Cyber and Privacy Team Analyzes the Impact of Major Seventh Circuit Ruling on BIPA Actions

In this Law360 article, our Cyber and Privacy team analyzed a recent Seventh Circuit decision that is expected to make it easier for defendants in Biometric Information Privacy Act cases to remove litigation to federal court.

Partners Doug Meal and Michelle Visser and associate Nicole Gelsomini predict in the article that the Seventh Circuit ruling in Fox v. Dakkota could have implications far beyond the unlawful retention claims raised in the litigation, opening the door to removal to federal court of other claims involving intangible harms in the privacy and cybersecurity area.

“The unsettled nature of Article III standing in BIPA actions reflects the unsettled nature of Article III standing in actions involving intangible statutory violations more broadly,” our team wrote. “In the four years since the Supreme Court's Spokeo decision, lower courts have come to divergent conclusions on what it means to have suffered a "concrete" injury when the purported injury is intangible, like an alleged privacy or cybersecurity harm.”