NFI, Kronos Hit with Biometric Information Privacy Class Action in Illinois

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Alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) are the subject of a proposed class action filed against NFI, LLC and Kronos, Inc. The lawsuit, since removed from county to district court, claims NFI, a warehouse and distribution center, and Kronos, an employee database operator, collect, use, store and disclose proposed class members’ sensitive biometric data—fingerprints—with apparent disregard for BIPA regulations.

According to the lawsuit, NFI employees keep track of their work time through fingerprint scanning provided by Kronos. The case claims the defendants ran afoul of the BIPA by failing to provide NFI employees with: 

• Information in writing of the purpose and length of time for which their fingerprints will be collected, stored, disseminated and used;
• A publicly available retention schedule and/or guidelines for the permanent destruction of their biometric data; and
• A written release authorizing the collection of their biometric data.

The complaint charges the defendants’ failure to adhere to BIPA regulations creates the material risk for employees that their biometric data will be unlawfully accessed by third parties.