West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. Krishna Schaumburg Tan, Inc.

Summary

The Illinois Supreme Court held that the allegations in the underlying biometric-privacy lawsuit fell within or potentially within the insured's coverage for personal or advertising injury. Sharing biometric information with a single third-party vendor constituted a publication, and the alleged disclosure potentially violated the claimant's right to privacy. The court also held that the policy's violation-of-statutes exclusion did not apply because it addressed statutes regulating methods of communication, not biometric-information practices, and therefore West Bend had a duty to defend.