Sky Betting & Gaming, an online gambling company, has been reprimanded for sharing customer information illegally with advertising firms that then targeted those users with personalised advertisements.
After a complaint from the Clean Up gambling campaign group, The Information Commissioner’s Office said that it had investigated Bonne Terre Ltd. trading as Sky Betting & Gaming.
The group alleged Sky Betting & Gaming misused its personal data in order to target gambling addicts who were vulnerable.
Sky Vegas, a brand of the company, was fined £1.2m in the past by the gambling regulator because it sent “free spins”, to people who had a gambling addiction, during Safer Gambling Week.
The ICO stated that it found no evidence supporting the claim made by Clean Up Gambling, that Sky Betting & Gaming (part of the £30bn global gaming firm Flutter) had intentionally targeted vulnerable gamblers.
The company was found to have processed data without the consent of the people over a period of seven weeks between January and march 2023.
Online gambling companies shared customer data immediately with advertising technology firms, without giving them the opportunity to accept or refuse cookies.
Stephen Bonner said, “We have all seen online ads that seem to be tailored specifically for us. For example, an ad after signing up for a gym. Others may not feel comfortable with receiving these ads, even if they consent to them. This is especially true when it comes sensitive information about our digital activities.
You may not want your personal information to be shared with advertisers, for example if you visit a website that offers gambling or if you search on health symptoms.
Sky Betting & Gaming’s spokesperson said that it “welcomes ICO’s determination after an extensive 18-month investigation it found no evidence supporting the claims made against us by campaign group Clean Up Gambling.
“We regret an accidental technical error that resulted incorrectly in the sharing of some customer information with our digital advertising partner without consent for a period of seven weeks at the start 2023. This error was corrected within one day after we became aware of it.
Sky Betting & Gaming is a separate company that licenses Sky’s brand from its broadcasting division. The Stars Group merged with Flutter in 2019. In 2018, CVC, Sky Group and private equity group CVC sold their betting business to The Stars Group for $4.7bn.
The ICO is on a mission to ensure that companies are complying with the rules governing the collection and sale of personal information about internet users. The regulator examined the UK’s 100 top websites last year, including Sky Betting & Gaming. It found that more than half of them were using advertising cookies.
The only website out of 53 to not comply with the request to improve their processes was Tattle Life. It will now be investigated for its use of cookies, and its “apparent failure” in registering with the regulator.
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