TIAA Voice Biometrics; Biometric Privacy Violations – Class Action Investigation

Ahdoot Wolfson is investigating a potential class action lawsuit against TIAA Financial Services (“TIAA”) for possible violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (commonly known as “BIPA”). 

TIAA is a well-known provider of investment services that we believe violates BIPA by failing to obtain written consent from customers and failing to provide required disclosures to customers before creating voiceprints of Illinois residents who enroll in TIAA Voice Biometrics.

TIAA Voice Biometrics allows a customer to use their voice to gain access to their TIAA account without having to remember a password, PIN or account number. When a customer enrolls in Voice Biometrics, TIAA creates a voiceprint based on the unique patterns of the customer’s voice. Whenever that customer calls TIAA after setting up Voice Biometrics, the system compares their voice to the stored voiceprint. If the system confirms a match between the customer’s voice and the stored voiceprint, the customer is authenticated and given access to their account.

The Illinois BIPA statute requires written consent from the customer before a company may collect, store, or use the customer’s biometric information, including voiceprints. BIPA also requires a company using biometric data to publish a policy establishing guidelines for the permanent destruction of the data in the future. TIAA’s creation and use of voiceprints without written consent and without published guidelines for destruction of the data may violate the statute.

If TIAA has created and used your voiceprint in violation of BIPA, you may be entitled to statutory damages, including:

• $1,000 for each violation;
• $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation; and
• Reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation expenses.

If you enrolled in TIAA Voice Biometrics while a resident of Illinois, please fill out the form below and one of the attorneys at Ahdoot Wolfson will contact you.