“Maybe the costs of giving notice and obtaining a release would significantly impact prices, routes, or services. Or maybe not,” U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang wrote, denying a request to dismiss a biometric privacy suit against a trucking company.
A federal judge in Illinois recently sided with a truck driver, clearing the way for discovery to be exchanged in a biometric privacy suit over an employer’s use of artificial intelligence-powered software that monitors distracted driving.
Nathaniel Timmons, a former driver for Gemini Motor Transport, took issue with the trucking company’s use of Lytx’s DriveCam, a mounted camera inside the cabin that uses AI to monitor a driver’s inattentiveness and risky habits. In addition to a verbal warning to the driver, the system sent video footage of the safety concern to Gemini. Timmons claimed the system captures, records and stores biometric identifiers, such as facial features, without consent—a violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
