Samsung’s Biometric Data Clash Opens New Mass Arbitration Front

A legal tactic of flooding companies with thousands of individual arbitration claims is now appearing in disputes alleging biometric privacy law violations in Illinois, prompting attorney warnings to businesses about carefully considering the provisions they include in contracts with consumers and workers.

Last week, nearly 50,000 consumers asked an Illinois federal court to force Samsung Electronics Inc. to honor the arbitration provisions the company placed in user agreements. The consumers alleged that the tech giant violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting, without proper consent, biometric data drawn from photos they took of themselves using Samsung phones and ...