What Does GDPR Mean for Online Casinos?
Published June 7, 2018 by Ivan P
There's been a lot of hype about GDPR and how it would affect online casinos, but is there really a reason to be overly concerned about these new rules?
Everyone who has any kind of presence on the internet has probably heard (repeatedly) about GDPR. The new General Data Protection Regulation introduced in the European Union came into force on May 25 and it introduced some important changes in terms of how companies are supposed to gather, process, and utilize the personal data collected from their customer.
Being in an industry heavily dependent on the said data, online casinos have, naturally, been affected by these changes. However, the real question is, how big of a role will GDPR play moving forward and will it have a profound effect on the online casino business?
Logistics and Transparency
One thing that's often been said about GDPR is that it is a real logistics nightmare, especially for smaller companies. This is because the Regulation requires certain mechanisms in place to ensure the data protection and the full transparency. Namely, players are entitled to access to their data at all times and the casino must be able to provide them to them in a standard machine format such as XLS or CVS file.
Talking about transparency, it shouldn't really affect online casinos that have been operating an honest business before as it only ensures the data gathered and kept by the company is revealed to the customer and the customer (player) has the right to know who has access to this information. Casinos can still use the info for the purposes of marketing and analysis to improve their businesses.
Erasure and Retention
One thing that is probably good for the players and not so good for the casinos is the fact GDPR introduces the right to erasure, meaning players have the right to ask the casino to close their account and remove any personal data stored on their servers. Once this happens, the player is pretty much lost to the casino.
What this means is that casinos will probably have to put more thought and effort into retention because every player is valuable and with new regulations it will be much easier to lose them for good. In the end, however, this can only be a good thing for everyone, as it will push the industry forward to come up with even better promos and take better care for the players. Happier players are much better for the casinos in the long run as well.
Nothing to Dread
Although there's been a lot of hype in the months leading to GDPR, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. The new set of rules might be somewhat demanding from the logistics point of view but other than this, it shouldn't really be a big blow for online casinos at all. Once the initial adjustment period is over it will probably help create an even more enjoyable and transparent environment, which is something the industry as a whole should be aiming for anyways.
