Workers Push Back as Companies Gather Fingerprints and Retina Scans

As more companies track their workers with fingerprint and facial scans, employees are increasingly challenging firms in court over how that biometric data gets used and stored. Scores of lawsuits have been filed following a recent state Supreme Court ruling in Illinois, which has the most stringent privacy law protecting such information in the U.S. The suits assert that employees weren't told what would happen to their biometric data and that it is being put at risk. Under Illinois's 2008 Biometric Information Privacy Act, companies collecting such data must first obtain user consent, and notify individuals about why and how their data will be used and stored, and for how long. Texas and Washington also have biometric privacy laws, but only Illinois grants individuals the private right to sue. Florida and New York are considering laws similar to Illinois's. Since January, when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs don't have to prove "harm" from violations of the state act in order to bring a suit - only that the law had been violated - there has been a cascade of filings.

Should employers have the right to ask for employee fingerprints and facial scans? Why? Why not?

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