Illinois: New BIPA Bill Emerges

After a failed attempt to pass meaningful biometric information privacy legislation during the spring session in 2023, Sen. Bill Cunningham on Jan. 31 filed Senate Bill 2979. Cunningham is the lead negotiator on any BIPA reform negotiations. He released a statement upon the bill’s introduction.

A coalition of business and tech groups held a press conference in 2023 to address the need for legislative action on the Biometric Information and Privacy Act. The coalition included the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and TechNet. The press conference was in response to the Supreme Court ruling that can be found here and a previous ruling in 2022 that can be found here.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have continued numerous attempts to address the state’s biometric and information statute by including future safeguards that protect Illinois businesses from further violations of data collection of employees.

NAMIC and the insurance industry will be working to engage legislators and members of the business-led coalition. As negotiations and discussions continue on how to properly address the court rulings in the General Assembly, NAMIC will continue to provide updates.