Odyssey Fun World Facing Biometric Privacy Suit Over Alleged Fingerprint Data Collection

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A proposed class action claims Odyssey Fun World, LLC has overstepped an Illinois privacy law by collecting workers’ fingerprints without making proper disclosures or obtaining consent to acquire and use the sensitive biometric information.

According to the case, the indoor theme park operator has exposed employees to “serious and irreversible privacy risks” by requiring them to scan their fingerprints for timekeeping purposes without adhering to the requirements of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

The plaintiff says he worked as an arcade repair technician at the defendant’s Tinley Park, Illinois location between September 2019 and March 2020 and scanned his fingerprint every time he clocked in and out of Odyssey Fun World’s timekeeping system.

Before the defendant collected employees’ fingerprint data, the company allegedly failed to:

• Inform workers of the specific purpose and length of time for which their biometric information, i.e., fingerprints, was being collected, stored or used;
• Develop and adhere to a publicly available retention policy and guidelines for the permanent destruction of employees’ biometric data; and
• Obtain a written release from workers to collect, capture, store or otherwise obtain their fingerprint data.

The plaintiff says he’s been “continuously and repeatedly” exposed to the risks and harmful conditions created by the defendant’s alleged BIPA violations given his fingerprints are unique, permanent biometric identifiers that cannot be changed if compromised.

“For example,” the complaint reads, “if biometric [sic] database is hacked, breached, or otherwise exposed – such as in the recent Equifax, Uber, Facebook/Cambridge Analytica, and Marriott data breaches or misuses – employees have no means by which to prevent identity theft, unauthorized tracking, and other improper or unlawful use of this highly personal and private information.”

According to the case, “[n]o amount of time or money can compensate” the plaintiff if his fingerprint data is compromised as a result of the defendant’s apparently “lax procedures” with regard to biometric data collection and storage.

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