Six Flags Great America has settled a class-action lawsuit by agreeing to pay $36 million over the use of fingerprint scanners at its Illinois theme park.
Pass holders and others who visited the Gurnee park between October 2013 and Dec. 31, 2018 could get up to $200 each, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Texas-based Six Flags declined to comment.
Six Flags was accused of violating an Illinois law that requires companies to get permission before using certain technologies to identify customers. The company denied that it was collecting biometric identifiers and claimed visitors had given consent.
The Illinois Supreme Court in 2019 allowed the class-action case to continue, saying the privacy law doesn’t require someone to show an actual injury such as identify theft.
A final hearing in a Lake County court is scheduled for Oct. 29. Lawyers are seeking a third of the settlement for legal fees.
This article was first published in Insurance Journal.
