21 Jul Tech Firms Buck on U.S. Biometric Privacy Regulation
In a report last Thursday, major technology companies seem to be fighting back the limitations imposed by a U.S. biometric security law.
The Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) was first enacted in Illinois when a tech company with a massive fingerprint database filed for bankruptcy. When the company considered liquidating assets, it raised privacy issues into the fore. This prompted Illinois to pass BIPA.
The Illinois law is the best example for biometric regulation across states. But with tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Apple adding facial recognition and other biometric capabilities to their services, the industry has grown resistant in passing the law.
The industry’s opposition is mirrored gravely in the Washington law, a weak version of BIPA that takes effect on July 23. This allows certain exemptions online and limits users’ consent rights.
To date, Facebook has argued against 3 cases restricting facial tagging function. Their spokespersons have also tried to sway an Illinois-based senator to revise BIPA.
Source: Bloomberg
