Modern technologies found in sensors, software, and readers make it increasingly possible to use fingerprints, facial recognition, retinal or iris scans, voiceprint reading, gait analysis, or keystroke analysis to identify a person.

In response to these technologies, some state legislatures (Arkansas, California, Illinois, New York, Texas, Washington) have enacted biometric information privacy laws that govern the collection and use of this data.

For example, in Illinois, the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) provides a set of rules for companies collecting biometric data—and unlike the biometric data privacy statutes in Texas and Washington, it creates a private cause of action, allowing Illinois residents whose biometric data is improperly collected or used to file a lawsuit for the violation of the statute.

There are essentially five key features of the Illinois law known as BIPA:

• it requires informed consent prior to collection;

• it prohibits any profiting from biometric data;

• it allows only a limited right to disclose the data;

• it sets forth both protection obligations and data retention guidelines for businesses; and

• it creates a private cause of action for those harmed by BIPA violations.

As of the knowledge cutoff date in 2023, Kansas does not have a specific biometric information privacy law similar to the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) of Illinois. While states like Illinois, Texas, and Washington have enacted laws that regulate the collection, use, and storage of biometric data, Kansas has not yet passed such legislation. This means that in Kansas, there are no state statutes that provide the same level of protection or legal recourse specifically for biometric data as found in the states mentioned. Residents of Kansas do not have the same statutory rights to informed consent, restrictions on profiting from biometric data, limited rights to disclose such data, or specific protection and data retention guidelines for businesses that handle biometric information. Additionally, there is no private cause of action in Kansas for individuals who feel their biometric data has been mishandled, unlike in Illinois where individuals can file a lawsuit for BIPA violations.