State Lawmakers Eye Biometric Privacy Protections, Lawsuits

State lawmakers evoking Big Brother and surveillance dystopias are pushing new requirements for how companies treat peoples’ unique characteristics such as fingerprints and facial scans—potentially expanding litigation risks for businesses that collect such biometric information.

Bills in nine states aim to protect biometric information broadly and let individuals sue over violations, such as a company collecting those identifiers without their consent. Democrats and Republicans have each offered proposals, signaling that the topic resonates on both sides of the partisan divide over the increasing reach of technology into peoples’ lives.

The legislative activity follows growing class action litigation and high-dollar settlements ...