Jennifer Zegel, Ross Bruch, and Justin Brown have hosted the Digital Planning Podcast for a few years now. They discuss important digital issues that relate to estate planning, business planning, and estate administration. In case you missed it, their latest episode discusses an important asset that everyone carries with them at all times: biometrics. They also discuss the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in Illinois, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and recent court decisions. The podcast can be found here:
Common biometric identifiers include fingerprints, face, voice, eye (iris), and eye (retina), but can also include palm prints, hand geometry, finger geometry, DNA, walking gait, heartbeat, blood vein patterns, and other biometric identifiers.
As the hosts discuss, biometric information is directly tied to an individual’s identity. Unlike passwords, we cannot change our biometric information. Biometric identifiers exist as part of us, and digital copies of our biometric identifiers are digital assets that must be managed and safeguarded.
We might use our biometric information to access our personal electronic devices or accounts. Employers and other companies might use them to identify us, track us, grant or restrict our access, or provide services to us. If electronic devices or third parties hold our biometric information, that information can also be compromised or used maliciously.
The hosts provide helpful advice and guidance throughout all of their episodes, and ask very important questions for legislators, regulators, fiduciaries, and estate planning professionals to consider. Some of our favorite episodes from the Digital Planning Podcast include: