Chicago-Area Car Dealership Collected Employees’ Fingerprints Without Proper Notice, Class Action Says

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A former Jidd Motors employee claims the Chicago-area used car dealership collected and stored workers’ fingerprints for timekeeping purposes in violation of a state privacy law governing the use and storage of biometric data.

According to the lawsuit out of Illinois circuit court, employers who collect, store, or use employees’ biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, are required under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) to provide notice, obtain the workers’ written consent, and publish data retention and destruction policies before doing so.

Despite the BIPA’s clear mandates, the plaintiff was never informed by the company that her fingerprints would be collected, stored or used, and never provided written consent to have her unique biometric information collected, the suit alleges. The plaintiff claims in the suit that she was required to scan her fingerprint each time she clocked in for work while employed by Jidd Motors between April and October 2016. 

The lawsuit goes on to claim Jidd Motors has further violated the BIPA by failing to publish a publicly available retention schedule and guidelines for the destruction of workers’ biometric data. According to the suit, the company’s alleged BIPA failures have exposed the plaintiff and other current and former workers to an increased risk of identity theft.

“If Defendant’s database of digitized fingerprints were to fall into the wrong hands, by data breach or otherwise, the employees to whom these sensitive and immutable biometric identifiers and/or biometric information belong could have their identities stolen, among other serious issues,” the complaint states.

The plaintiff looks to represent a proposed class of Illinois residents whose fingerprints were “collected, captured, received or otherwise obtained and/or stored” by Jidd Motors.

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