UK operators urged to act fast in developing single customer view after GDPR concerns are cleared

UK-licensed operators are one step closer to adopting an industry-wide “single customer view” (SCV) of British gamblers after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ruled the new technology would not be in breach of existing data laws.

In theory, the SCV platform is designed to provide a holistic view of a customer’s online gambling behaviour to help reduce gambling harms for users who hold accounts with more than one operator.

For example, this means that if a user is blocked by William Hill for displaying signs of harmful gambling behaviour, they will not simply be able to set up an account elsewhere – risking mounting losses and further harm – because the new operator will also have access to the data via an SCV.

This should provide each operator with enough information to take action and prevent further damage from occurring. Critics argue that harmful gambling cannot be solved by operators acting in isolation and a sector-wide SCV is being billed as a potential solution.

Significant news for the gambling industry. The ICO has advised the Gambling Commission that a "single customer view" approach, where multiple bookies can share info about their customers, is workable under data protection law. [THREAD]

— Rob Davies (@ByRobDavies) October 7, 2021

The Gambling Commission (UKGC) first challenged the UK industry to explore and develop an SCV back in February 2020 in collaboration with operator trade body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC).

There was concern that an SCV would breach GDPR laws, although those concerns have now been alleviated after the ICO provided guidance following an 11-month “Sandbox” study into a conceptual solution specifically tailored for the gambling industry.

After investigating the test solution, the ICO concluded that the sharing of behavioural data between gambling operators to identify at-risk individuals may be lawful using the Article 6 defences of public task or legitimate interests under UK GDPR legislation.

Public task requires there to be a basis in law for gambling operators to share the data for the SCV and for that sharing to be carried out in the public interest, while legitimate interest encompasses the interests of parties including individuals at risk of problem gambling, the interests of gambling operators in meeting their legal requirements and the interests of those in society at large.

Now the legal barriers have been cleared, the UKGC and the UK gambling industry, led by the BGC, will need to map out a path to proceed.

A BGC spokesperson said: “We note the report from the ICO and will now work through its findings in detail.

“Work on the industry’s own trial has been ongoing for some time, and we now look forward to progressing with it in discussion with the Gambling Commission and ICO.”

There is a possibility the SCV will be made a legal requirement for UK operators via either changes to gambling legislation following the UK government’s review into the Gambling Act 2005 or by being inserted as a new requirement into the UKGC’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.

If that does happen, the BGC will likely launch a new tender process for prospective technology providers to design and implement an SCV solution that meets the legal requirements as set out by the ICO.

Some technology providers are already developing an SCV solution for consideration, including EQ-Connect, a collaborative data science platform co-founded by former Kindred Group innovation lead Will Mace and ex-Betfair and Betclic fraud specialist Jeremy Harding-Roberts.

Speaking to EGR following the ICO’s announcement, Mace said: “An SCV is quite simply an integral part of any safer gambling environment.

“However well-intentioned or capable individual operators are at identifying developing problems, they simply cannot properly protect players if they don’t know or can’t see the level or type of player activity on any other site.

“Operators should respond quickly and positively to get this missing part of the safer gambling environment in place if they are really serious about tackling the harm that gambling can cause,” he added.

The UKGC has also challenged the industry to move fast in developing a potential SCV solution, although reiterated it would still need to undergo significant testing via the ICO’s Sandbox.

“The publication of the ICO’s report provides an important and helpful steer on how an SCV could be delivered in accordance with data protection law,” said the UKGC.

“However, there are still plenty of issues and complexities that need to be addressed as part of a pilot phase of work.”

The regulator revealed it has no plans to mandate a particular SCV solution and that testing and development would be left in the hands of the industry, which would then need to prove the impact of its chosen solution during a pilot period, once again in collaboration with the ICO in a Sandbox environment.

UKGC executive director Tim Miller added: “We now look forward to the industry rapidly starting to pilot and then evaluate the approach they have developed to meet the challenge we have set.”

UK Gambling Minister Chris Philp

The UK’s newly appointed Gambling Minister, Chris Philp, agreed, asking leading operators to come together at once to “develop a meaningful solution”.

He added: “We are determined to tackle problem gambling and we are undertaking a comprehensive review of our gambling laws to ensure they are fit for the digital age.

“I welcome the ICO’s findings that data can be shared safely and securely between operators to prevent problem gamblers running up crippling losses.

“It is essential that more action is taken to prevent people becoming dangerously addicted to gambling to the point that lives can be ruined.”