Alliance Ground International is the latest company to be sued for allegedly violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) for collecting and storing its employees’ fingerprints without their consent.
The proposed class of employees alleges that the company, which takes employees’ fingerprints as part of their time keeping records for their work as bag handlers at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, is storing their fingerprints without their consent.
BIPA requires businesses that collect biometric data to obtain written consent before using it, and are required to notify consumers about how the data will be used.
The proposed plaintiffs allege that the company never informed the employees of its policies for retaining and using their fingerprints in violation of BIPA and is seeking $1,000 per violation or actual damages, whichever is higher, and requesting that the company implement a plan to destroy it, which is required by BIPA.