Bloomberg Law reported that the Illinois Appellate Court clarified the statute of limitations under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), writing that a five-year window applies to some claims while a one-year period applies to others. In the article “Biometric Law Limitation Period Clarified by Illinois Court (1),” labor and employment partner Greg Abrams explained the significance of this decision.
According to an opinion filed Sept. 17 in the Illinois Appellate Court First District, the five-year statute of limitations applies to BIPA claims that allege collection of biometrics without written notice, failure to take care in storing or transmitting the data, and failure to develop a publicly available retention and destruction schedule, the publication wrote.
The case is the first time the Illinois Appellate Court has weighed in on the “statutes of limitations” question under the law, said Abrams. However, it may not be the last word on the topic, he added. “There’s the potential of an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court,” noted Abrams. “We’ll see whether the Illinois Supreme Court decides to address this issue.”
Regarding the Illinois Appellate Court’s opinion, Abrams said, “Perhaps what’s most interesting is that different limitations periods can apply to multiple claims within the same case. The potential class size can be different within the same case.”
The full article is available for Bloomberg Law subscribers.
