In an effort to minimize potential harm, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has thrown their support behind efforts for a “single customer view” whereby information on individual spending can be shared among businesses.
The GB Gambling Commission has said that it does not currently have any plans to enforce this approach.
The statement was made by the ICO – the UK’s regulator for issues relating to data protection – as part of a response to a DCMS consultation regarding the future data policy of the UK following the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The consultation also included “innovative solutions for data sharing”. This included open banking systems that allow companies to use data about customers to create a unified customer view.
In the consultation, questions were also raised about intermediaries that would be responsible for handling these shared data.
In its consultation response, the ICO stated that it supported the sharing of data to assist businesses in accurately assessing customer risk.
It said: “We fully support the intention of the government to offer organisations additional assistance in understanding risks and making sure appropriate protections are implemented.” It said that “any new and innovative forms of sharing data are welcome.”
The report added that the data sharing would work best “when they improve people’s right and can address power imbalances”.
It also stated that it needed more clarity regarding the responsibility for data protection within this system as well as to make sure that all data protection laws are followed.
Chris Philp, the new UK Gambling minister, said that the ICO findings may prove very useful in reducing gambling harm. He also urged industry members to develop a solution for data sharing.
He said: “We’re determined to combat problem gambling, and are conducting a thorough review of our gaming laws in order to make sure they are up to date with the digital age.” I welcome the Information Commissioner’s Office’s findings that data could be safely shared between operators in order to stop problem gamblers from incurring crippling losses.
It is vital that we take more steps to stop people from becoming addicted to gambling in a way that can ruin their lives. It is a big step in protecting the vulnerable and now operators need to work together quickly to deliver a solution.
The Betting and Gaming Council, a trade association for the industry, said in a statement: “We have taken note of the Information Commissioner’s Office report and we will be working through the findings in depth.” The industry has worked on its own trial for some time. We now hope to move forward in discussions with the Gambling Commission, ICO and other stakeholders.
The Gambling Commission stated that the findings are very useful, but it has no plans yet to enforce an obligation for customers to have a single view.
The report of the ICO provides a valuable and useful guide on how a SCV can be implemented in compliance with data protection laws,” said it. However, there is still a lot of complexity and issues that must be resolved as part of the pilot phase.
At this time, we don’t plan to mandate any particular SCV solutions – it is up to the industry to test and develop them – however we expect the industry to show the results of its tested solution against our challenge.
