CheckpointID and IDScan move BIPA case to US federal court to keep lid on damages

A putative biometric privacy class action in the U.S. state of Illinois involving ID verifiers CheckpointID and IDScan.net has been moved from a state court to a federal venue.

The case, brought last month in Cook County Circuit Court by Nicholas Heger, alleges that ID verification services marketed by CheckpointID and IDScan violated his rights under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Heger claims he was looking for rental housing in Chicago, according to the Cook County Record, and was required in one application to record his driver’s license before scanning his face to see if the biometrics matched.

The service, however, did not get his express consent to collect his facial features, the plaintiff alleges. Heger was not told how the data would be managed, either, he said. If true, these omissions would violate BIPA.

A jury trial has been requested.

CheckpointID and IDScan want a federal class action, which is governed by the Class Action Fairness Act. The two-decade-old law was a priority for business owners who say some conventional class actions unfairly favor plaintiffs.

Class actions have to meet certain requirements to be accepted as a federal case governed by the fairness act.

IDScan has collaborated with CheckpointID, a unit of MRI Software, since 2019 to create anti-fraud services for leasing agents, property managers and security firms.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)  |  CheckpointID  |  data protection  |  face biometrics  |  IDScan.net  |  lawsuits