SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Sweden’s Riksdag has been ordered to review a ‘memorandum for referral‘ proposing further tightening of gambling laws to protect against match-fixing.
Authorized by the government, the memorandum has proposed amendments to Sweden’s Gambling Act of 2018 to allow “gambling licensees the right to process information on infringements related to or suspected of being involved in match-fixing.”
The amendment requires the Riksdag’s (parliament) approval as it proposes changes to Chapter 17 of the Gambling Act, which must uphold the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union in processing customer data.
Changes seek to enable licensed betting operators and ‘authorized agencies’ to process customer data on infringements related to match-fixing and suspected manipulations.
As detailed in the memorandum: “Processing of such personal data is proposed to be permitted if it is necessary to scrutinize a monetary game to detect cheating, fraud, and other criminal activities, to monitor and report aberrant betting patterns and suspicions of manipulation of sports outcomes with regard to betting, and to verify and report any betting by players that violates the sport’s match-fixing regulations.”
In 2023, the Riksdag approved the memorandum on the “Measures Against Match-Fixing and Unlicensed Gambling Operations,” which imposed new controls and duties on licensed operators to report match-fixing infringements. As of July 1, 2023, all gambling licensees must assist Sweden’s Police Authority in match-fixing investigations as a licensing duty.
The memorandum requires the Riksdag to review “special provisions for processing personal data” in accordance with GDPR principles concerning the data rights of European consumers.
The Riksdag is reminded that “the GDPR includes a provision for the processing of personal data concerning legal violations, allowing such processing under specific conditions, mainly under the control of an authority or when permitted by EU or national law.”
Should the proposed amendment in the memorandum be authorized, the government will enact the new law to come into effect on December 1, 2024.
