In the United States, many states and cities, including but not limited to Illinois, Texas, and the city of Portland, have passed laws that have notice and consent requirements for how companies use, share, and store biometric data that can be used to identify individuals.
Some customers may come to you with questions about our Camera ID feature and its compliance with these laws, particularly if they have drivers who reside or operate vehicles in these jurisdictions.
Responses should focus on how Samsara’s camera ID feature operates and avoid providing guidance or opining on the law or statute referenced by the customer. Samsara’s optional Camera ID feature, which is off by default, is the only Samsara feature that utilizes facial recognition technology. If a customer is not using Camera ID, any concerns about biometric data should be resolved. If a customer is planning to use Camera ID and has additional questions or concerns about how that feature works, please direct them to this KB article on Camera ID, biometric information, and consent, as well as Samsara’s Biometric Data Retention and Destruction Policy.
If a customer has more general questions about their legal consent requirements, it is important to inform the customer that we cannot provide them with legal advice, and they should seek guidance from their own legal counsel on this question specific to their business and use of our products, as well as the states in which they operate. However, you can encourage the customer to provide notice to their employees about their use of our products as a best practice even if it is not required by law. A sample driver notice and consent memorandum can be found here and a sample dash cam policy can be found here.
For specific questions about the lawsuit against Samsara under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), please refer to this article.