Vending

Suit against Compass Group over fingerprint privacy violation proceeds in federal court

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May 7, 2020

A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to let a suit against Compass Group USA for violating an Illinois consumer privacy law proceed in federal district court.

In the suit, Christine Bryant, a call center employee, said Compass Group USA violated an Illinois consumer privacy law since the company did not get her written consent to have her fingerprints collected at a vending machine. Compass Group USA, a foodservice and support services provider based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the parent company of Canteen, a nationwide vending operation.

Bryant and her co-workers scanned their fingerprints at a vending machine to establish a payment link to create a user account. The employees were then able to purchase from the machine and add funds to their balance using just their fingerprints.

Compass never made publicly available a retention schedule and guidelines for permanently destroying the biometric identification information that it stored, in violation of the law, the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit decided. 

Compass never informed Bryant in writing that her fingerprint was being stored, what the purpose and length of term for storing the data were, nor obtained a written release to collect, store and use her fingerprint, according to the court.

"Compass's failure to comply with the Act resulted, both for her and others similarly situated, in the loss of the right to control their biometric identifiers and information," the court said in its decision.

Bryant initially brought a putative class action in late 2019 against Compass in the Circuit Court of Cook County. 

Bryant was granted a request to remand the case to state court, but the defendant appealed to the 7th U.S. District Court of Appeals to move the case to federal court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court remanding the action to the Circuit Court of Cook County, and remanded the case to federal court for further proceedings.

Compass Group had not responded to a request for comment from this website at the time of this report.