Data Science Tool & Gamstop Cooperation
Gambling in the UK has become a huge industry over the years. With the growth, there comes a higher risk of problem gambling. As per March 2021 records, 0.4% of gambling addicts belong to the 16-24 age group, 0.3% to the 25-34 age group, 1.1% in the 35-44 age group, and 0.4% to the 45-54 age group. Thus, it is important to focus on the gamblers who would like to exclude themselves from online gambling in the UK.
The Data Shed is a Data Services firm registered in Wales and England. It has recently won a major contract with Gamstop self-exclusion scheme by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. It helps punters to self exclude themselves from online gambling platforms registered under Gamstop in the UK.
How Does Gamstop Work?
Gamstop allows gamblers to put control measures over their gambling tendencies. Once a punter signs up on Gamstop, it blocks the user from accessing all gambling applications and websites run by companies licensed under Great Britain. The self-exclusion period is chosen by the punter himself which can be 6 months, a year, or 5 years. However, the chosen period of time is irreversible and has to be fulfilled at all costs. However, Gamstop is not the sole platform for restricting punters, other applications like Gamban, Gamblock are also available.
Gamstop only blocks users from accessing UK-based platforms and cannot control overseas gambling. Thus, GamStop users can gamble on other UK casinos outside of the local self-exclusion system and UKGC rules. Gamstop is a free service and operates only in the UK. After a gambler signs up, an email is sent to the registered email id with all the gambling exclusion details and might take up to 24 hours to take effect.
The CEO of Gamstop stated that it aims at expanding its services offered to punters and Data Shed was an added advantage due to the expert knowledge of data and experience. Gamstop’s work with Data Shed has enhanced the services of Gamstop at a rapid pace. The CEO of Leeds City Council, Tom Riordan expressed his excitement for witnessing the growth of Data Shed in Leeds.
Gamstop And Data Shed
Data Shed has recently joined hands as the technology partner of Gamstop for offering support and enhancing the scheme after the 2018 Beta launch. The scheme is specifically designed to help problem gamblers include themselves in a central exclusion list.
This indicates that each time a random person registers or logs in to a UK-based casino, the operator has to check the exclusion list for confirmation that the person is not a part of the self-exclusion scheme. This entire process requires a real-time supply of data gathered from Gamstop customers to reach a conclusion. The challenge lies in disallowing registered Gamstop users from engaging in overseas online gambling activities without impacting others signed up for the scheme.
All the UK licensed casinos will have to follow new rules such as signing up for the Gamstop scheme as per the condition for a license in 2019. Ed Thewlis from The Data Shed states that the main challenge faced by them was to assemble a secure and flexible platform that allows operators to verify login by users at ease. This process is especially applicable on peak days such as Boxing Day, The Grand National where bets are made at maximum.
Data Shed – Speed, Volume, And Security
Data Shed caters to millions of data matching requests each day which includes a combination of small data, large marketing databases. Individual attempts are usually responded to in under a minute. The platform is responsible for holding sensitive personal information and thus high security is maintained within the platform design, operations, and processes. Data Shed works with AWS for providing high security which also includes employing the best technologies and working with accredited penetration testers for maximum protection.
Data Shed is proud to be a part of Gamstop and has recently carried out a load test that was able to manage around 20,000 hits each second. This leads to the conclusion that it is a safe and cost-effective environment. However, the next challenge of Data Shed is to use its matching algorithm expertise even strongly to improve customer service.
Our team stated that the majority of the punters gamble for fun and not for obsessive tendencies. Some of them need all the help they can get to improve their lifestyle and relationships. Gamstop steps in during that time to help people via self-exclusion.
