What Data Is Used To Run Gamstop?
Gamstop self-exclusion scheme introduced by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission has gained immense popularity in the UK.
The aim is to register and restrict oneself from accessing all betting platforms and casinos inside the network, but it can’t stop players from using casino sites that aren’t on GamStop exclusion based in the United Kingdom and outside it. Information regarding the treatment of data collected by individuals is important for avoiding liability under the data protection legislation since it possesses an immense amount of data.
Why Is Data Collected?
In order to fulfil the goal of Gamstop and lessen the odds of a contract breach under the terms of use, it is necessary to identify all participants and users associated with the scheme. The identification process is done through the data collected for a gambler’s registration. It is also utilized by Gamstop services for amplifying the functions of the service.
Personal data gathered from gamblers via personal interaction, contact with family and friends helps to meet the objectives of the scheme. Gathering personal data from punters while signing up is mandatory and helps to effectively meet the expectations of the client for coming out of gambling addiction. Personal data gathered comprises of :
- Full Name and Surname of the client
- Date of birth of the punter
- The mobile number which would form a part of the self-exclusion process
- Email address of the client
All these data gathered from gamblers are secured by Gamstop via complex and sophisticated technical measures. Gamstop hashes personal data and exchanges them with service partners through secure API links. However, Gamstop cannot access the data if punters choose to access overseas casinos that are not under Gamstop since they have no link to the National scheme and are not bound to follow UKGC regulations.
How Is The Data Collected?
The aforementioned data gathered from gamblers are obtained during the registration process of the user on Gamstop. Data collection is done in multiple ways:
Call recording of gamblers is done by The Gamstop Contact Centre for personnel training, performance monitoring, and service accuracy. However, this is only done after the contact centre sends a message to the user at the beginning of the call to inform them that calls to them are recorded.
Online registration verification where the data provided by users are verified via a concert with Transunion for determining the authenticity of the information. Gamstop can obtain data from a large representation of punters which is sent to the Transunion database and is verified by asking certain questions during the registration process. Gamstop accordingly informs the users of the match after checking the correspondence of the replies given by users.
Data sent by iGaming companies to the Gamstop matching service which is further compared to the personal data provided by Gamstop users. Operators participating under Gamstop have to mandatorily carry out this process in order to restrain users who have signed up on Gamstop to aid their gambling tendencies.
What Happens When Data Does Not Match?
Like other systems, there lies a probability of incorrect processing of data of punters who did not sign up for the services offered by Gamstop. To minimize these circumstances, Gamstop has partnered with a DataShed Software company based in Leeds, UK.
Gamstop has imposed a strategy to avoid incorrect matching of individuals who have not signed up for self-exclusion. This is done by storing the personal data of punters for future use with such compliance in its system that it can prevent the exclusion of such punters by gambling operators in the future.
Gamstop Data Retention
Personal data of Gamstop users are saved by Gamstop for varying periods of time depending upon the purpose of such data collection. Personal information related to customers who were not successful for registration completion, any information already fed in are kept for a month (30 days). For exceptional cases, such data can be kept for 7 years as they get added to the case management system of Gamstop. Sensitive data of users who have successfully registered for self-exclusion are retained for a period of 7 years, after which it gets deleted.
Summing Up
GamStop offers a database with user data to UK-based casinos to check if punters have registered on Gamstop. The aim is to block punters who have voluntarily signed up to come out of their gambling addiction. However, that does not restrict punters from accessing land-based casinos and overseas casinos. To exclude themselves from gambling harm, UK gamblers also have the option to join SENSE, download and register on applications like Gamblock and Gamban.
