Biometric technology not only has been making financial transactions safer but also reduces fraud and provides better secure access to a business’s premises. And now, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, biometrics also can pick up on illness and body temperature. But some experts are growing more concerned about data privacy and security as facial recognition, fingerprint, voice recognition and other technologies become more commonplace. According to Laura Lapidus, New York-based risk control director for CNA’s management liability business, said biometric privacy laws have become a big risk to companies, especially larger firms that operate in multiple jurisdictions. Several states, such as Illinois, Texas, Washington, and California, all have biometric privacy laws in place, while others have introduced proposed legislation on biometrics regulation. As similar laws are passed across the country, more and more claims associated with these technologies also are being seen and noncompliance fines are “a huge exposure for companies that may not have known they were exposed to these laws,” said Gamelah Palagonia, senior vice president for network security, data privacy, and technology errors and omissions at Willis Towers Watson PLC.
