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 my knowledge cutoff date in 2023, Vermont has not enacted specific biometric information privacy laws akin to the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in Illinois. While Vermont does have privacy laws that protect personal information, there is no statute that specifically addresses the collection, use, and storage of biometric data such as fingerprints, facial recognition, and iris scans. Companies operating in Vermont are subject to federal privacy laws and any applicable sector-specific regulations, but without state-level biometric privacy legislation, the rules around biometric data are less defined than in states like Illinois, which has comprehensive biometric privacy protections that include informed consent, prohibition of profiting from biometric data, limited rights to disclose, protection obligations, data retention guidelines, and a private cause of action for violations.