Evolving AI Claims: Alleged Violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act

On May 11, 2026, a collective of journalists, podcasters, and voice actors, including, Carol Marin, Philip Rogers, Alison Flowers, Robin Amer, Lindsey Dorcus, Yohance Lacour, and Victoria Nassif, filed a complaint alleging that Alphabet Inc. and Google LLC (collectively, “Google”) violated the Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14/1 et seq. (“BIPA”), the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, 765 ILCS 1075/1 et seq.,  the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, 815 ILCS 505/1 et seq., the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, 815 ILCS 510/1 et seq, and were unjustly enriched.[1] Five of the claims arise under BIPA, with such claims becoming more popular as AI continues to be developed.

Enacted in 2008, BIPA regulates how private entities collect, use, and store sensitive biometric data, indicating that because biometrics (specifically defined to include “voiceprint”) are biologically unique to an individual, once compromised, the individual has no recourse and is at a heightened risk for identity theft.[2] BIPA requires private entities to obtain informed consent before collecting or storing biometric information, which must include the purpose of collection and storage and the length of time the biometric information will be stored.[3] Additionally, entities subject to BIPA must comply with additional obligations, such as prohibitions on sale of biometric information, implementation of a written policy, among others.[4]

The plaintiffs in Marin, allege that Google extracted their voiceprints without notice or consent and leveraged that biometric information to train its AI foundational voice models. Further, alleging that Google’s unlawful collection, retention, commercial exploitation, dissemination, and failure to protect from disclosure of their voiceprints without notice, informed written consent, a written release, or any publicly available retention and destruction policy applicable to non-users, demonstrates a violation of BIPA, 740 ILCS 14/15(a)–(e).As referenced above, litigation arising under BIPA in connection with artificial intelligence (“AI”) appears to be gaining traction, with another complaint filed on December 18, 2025 alleging that Fireflies.AI’s meeting assistant, that automatically join virtual meetings, violates BIPA.[5] We will continue to monitor the Marin case, and those similarly claimed, for any significant updates.