GDPR regulations for online casino players
The date is near, May the 25th of 2018 will make a huge difference for players of online casinos. You might have seen all the privacy setting pop-ups lately from MicroSoft, Facebook and Twitter. Annoying? Definitely! Most people will just click “agree” on any adjustment they will see. All companies will have to abide by the new GDPR laws for any European website visitor they will have, this includes online casinos!
So what is GDPR?
Privacy of European citizens is King! The GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation, is a European law that will replace all similar laws from each European country. It will make it easier to work for companies following one set of rules instead of many, but these rules are restring most companies by giving private individuals from Europe a lot more power about the information the want to share! So how does this affect the online casino landscape?
Your data is Money
Online casinos need your consent again that you want to receive their promotions, you will give in a bit of your privacy (supplying your data for marketing), but you will receive in many cases free spins or bonuses in case you opt-in again to their magic newsletters. Do you also receive texts from online casinos? You have to give them permission. The spam from online casinos will put to a halt because of these regulations as the possible fines of up to 20 million euros are immense.
The right to see your Data
You want to know what kind of data an online casino has collected about you? GDPR regulations give you the power to request this data at any of the online casinos you have an account with. Casinos have the obligation to collect this data for you on request and forward them directly to your inbox. Did they mark you as a VIP? You will find out. Did the support make a weird remark in your account about you? You will find out! General customer data like you created your account is not enough anymore, they should forward ALL data they have on you. Think about the following:
- All Emails between you and the online casino
- Phone logs they might have collected
- Chat logs they might have collected
- IP address logs
- Remarks in your account
- KYC documents
- Game play on each game provider
- Deposits and withdrawals
From several online casinos we have heard that they’re worried about an overkill of such data requests by players. If you’ve lost your money as a player with an online casino, what’s a better revenge than giving the gambling companies a shitload of work to do?
The right to be forgotten
This is a GDPR law that is not easy to apply due to responsible gambling laws. It’s simply not possible to be forgotten AND to be rejected with an online casino in case you’ve self-excluded yourself. Time will tell what kind of information the casino need to keep for responsible gambling purposes.
Cookies and more Cookies
You need to be informed about everything concerning your data. A lot of privacy policies will be adjusted before the 25th of May 2018 to make sure everything is GDPR proof. As player you will be able to see to what kind of third parties your data is uploaded. Does the casino use Google Analytics? You should be able to see it, does the casino use a third party Email provider? All the data should be there! Being informed about the cookies is one thing but you should also be able to opt-out from cookies not imacting the functionality of the website.
Conclusion: GDPR a good change?
For online casino players? Definitely! We are convinced that privacy should be taken serious by any company (in or outside the EEA). Also the points in this article are just SOME of the implications of the new GDPR law for online gambling companies. According to recent articles on this subject most online casinos are not prepared for these new regulations.
