ICO probes Sky Bet as odds lower on sector data abuse

The Information Commissioner’s Office stop-start investigation into the adtech industry has taken a new twist, amid calls for a full-scale probe into how the online betting industry is exploiting new technology to profile and target problem gamblers.

The move follows a complaint by Clean Up Gambling, filed with the ICO, which is based on an investigation carried out by Austrian researcher Wolfie Christl and commissioned by Clean Up Gambling.

It alleges that Sky Bet and its partners are creating detailed behavioural profiles of customers and sharing thousands of data points with dozens of third parties, to persuade gamblers to return.

According to a report in the FT, Sky Bet-owner Flutter, whose brands include Paddy Power, insists it does not have access to gamblers’ wider financial data when it creates profiles, and that Sky Bet uses third parties to help target sponsored social media ads away from vulnerable customers, rather than towards them.

However, Clean Up Gambling alleges that one advertising partner, Signal, owned by TransUnion, has a dossier of 186 attributes for an individual, including their propensity to gamble, their favourite games and their susceptibility to specific types of marketing.

TransUnion said it assists gambling companies in “preventing fraud, confirming age and identity, checking affordability and protecting vulnerable customers, to support responsible gambling”. The company added it is unable to discuss individual clients and that it complies with the law.

Clean Up Gambling director Matt Zarb-Cousin, a former gambling addict who set up the organisation, 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.”

The complaint to the ICO alleges Skybet is operating unlawfully, including failure to obtain consent to collect sensitive medical data related to addiction.

“None of our clients knew they were being profiled, let alone there were third parties involved,” said Ravi Naik, legal director at AWO, which is representing Clean Up Gambling.

Flutter denies any wrong-doing, insisting it is a technology-driven business that uses customer data in a number of sophisticated ways but that all data were processed lawfully and transparently.

However, the company does have “previous”. In March this year, it was fined £1.17m by the Gambling Commission for sending an email marketing campaign which promoted its Sky Vegas services to problem gamblers and those who had already opted-out.

A Gambling Commission investigation revealed that on November 2 2021 the company emailed the promotional offer to a total of 249,159 customers who had opted out of marketing emails and 41,395 customers who had excluded themselves from online gambling services.

That was the second time Sky Betting & Gaming had been fined for failings over how it deals with problem gamblers, who have actually tried to stop betting.

In 2018, the firm was fined £1m for sending tens of thousands of marketing emails and texts to encourage those who had self-excluded to place wagers. As well as Sky Vegas, the company’s brands include Sky Casino, Sky Bingo, and Sky Poker.

The UK gambling industry is estimated to spend £1.5bn a year on advertising.