According to a report by news platform Patch on Sunday, gambling giants Caesars Entertainment and Penn National Gaming found themselves entangled in legal battles as they were hit with two class-action lawsuits in Illinois concerning their utilization of facial recognition technology.
Illinois, having enacted the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in 2008, imposes strict requirements on companies regarding the collection, storage, and destruction of personal biometric identifiers, mandating consent from individuals. However, the lawsuits allege that Caesars’ Harrah’s and Penn’s Hollywood Casino failed to comply with these regulations, thereby violating the BIPA.
The lawsuits claim that the defendants neglected to inform members of their rewards programs, such as Anthony Adams, Leon Martin, and Ava Jackson, about the collection of their biometric identifiers or information, as stipulated by the BIPA. Consequently, the plaintiffs are seeking “liquidated or actual monetary damages” for the breach of privacy.
Upon each visit to the casinos, plaintiffs underwent facial geometry scans, with the obtained data being compared against stored information in the databases. Furthermore, the lawsuits assert that Biometrica Systems, renowned for its efforts in identifying potential cheaters across customer networks, provides the facial recognition technology employed at Harrah’s.
The alleged violations of the BIPA are characterized in the lawsuits as “reckless” and “negligent,” further escalating the legal dispute between the parties involved. Interestingly, this development emerges shortly after Konami Gaming showcased a new feature for slot machines – facial recognition technology – at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E), sparking discussions about the increasing integration of biometric technologies within the gambling industry.
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