In Illinois, biometric data (such as fingerprints, voice, iris, face, and more) can be used to identify a person and as a result, this data needs special protection. The BIPA allows a company to use biometric data to identify and authenticate an individual but the law does require companies to give customers certain disclosures and get their written consent before these firms are allowed to collect and store biometric data from their subscribers.
Verizon collects voiceprints for its Verizon Voice ID system although the wireless provider does not follow the requirements placed on it by BIPA according to the lawsuit. Customers must be told in writing that biometrics would be collected or stored and how long the data would be held. Verizon also failed to inform its customers how their biometric data would be used and did not obtain written consent from its customers.
The company is also dealing with another class action lawsuit which alleges that the Verizon website is not fully accessible to blind and visually impaired consumers. This suit, filed in New York federal court, claims that the nation’s largest wireless carrier has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The plaintiff in this case, Derek Pollitt, is legally blind and needs software to read his computer screen to use the internet. Looking to purchase a new phone, Pollitt visited the Verizon website which he found via a Google search. After finding a device that he wanted to buy, he was unable to due to “numerous accessibility difficulties,” the suit notes. The plaintiff points out that Verizon‘s website has a completely visually interface and doesn’t offer new technology such as “alternative text, accessible forms, descriptive links, resizable text and limited usage of tables and JavaScript.”
The plaintiff says that because of the way Verizon designed its website, a visually-impaired individual needs the help of a person with sight to access the website’s content.
The first lawsuit over Verizon‘s alleged failure to get consent before capturing customer voiceprints is Thelton George Parker Jr., et al. v. Verizon Communications Inc., et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-08436, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The second suit over Verizon‘s alleged non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act is Derek Pollitt v. Verizon Communications Inc., Case No. 1:24-cv-06156, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.