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Update:
- On Mar. 22, an Illinois federal judge dismissed class action claims filed against American Airlines by consumers who alleged their voices were unlawfully collected and stored after calling customer service.
- U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer ruled the biometric privacy class claims against American Airlines were preempted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act that aims to deregulate the airline industry.
- She said the claims over privacy breaches could not be separated from the fact the alleged breaches happened as a part of American Airlines’ customer service.
- “Plaintiffs cannot characterize their privacy claims as relating only to American’s unlawful handling of their personal data, where that data was collected in the course of… American’s provision of services,” the judge said.
- She said the customers may rework their complaint within 28 days.
(07/14/2021)
American Airlines consumers who allege their voices were unlawfully collected and stored after calling customer service want their claims heard in an Illinois court, a judge has heard.
On Monday, Plaintiffs Alex Kislov and Niko Hearn asked a federal judge to let their claims of violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) be heard in Cook County, Illinois, Law360 reports.
Their request comes after American Airlines argued the class action lawsuit was preempted by federal law.
The complaint alleges the American Airlines customer service hotline breached BIPA by collecting, analyzing, storing and disclosing customers’ voiceprints. Part of the complaint is that the airline did not make a biometric data retention and destruction schedule available to the public, which is required under BIPA.
The Illinois General Assembly passed the Biometric Information Privacy Act in 2018.
The laws require biometric data, however used, to be in compliance with certain rules, including getting consent, publishing policies on how the data is stored and schedules of when the data will be destroyed.
The American Airlines lawsuit has changed significantly since it was first filed in 2017, but its claims still relate to biometric data.
In the first filing, American Airlines workers alleged the company’s mandatory fingerprint scanning to log in to work violated BIPA. A judge ruled that those claims were likely preempted by collective bargaining agreements, as the plaintiff was a union member, Law360 reported.
In June, the American Airlines class action was amended to the customer service claim. The plaintiffs now claim the software American Airlines uses for its customer service hotline stores people’s voices and gives them to its software vendor without permission.
American Airlines argues that the claims are preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act, which it says blocks states from enforcing laws relating to the services of airlines.
American Airlines is also fighting a class action lawsuit alleging it continues to charge baggage fees for all customers, breaching its contract with customers, a class action lawsuit alleges.
The airline promises to waive baggage fees for certain tiers of customers, the American Airlines class action lawsuit contends, including its frequent flyers, first or business class ticket holders and owners of American Airlines credit cards.
Do you feel comfortable having your voice recorded and stored by companies? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by McGuire Law PC.
The American Airlines Voice BIPA Class Action Lawsuit is Kowalski v. American Airlines Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-09080, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
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