Investigation reveals scale of behavioural surveillance by online gambling firms

This investigation lays out the scale and depth of behavioural surveillance and data practices used by online gambling operators. It provides extensive information about the scope of the data flows and the web of third-party companies that receive that data to build detailed and intimate profiles of individuals, often without their knowledge. Such profiles include indicators of personal vulnerability and addictive behaviours, which can then be used to target the most vulnerable. Such targeted messaging needs to be seen in the context of the human impact in online gambling, where: “The gambling industry spends £1.5 billion a year on advertising, and 60% of its profits come from the 5% who are already problem gamblers, or are at risk of becoming so.”