Law note · Illinois
Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)
Requires a private entity to give written notice of the purpose and length of collection, storage and use, and to obtain a written release, before capturing a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or scan of hand or face geometry; a 2024 amendment recognizes an electronic signature as a valid release.
Bars selling, leasing, trading, or profiting from biometric data, limits disclosure to consent, a subject-requested transaction, or legal process, and requires a public written retention schedule that destroys the data within 3 years of the individual's last interaction or when the collection purpose is satisfied, whichever is first.
The Act excludes photographs, writing samples, and similar raw items from the definition of biometric identifier, but not an identifier such as a face-geometry scan that is itself enumerated, even when computed from an otherwise excluded item; no controlling appellate holding on that specific application was found in this pass.
What it asks of an app
- Obtain a written release, including informed consent or an accepted electronic signature, before collecting or capturing any retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or scan of hand or face geometry, after disclosing in writing the specific purpose and length of time the data will be collected, stored, and used.
- Publish a written, publicly available policy establishing a retention schedule, and permanently destroy biometric identifiers and biometric information within 3 years of the individual's last interaction or when the collection purpose is satisfied, whichever occurs first.
- Never sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from a biometric identifier or biometric information, and disclose it only with consent, for a transaction the subject requested, or as required by law or a valid warrant or subpoena.
When LexLint raises it
Declared activities: processes_biometrics, processes_voice
Primary source: Illinois Compiled Statutes, official code site (current codified text with per-section source notes)