scan. Through SB2979, the Illinois legislature makes clear that an individual can only recover a single statutory penalty when their biometric identifier is collected in violation of BIPA. SB2979 also amends BIPA to make clear that entities can get written consent in the form of an electronic signature. With the Governor’s signature, SB2979 went into effect immediately on Friday. SB2979 does not indicate whether the Illinois legislature intended for its amendments to apply to claims arising prior to the bill’s effective date. As a result, that question remains to be answered by the courts.

Contact Scopelitis Attorneys Greg Feary, Chip Andrewscavage, Andy Butcher, Jared Kramer, or Dylan Goetsch for questions about SB2979 or issues related to BIPA.