U.S. Senators Introduce Bill Imposing Stringent, National Biometric Privacy Regulation
Biometric data generally encompasses unique, measurable human biological or behavioral characteristics – including fingerprints, voiceprints, and scans of hand or face geometry – for identification and authentication purposes. To protect this data, the National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020 was introduced in the U.S. Senate. The authors of this article discuss the Act, which would impose requirements closely mirroring the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
Biometric data – like fingerprints and facial geometry scans – allows companies across all industries to significantly enhance their operations in a myriad of ways. At the same time, the call for regulation over this especially sensitive type of personal data continues to grow. U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders introduced the National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020 (the “Act”). If enacted, the Act would impose uniform, draconian requirements closely mirroring the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) – which has led to massive, plaintiff-driven litigation – across all 50 states.
While it is unknown whether this bill will ultimately become law, the Act highlights the need for all companies using biometric data – regardless of where they are located – to take proactive measures to implement flexible, adaptable biometric privacy compliance programs.
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“U.S. Senators Introduce Bill Imposing Stringent, National Biometric Privacy Regulation,” by Jeffrey N. Rosenthal and David J. Oberly was published in the November‒December 2020 edition of Pratt’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report (Vol. 6, No. 9), an A.S. Pratt Publication, LexisNexis. Reprinted with permission.
This article was first published as a Blank Rome Cybersecurity & Data Privacy client advisory on August 13, 2020.