Clean Up Gambling submits evidence to ICO on data abuse

Clean Up Gambling has submitted evidence to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) detailing widespread illegality in how data is obtained and used for profiling by online gambling operators. It is hoped that, given the ICO's powers of audit, this evidence will help to shape an investigation on data abuse within the sector.

Clean Up Gambling's submission, covered by the Financial Times, is based on Wolfie Christl's report for Cracked Labs (which was also commissioned by Clean Up Gambling and can be read here along with a summary).

As I told the FT, this is the sharp end of data abuse. We are talking about addiction, people losing vast sums of money, and profiling being harnessed to exacerbate that. It’s not like selling garden tools on the internet. We are talking about something very, very addictive.

On SkyBet's failure to obtain consent to collect sensitive medical data related to addiction, legal director of AWO Ravi Naik, which represents Clean Up Gambling, said: “None of our clients knew they were being profiled, let alone there were third parties involved."

You can read Clean Up Gambling's full submission to the ICO here.