Sky Betting and Gaming (SBG) is “considering” an appeal after the high court ruled the group did breach data regulations following direct marketing sent to a problem gambler.
The player in question, who reportedly lost more than £45,000 over 10 years, made the case that the now Flutter-owned operator should have been aware they were a problem gambler and therefore should not have enabled their data to be utilised for third party marketing.
SBG emphasised on site that it “never shares data with companies outside of its group for them to use for their own marketing.
A company response detailed: “We fundamentally disagree with this judgment. We have made significant changes to our controls and processes over the past six years as part of our ongoing investment behind safer gambling and will continue to do so.”
Whilst remedies were deferred, the judgement does hold up in terms of declaratory relief for the claimant, with further submissions from both parties anticipated in the event that Sky Betting and Gaming doesn’t appeal the decision.
It’s a case that centres around cookies, with the court emphasising that the operator didn’t have the right to collect the relevant data through cookies and subsequently utilise it for the purposes of direct marketing.
One of the key issues alleged by the claimant was that sensitive information had been tapped into in order to build a unique customer profile. The sensitive data at the centre of the claim included things like the player’s mental health and struggles with gambling addiction.
These were part of the profiling efforts of Sky Bet between 2017 and 2019, which were heavily criticised by Justice Collins Rice. The Judge did however underline that the industry had evolved its methods since the case.
The claimant was represented by AWO, a law firm that specialises in data rights, which emphasised the potential significance of the ruling and took aim at how gambling companies have operated when it comes to usage of data.
AWO stated: “The groundbreaking ruling is a legal first for online marketing and the related legal principles, and could have major implications for the multi-billion-pound online gambling sector in the UK and the online advertising industry as a whole.
“It raises the prospect that not only SBG, but also other gambling companies, have been illegally profiling thousands – if not tens of thousands – off their vulnerable customers for years.”
The case was brought by the claimant following a data subject access request, enabling them to view just how their data was being utilised and who it was shared with.
The claimant found out how their data was collected and used after making data subject access requests (DSARs) to a number of gambling operators and other third parties.