Ill. Store Employee Sues Speedway for Requiring Biometric ID Without Consent

Gas and convenience store chain Speedway required plaintiff Sakara Lindsey to enroll in its third-party biometric system when she was hired in September 2015, alleged her Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) complaint Friday (docket 1:24-cv-01984) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. The Illinois resident was employed by the store through September.

Speedway’s biometric system was used to track her hours and to control access to secure areas of the store, said the complaint. Lindsey was required to scan her fingerprint or hand geometry to clock in and out at the beginning and end of each shift, during breaks and when she entered or left the secure area of the store behind the cash register counter, it said. She scanned her fingerprint at least 2,600 times before November 2017, alleged the complaint.

The Speedway biometric system used, collected and stored a scan of Lindsey’s fingerprint or hand geometry for time tracking or employee authentication, or it used an encrypted mathematical representation of her fingerprint or hand geometry for time tracking or authentication, the complaint said.

Until November 2017, Speedway never informed Lindsey of the specific, limited purposes for which it collected, stored or used her biometric identifier, nor did it tell her the specific length of time for which it would use or retain it, the complaint said. Speedway also didn’t inform Lindsey of a biometric data retention policy it had developed, or whether it would ever permanently delete her biometric information, it said. Until November 2017, she had not signed a written release allowing the company to collect, capture or obtain her biometric information, it said.

Lindsey has "continuously and repeatedly been exposed to the risks and harmful conditions” created by Speedway’s “repeated" BIPA violations, alleged the complaint. Biometrics are "biologically unique to the individual" and once compromised, "the individual has no recourse, is at heightened risk for identity theft, and is likely to withdraw from biometric-facilitated transactions," it said.

Lindsey's lawsuit is her “one and only chance to obtain compensation” for Speedway’s BIPA violations, the complaint said. “Depending on how technology evolves years into the future, losing control of and ownership over very personal identifiers could have untold harmful consequences,” it said.

The plaintiff claims three BIPA violations and seeks damages of $1,000 for each negligent violation of section 15(d) of BIPA, damages of $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation, plus attorneys’ fees and legal costs, the complaint said. Speedway didn't comment Monday.