Walmart’s Fingerprint Scans Violate BIPA, Alleges Employee’s Class Action

Walmart’s “unlawful collection,” storage and use of its employees’ biometric data “exposes them to serious and irreversible privacy risks,” alleged Joann Davis’ privacy class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-03373) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. If Walmart’s database containing its employees’ fingerprint scans is hacked, breached or otherwise exposed, employees “have no means by which to prevent identity theft, unauthorized tracking or other unlawful or improper use of this highly personal and private information,” said the complaint. As an employee of the Silvis, Illinois, Walmart Davis was required when clocking into and out of her daily shift, including any lunch breaks, to have her fingerprint scanned, said her complaint. Illinois enacted the Biometric Information Protection Act “to protect residents' privacy interests in their biometric data,” it said. Courts “analogize an individual's privacy interest in their unique biometric data to their interest in protecting their private domain from invasion, such as from trespass,” it said. Walmart “has collected and stored the fingerprint of each employee who was required to use the fingerprint scanning technology as part of Walmart’s timeclock procedure,” said the complaint. Each fingerprint scan the retailer extracts “is unique to a particular individual in the same way that facial geometry or voiceprint uniquely identifies a particular individual,” it said. The suit seeks a declaration that Walmart has violated the BIPA, plus statutory damages of $5,000 for those “intentional and reckless” violations.