Online Bookmakers Face Allegations of Privacy Violations in the UK

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Swansea's GREAT Centre has found that nearly 86% of licensed British gambling websites are not compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The research examined 624 gambling websites and revealed that nearly a quarter (24%) did not provide users with the option to disable tracking software. Furthermore, two-thirds of the websites began collecting user data before obtaining consent.

The findings highlight the use of cookie banners that prompt users to accept tracking data, often nudging them towards consent without clear options to refuse. Notably, 60% of the websites employed visual emphasis on the least privacy-friendly options, while 29% had default settings that favored data sharing. Additionally, 47% of the sites buried the reject option behind additional layers, complicating the user experience.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has been working to enforce GDPR compliance across the UK, claiming to have achieved compliance from 95% of the top 1,000 websites. However, the gambling sector appears to lag significantly behind other industries, with the study indicating that 86% of gambling sites have committed at least one GDPR breach, compared to 54% across all website types.

Legal experts have expressed concern over the findings, suggesting that they reflect a systemic issue within the online gambling industry regarding data privacy practices. The ICO's enforcement actions have been questioned, particularly in light of previous reprimands issued to companies like SkyBet for non-compliance.