HID Global Collected, Stored Users’ Biometric Data Without Consent, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action claims HID Global Corporation unlawfully captured, disclosed, stored and profited from clients’ sensitive biometric data.

According to the 14-page lawsuit, the company, a provider of timekeeping and access control management services in Illinois, has violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting, disseminating, and profiting from biometric data obtained through its identity verification service without consent.

The case charges that by failing to abide by the BIPA’s regulations, HID Global has “violated [employees’] substantive state rights to biometric privacy.”

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Per the suit, HID Global supplies its client employers in Illinois with biometric-based timekeeping tools, such as fingerprint scanners, which transmit data back to its home network. The complaint explains that when an employee at a client company interacts with the hardware—by scanning their fingerprint to clock in or out, for instance—the biometrics are sent back to the defendant’s servers.

According to the case, the BIPA stipulates that no such data collection is lawful unless a company has first informed users of its intent to store their biometric information. The company must also disclose the purpose and length of time for which the data will be stored and receive written consent to do so by the users, the suit says.

The filing alleges that despite obtaining and storing biometric data from its clients, the defendant has neither disclosed its actions to users nor obtained consent to do so, directly violating the BIPA.

In addition, the case claims that HID Global not only disclosed users’ biometric information to a third party that hosts the company’s network but unlawfully profited from the data as it is paid for its services by clients.

The suit contends that HID Global “disregards” the privacy rights of users, and calls its collection of biometric data “unlawful” and “invasive.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Illinois whose biometric data was collected and/or disclosed by HID Global or its technology within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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