The Illinois legislature—the nation’s most defunct lawmaker—is active these days not in resolving the State’s ongoing pension and budget crises (Illinois has the worst budget deficit in its history and has not managed to pass budget legislation for over a year). Rather, exhibiting a stunning attention to minutiae, Illinois is worrying itself with so-called “privacy.” Already the State with the most aggressive privacy protection law, the Illinois House is now considering three new privacy bills that would blaze a new trail of class action activity. Illinois, in other words, is solidifying its stature as the Mecca for privacy litigation pilgrimage.

A few years ago, Illinois enacted a first of its kind law known as the Biometric Information Privacy Act. That law prohibited companies like Snapchat, Facebook, or Google from using “biometrics”—people’s photo and eye scans, fingerprint, or voiceprint—without prior written consent. Such digital biometric recognition brings great convenience to consumers by simplifying authentication and personalizing many forms of entertainment. Users of these services understand perfectly well that websites are using such recognition data, and are happy to indulge in the features that these sites offer. Nevertheless, a slew of lawsuits are alleging technical violations in the presentation of the consent forms, forcing internet companies to pay ransom settlements. None of these lawsuits has been prompted by any consumer harm or complaint, and none have demonstrated any concrete injury.

Read more at Forbes