ANALYSIS: Federal BIPA Complaints in Q1 Drop to Four-Year Low

Federal courts had a slight reprieve last quarter from plaintiffs suing for Illinois Biometric Privacy Act violations. In fact, Q1 2024 saw the lowest number of federal court filings alleging BIPA violations since Q4 2019.

Last year, there was a quarterly average of 22 BIPA-related complaints that were filed or removed to federal court. Q1 2024 saw only 13.

And developments surrounding biometric litigation suggest that the number of complaints may continue to fall.

Employment-Related Complaints Down

The number of employment-related BIPA suits was down 50% last quarter, from 12 in Q4 2023 to six in Q1. Four lawsuits involved the use of fingerprint-scanning time clocks, with the remaining two contesting the collection of employee facial scans.

Consumer-related BIPA complaints saw a slight increase from five in Q4 2023 to seven in Q1, outnumbering employment-related complaints for the first time since Q2 2023. Many of these consumer suits continue to target the allegedly dubious use of biometrics by dating apps.

BIPA Litigation May Continue to Fall Off

Out-of-court developments, such as the BNSF Railway settlement and possible amendments to the law, could be causing a cooling effect on litigation.

There also just might not be many defendants left to sue. With nearly 600 suits filed in federal court since BIPA litigation began in 2015, and numerous more filed in state court, it’s possible most non-compliant entities have already been sued.

Bloomberg Law subscribers can find related content on our Privacy & Data Security practice page and our In Focus: Biometrics page.

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