February 27, 2024

BNSF pays $75 million to truckers over fingerprint privacy breach

Steve Smith

BNSF pays $75 million to truckers over fingerprint privacy breach

A major settlement has been reached involving railroad company BNSF and truck drivers over the unauthorized collection of biometric data.

The deal: BNSF, owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has agreed to pay out $75 million to settle a class-action claim brought by 46,500 truckers.

The dispute centered on BNSF's practice of scanning truck drivers’ fingerprints at Chicago-area rail yards without proper consent.
Truckers asserted that BNSF did not inform them their fingerprint data would be stored, breaching the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Legal journey: Initially, BNSF faced a $228 million penalty, but this was overturned before the settlement was reached.

The case foregrounds privacy concerns in the trucking industry and the importance of obtaining explicit consent before gathering personal data, according to Reuters.

This settlement concludes a legal battle over privacy practices and emphasizes the cost of non-compliance with biometric data laws.

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