SPB 2022 Q2 Artificial Intelligence & Biometric Privacy Quarterly Review Newsletter

Q2 did not disappoint in the AI and biometric privacy space, with a number of noteworthy litigation, legislative, and regulatory developments having taken place in these two rapidly developing areas of law. Read on to see what has transpired over the last quarter and what you should keep your eyes on as we head into the second half of 2022. As many familiar with BIPA know, currently pending before the Illinois Supreme Court is Cothron v. White Castle System, Inc. (covered extensively by SPB team member Kristin Bryan in CPW articles here, here, here, and here), which is set to provide much-needed certainty regarding the issue of claim accrual in BIPA class action litigation. "Claim accrual" involves when a claim "accrues" or occurs--either only at the time of the first violation or, alternatively, each and every time a defendant violates Illinois's biometric privacy statute. If the Cothron Court rules that BIPA violations constitute separate, independent claims, then the associated statutory damages of $1,000 to $5,000 per violation would compound with each successive failure to comply with Illinois's biometric privacy law.