Online casinos: New Code of Conduct for Data Protection

Last week, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) published the new Code of Conduct for Data Protection for online casinos. In this course of the gambling association, the gambling association had put a document online on its own homepage, through which the members will be obliged to comply with the data protection measures listed in accordance with the code of conduct. The EGBA is making a new path, which, however, also has some difficulties.

Player protection vs. data protection – what is greater importance?

The new code of conduct for data protection from the EGBA As a task, it has to raise any data protection standards with a view to the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR) in the entire online profit industry to a corresponding level. So that this project is also consequently implemented, one controls one independent supervisory body compliance of the code of conduct of the individual EGBA members. The main goal of the new Code of Conduct for Data Protection is helping for providers of online gambling. These should be given the opportunity to be supported in data protection subject areas in order to be able to make a responsible and legal behavior easier. The focus is on the following points:

These are the most important points of the new code of conduct for data protection in the gaming industry

• The right to data portability should be expanded so that customers can transfer their personal data more easily when changing between the gaming companies.
• If data is processed by the companies, it must be shown transparently what they have been used for.
• Providers of online gambling must present their own concepts on how the safety of the data can be protected from outside hacker attacks, among other things.
• In order to protect the privacy of potential VIP guests, data from so-called VIP accounts should be more difficult to call up.
• Problematic game behavior should be better recognized and the relevant steps should be initiated without the person affected to disturb his personal privacy.
• It is also important to improve data protection in the area of direct advertising. For this purpose, online casinos are to be trained on how data protection can be guaranteed. This also affects the exclusion of players with problematic game behavior. No direct advertising may be sent to you.
• The fight against the illegal gambling on the Internet and frauds should be expanded and improved, but without the data protection law of overriding.

Gambling industry sets standards in the field of data protection

The new code of conduct for data protection enables the gaming industry to set new standards in terms of data protection. In order to continue and controlled this path, the Maltese data protection authority will undergo the new document of a detailed examination. In cooperation with other data protection authorities from the EU, it is checked and compared whether the new Code of conduct is compatible with the GDPR. Until a final decision is made, the review is completed and the code of conduct is approved, it can take up to two years. This comprehensive control and the associated time effort gives the providers of gambling on the Internet the opportunity to thoroughly look at the new requirements and to integrate them into their own offer accordingly. Maarten Haijer, the Secretary General of the EGBA:

“On the occasion of the two -year anniversary of the GDPR, data protection, privacy and the use of personal data are still a problem for many European citizens. For this reason, we are pleased to introduce this new code that demonstrates the commitment of the online gambling industry for the protection of the personal data of our 16.5 million customers and the support of the success of the GDPR. As one of the first industries in Europe, we are pleased to introduce a self -regulation code that supports compliance with the GDPR. Data and its use play an increasingly important role in the online interaction of citizens and companies-and the online gambling sector is no different. This code describes how online gambling companies should ensure that their customers understand how their personal data is used and provides important information on how companies should use personal data in dealing with customers, including the way they are problematic gambling behavior Identify and tackle with your customers. ” – Maarten Haijer, General Secretary of the EGBA, egba-webseitite

The EGBA also recommends also non-members of the association, to orientate yourself to the new requirements of the Conduct Code for Data Protection and to keep it at best. However, a little time will pass until the final adoption of the new document.