The People is our section for opinions and perspectives. Submit your opinion to info@thetriibe.com.
On Chicago’s West Side, we know how to build under pressure. For decades, entrepreneurs in Austin and surrounding neighborhoods have created businesses, jobs, and opportunities without the benefit of sustained investment or favorable policy. Today, we are finally seeing momentum — new development, new industries, and new pathways into Chicago’s growing tech economy.
But progress depends on whether our policies keep up with how business actually works.
Technology is now a basic part of economic development. Smart buildings, advanced manufacturing, and data-driven operations are no longer optional add-ons; they are how modern businesses stay competitive, safe, and financially viable. On the West Side, these tools represent more than innovation — they represent access. Access to capital, access to jobs, and access to ownership in industries that have historically excluded our communities.
That is why Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) deserves a serious update.
BIPA was created to protect people’s biometric data, and that goal matters. Privacy protections should remain strong. But the law’s current structure creates uncertainty that falls hardest on small businesses, startups, and community-based developers—particularly Black-owned firms trying to grow responsibly in a modern economy.
Across the West Side, technology-driven projects are already underway. Large redevelopment efforts are incorporating smart building systems that rely on biometrics for secure access and resident services. Industrial corridors are being modernized for advanced manufacturing and logistics, using biometric-enabled safety and tracking tools to protect workers and manage costs. These technologies improve efficiency, lower insurance risk, and make projects financially feasible.
Yet under BIPA, even businesses acting in good faith can face serious legal exposure for technical violations, regardless of whether any harm occurred. For large corporations, that risk can be managed. For small and mid-sized businesses — the backbone of West Side economic growth — it can stall investment or stop innovation altogether.
This has real consequences.
When regulatory risk is unclear or disproportionate, business owners hesitate. They delay adopting new tools. Developers reconsider projects. Startups decide to grow elsewhere. That means fewer jobs, fewer contracts for local firms, and fewer opportunities for West Side residents to participate in high-growth industries.
Recent reforms have helped slow the pace of new BIPA lawsuits, which is a step in the right direction. But the underlying issue remains: the private right of action still creates significant risk for businesses trying to comply in a rapidly evolving tech landscape. Until that risk is addressed with clarity and balance, the chilling effect will persist.
For the Austin African American Business Networking Association, this is both a business issue and a community issue.
Our members want to compete. They want to adopt modern technologies, attract capital, and build companies that last. They want to hire locally and keep investment rooted in their neighborhoods. What they don’t want is to be penalized for using the same tools that are standard in today’s economy.
Modernizing BIPA does not mean choosing innovation over privacy. It means recognizing that strong consumer protections and economic inclusion should move together. Enforcement should focus on real harm and bad actors — not on technical missteps that disproportionately burden small businesses and discourage responsible innovation.
If Illinois wants to be serious about inclusive growth, it must ensure that laws written years ago reflect today’s economic reality. The West Side is ready to contribute to Chicago’s tech future — not just as workers, but as owners, builders, and decision-makers.
We have the talent. We have the ambition. We are already doing the work.
What we need now is a policy framework that allows communities like ours to move forward with confidence, protecting privacy while making room for progress. Because building the future of the West Side will take more than good intentions. It will take rules that recognize where the economy is headed and who deserves a seat at the table.
