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How Will the GDPR Affect the Gambling Industry and Your Favourite Online Casino?
By Shane Addinall Jun 03, 2018 OpinionYou've heard all about the GDPR but do you know how it will affect your favourite online casino? Find out everything you need to know!If you've been paying attention to your inbox recently, you may have spotted the influx of emails from companies that have changed their privacy policy. This sudden change to data collection and overall policy is due to the implementation of the GDPR.
You may be wondering what the GDPR is and why should you care. The General Data Protection Regulation is a set of rules laid out by the European Commission. First proposed in 2012, it took many years for the new laws to be completed and introduced to businesses within the EU.
While there are many rules and individual boxes to tick, at its core, the GDPR is about protecting your data and how it's shared with companies and websites.
The General Data Protection Regulation officially came into play on the 25th of May 2018 which sparked a barrage of emails from companies informing their users of the new changes. Users on websites that collect data have also had to make user aware with a new cookie consent form as well as age verification. These are minor steps that are required in order to stay GDPR compliant.
online casinos and the GDPR
Placing control in your hands is the main aim of the GDPR and that means online casinos will be affected too. It's a fact that online casinos rely on data provided by players to create a bigger and better experience. This makes information and data a precious commodity.
Online casinos and the online gambling industry as a whole are particularly affected by the GDPR rules. There are 3 particular points that will affect your favourite online casino including the following.
✓ 1. Responsibility for Staying Compliant
It's of the utmost importance that business, websites and online casinos take full responsibility for all compliance acts. Not only must companies and websites remain compliant as far as possible, they must all maintain a record of their efforts. A full record of data policies and procedures must be kept up to date as proof. Without this proof kept up to date, companies may be fined accordingly.
✓ 2. Handling Security Breaches
The online world is filled with both good and bad points. Unfortunately, hacks and breaches are a common occurrence, but often companies would attempt to hide the fact that they ever took place.
Under the new GDPR rules, a notification system must be a in place to inform data handlers of any personal data breaches that take place. This notification must happen within 72 hours of the data breach taking place. Online casinos in particular will need to ensure that they can not only inform data handlers of a breach, but spot the breach to begin with. This can be difficult at times, due to the large amount of data that operators deal with on a daily basis.
Without the correct policies in place, data breaches can be devastating. Loss of income, identity theft, and much more can be just a couple of the shocking results.
✓ 3. Data Portability and Sharing
As we stated earlier, the GDPR is aiming to put the use and sharing of your data in your hands. Data protection laws mean you have the right to request a copy your data whenever you please from any website or company. The "data portability right" includes the your gambling history and your financial situation at the time of partaking in any gambling.
Some have speculated that this option may be used to receive a generous bonus at new online casinos. However, the data collected that falls under this right does not include that which has been processed on grounds of ‘legitimate interest’. This could cover a number of different cases that will need be supplied by your online casino of choice.
If companies such as online casinos fail to comply with the laws laid out by the GDPR, the cost could be great. Financial penalties and a bad reputation could be harmful to future business within the industry.
If you spot a GDPR email or notification from your favourite online casino, be sure to give the document a quick read through and rest assured that the site you prefer is following the law as it should.
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