Illinois Privacy Act Trumped by Federal Labor Law, Judge Rules

Chicago’s Roosevelt University prevailed in a privacy suit brought by a labor union over its use of biometric hand scans, with an Illinois appeals court justice ruling that a federal labor law trumped the state’s privacy law.

The case was brought by William Walton, an employee in Roosevelt’s campus safety department, who claims that the university violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act when it required him to scan his hand to clock in and out of work. Walton, representing himself and other union-member employees, says that the school didn’t comply with the Privacy Act’s informed consent requirement and didn’t follow ...