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Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, continues to spark controversy.

Earlier this year, the governor signed into law an amendment that clarified that multiple BIPA violations against the same party constitute a single violation and accordingly limits the damages. But its retroactivity has sparked controversy, following recent conflicting court decisions on the issue.

On Nov. 13, 2024, the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that the amendment applied retroactively and determined that the plaintiff’s damages were limited to a single recovery for the same BIPA violation. Nine days later, a different judge on the same court ruled that the law did not apply retroactively.

Phil Melin, executive director of the group Illinois Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, said Illinois lawmakers are to blame for drafting poor legislation

“What happens is that you create a lot of work on the courts as they try to read the tea leaves because of the intent of the legislature,” said Melin. “What we think is it presents another failure of the legislature to do the job the right way.”

After ruling against White Castle in a biometric case that potentially could have cost the company $17 billion, the Illinois Supreme Court hinted that the General Assembly may want to clarify the law. White Castle eventually settled the lawsuit for just over $9 million.

Other companies have been hauled into court after claims they violated BIPA, including Google, SnapChat and Facebook. In 2022, more than one million Facebook users in Illinois received checks following a $650 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit alleging the social media company violated residents’ rights by collecting and storing scans of their faces without permission.

Melin believes BIPA cases will play out in the courts for some time.

“It’s going to drag on,” said Melin. “We might have different standards for federal courts and state courts. It’s going to be a big mess.”