- United Kingdom online gambling sites are under investigation for using data to target problem gamblers.
- Problem gamblers are naturally at risk, but when given targeted ads based on their favored games and odds of playing they are particularly at risk.
LONDON – The United Kingdom’s online gambling industry is in increasingly hot water as complaints initiated by Clean Up Gambling, a public campaign group, caused the UK’s data watchdog to begin an investigation into how online gambling sites use consumers’ data against them.
The collection and usage of data throughout the Internet has become a fairly well-known practice, but within the realm of online gambling it can be particularly damaging when sites can target gambling ads to problem gamblers.
That issue of collecting data and using it to target ads at problem gamblers has proven to be an effective practice for the UK’s gambling sites, as it is believed that 60% of profits out of the UK’s £12.7 billion gambling industry can be attributed to 5% of their players.
What Data Do Online Gambling Sites Track
Clean Up Gambling submitted it’s report to the Information Commissioner’s Office which is meant to outline the general methods and amount of tracking done by online gambling sites.
Popular gambling site Sky Bet was recently linked to advertising partner Signal, which is by reporting conglomerate TransUnion. TransUnion has stated the use of 186 different trackable attributes that it can detect, including a few gambling-specific statistics including:
- Likelihood of an individual to gamble.
- The individual’s favorite game/types of games.
- The types of gambling advertising work best for each person.
Now obviously that data can be put to use in a negative fashion, especially when used to target players who have a gambling problem. The susceptibility of those players to gamble more than they can afford is well-known, meaning gambling companies must offer a way for users to opt out of advertising.
Despite the need for online gambling sites to offer an opt-out, not all sites will honor it. If the sites do not honor that opt-out they will be fined, just like Sky Bet was in March after they sent self-excluded customers emails for promos. The £1.17 million fine was used for sending out over 290,000 promotional emails to either self-excluded or unsubscribed players.