Closing the Data Gap: Protecting Biometric Information Under the Biometric Information Privacy Act and the California Consumer Protection Act

Authors

Eva-Maria Ghelardi

Document Type

Note

Abstract

(Excerpt)

Between May and June of 2014, Stacy Rosenbach bought her son, Alexander, a Six Flags season pass online. She submitted Alexander’s personal information and read that Alexander would complete the sign-up process at the park. No details described what the sign-up process would entail.

After showing his online receipt at Six Flags, Alexander was brought to an office to provide the customary thumb scan. Alexander’s thumb scan, along with the season pass card, was required to permit him to enter the various rides. He was not given any information about how his thumb scan would be stored or used after his season pass expired. Alexander—a fourteen-year-old boy—thought nothing of this process and voluntarily gave Six Flags his thumb scan.

Mrs. Rosenbach, on the other hand, was shocked to learn of this scan when Alexander returned home. After Mrs. Rosenbach asked Alexander for the paperwork from the season pass, he told her Six Flags “did ‘it all by fingerprint now.’ ” Although Alexander never returned to Six Flags, Six Flags kept his biometric information. Curiously, Six Flags has not revealed how long it planned to keep Alexander’s thumb scan or how it planned to use it.