SB 3248
PROTECTS VOICE & IMAGES
TL;DR
Illinois SB 3248, introduced by Senator Dave Syverson, would expand state protections against unauthorized use of a person's voice and likeness, targeting AI-generated deepfakes and voice clones. The bill aims to give individuals stronger legal recourse when their identity is replicated by AI without consent.
How This Might Impact Your Business
Companies using AI voice cloning or image generation tools for marketing, advertising, or customer service in Illinois would face new consent requirements before replicating any real person's voice or likeness.
Entertainment, advertising, and media production firms working with synthetic media or deepfake technology face the highest exposure, since unauthorized use of a celebrity or employee likeness could trigger civil liability.
AI vendors selling voice synthesis or image generation platforms (think ElevenLabs-style tools) may need to add identity verification or consent documentation features for Illinois customers.
HR and training departments using AI avatars or cloned voices of executives for internal videos would need signed consent from the individuals depicted.
Customer service operations using AI voice agents modeled on real human voices would need to document permissions or switch to fully synthetic voices.
The bill is still in committee (Referred to Assignments), so specific penalty amounts, exemptions for news or satire, and effective dates are not yet finalized.
Illinois already has strong biometric privacy laws (BIPA) with steep per-violation damages, so any new voice and likeness statute could follow a similar high-penalty enforcement model.
What Should You Do
Inventory every place your company uses AI-generated or AI-modified voices and images, including marketing content, training videos, customer service bots, and vendor tools.
Ask your legal team to draft consent and release templates specifically covering AI replication of voice and likeness for employees, contractors, and talent.
Review contracts with AI vendors to confirm they provide consent tracking and indemnification for synthetic media outputs.
Assign someone to track SB 3248 through the Illinois Senate Assignments Committee and flag any amendments that define penalties or effective dates.
If you operate in Illinois, benchmark your processes against BIPA compliance practices, since enforcement of a voice and likeness law would likely mirror that framework.
Who It Affects
Sponsors
Status Timeline
committee
Referred to Assignments
February 6, 2024