On May 16, 2024, the Illinois House of Representatives passed S.B. 2979, following the bill’s passage in the Illinois Senate in April. S.B. 2979 next goes to Governor J.B. Pritzker for signature. S.B. 2979 would amend the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) definitions and limit liability for businesses with multiple duplicative BIPA violations that relate to the same individual.

S.B. 2979 would amend BIPA’s definitions section by adding a definition for “electronic signature” and clarifying that an electronic signature is a means of providing a “written release”, i.e., written consent. “Electronic signature” is defined as “an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.”

The bill also would amend BIPA’s contentious private right of action provisions; S.B. 2979 clarifies that an individual bringing an action against an entity that has obtained the “same biometric identifier or biometric information from the same person using the same method of collection” is entitled to at most a single recovery under BIPA. Similarly, S.B. 2979 clarifies that only a single recovery for a violation of Section 15(d) of BIPA is allowed for an individual bringing a claim against an entity that has disclosed, redisclosed, or disseminated the “same biometric identifier or biometric information from the same person to the same recipient using the same method of collection”.

The private right of action stands, but its effects may be somewhat lessened as a result of the S.B. 2979 amendments, which would prevent multiple recoveries in certain circumstances.