Law / United States / 
Illinois
BIPA Private Right of Action and 2024 Damages Amendment (SB 2979 / P.A. 103-0769)
740 ILCS 14/20, as amended by P.A. 103-0769 (SB 2979), eff. 2024-08-02
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In force since 2 February 2023, effective 2 August 2024.
An enforcement supervision rule binding private bodies.
As of 23 August 2026.
What it requires
- Expect a private right of action for any Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) violation, carrying statutory damages of $1,000 for a negligent violation or $5,000 for an intentional or reckless violation, or actual damages if greater, plus attorneys' fees and litigation costs.
- Treat repeated collection or disclosure of the same biometric identifier from the same person by the same method as a single violation carrying at most one recovery, including for conduct that predates August 2, 2024.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
740 ILCS 14/20(a): liquidated damages of $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, for a negligent violation, and $5,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, for an intentional or reckless violation, plus reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. These are floors, not caps, and they are the Act's only monetary remedy: BIPA states no civil penalty and names no regulator, so there is no penalty_structure to record. Since the 2024 amendment (P.A. 103-0769), repeated collection of the same biometric identifier from the same person by the same method is one violation carrying at most one recovery (section 20(b)), and repeated disclosure of it to the same recipient is likewise one violation (section 20(c)), so the figures read per person per collection method, with a disclosure to a different recipient counting separately; the Seventh Circuit applied the amendment retroactively in Clay v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. (2026).
- As of
- 1 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Per person reckless
- 5,000
- Per person negligent
- 1,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Exclusively private civil actions under the Section 20 right of action; no regulator or Attorney General enforcement role for a BIPA violation.
Enforcement record
Counts new BIPA lawsuits filed in Illinois state and federal courts in calendar year 2025, per the Duane Morris Class Action Review 2026 (published 2026-01-13): 150 lawsuits filed in 2025, down from 427 in 2024, 417 in 2023, and 362 in 2022. Private civil filings only; BIPA has no regulator or enforcement register, so this named published tracker serves as the register for this Act.
- As of
- 1 September 2026
- Trend
- Falling
- Source link
- https://blogs.duanemorris.com/classactiondefense/2026/01/13/video-dmcar-trend-4-the-landscape-of-privacy-class-actions-continued-to-shift/
- Actions per year
- 150
What it reaches
Obligation class
Biometric
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Arms any person aggrieved by a Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) violation with a private right of action in state circuit court or as a supplemental federal claim, recovering the greater of $1,000 or actual damages for a negligent violation and the greater of $5,000 or actual damages for an intentional or reckless violation, plus attorneys' fees, costs, and injunctive relief.
The Illinois Supreme Court held a claim accrues with each scan or disclosure (Cothron v. White Castle, 2023) under one uniform five-year limitations period for every Section 15 claim (Tims v. Black Horse Carriers, 2023); a 2024 amendment then capped recovery at one award per person per collection or disclosure method, responding directly to Cothron's invitation to the legislature to revisit the resulting damages exposure.
The Seventh Circuit held in 2026 that the cap is a remedial change to available damages, not a substantive change to BIPA's liability standard, so it applies retroactively to cases already pending when the amendment took effect (Clay v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 2026).
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.