On the 25th of May, 2018, a new data protection legislation — the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR — was implemented in the UK and all across Europe. It was an evolutionary data protection method that demands more of organizations in terms of accountability for how they use personal data collected from individuals. It is a burden for organizations for understanding the risks that they might create for others. This is done to ensure that they are mitigating these risks GDPR is also building on foundations which were already existed for 20 years.
Many fundamentals remain the same. Transparency, accuracy, fairness, security, and data minimization are focused upon to respect the rights of the individual whose data is collected by a business. GDPR seeks to enforce these principles among all businesses strictly, including GamStop.
What Data Does GamStop Gather?
Among the numerous types of data that GamStop collects are: basic information of the gamblers like their names, email addresses, mobile numbers, date of birth, and also the residential address. However, in most cases, GamStop collects more and more data to improve its service. Customer service representatives play a major part as their main work is to extract details for various purposes. The call recordings collected serve as evidence for verification of the data collected. Massive amounts of data are collected from operators by bigger corporations of the same self-exclusion and UK casino industries.
Of course, there are casinos that are not on GameStop out there, but they are mostly not licensed by the UKGC. Thus, such casinos are not asked to share player information with GamStop of any kind whatsoever. Verification of all the data collected by GamStop is essential to avoid mistakes of any kind. Inauthentic data might lead to a degradation of the quality of service provided to the customers. Verification is done via the TransUnion database where data collected are stored safely. GamStop aims at collecting accurate data that can be stored for a long period for further use as well.
How Does GamStop Gather And Use Your Data?
GamStop has multiple ways to collect data from its users, but the major two of them include the information obtained from the phone calls received from casino players and their registration forms on the official website. Although this does not prevent persistent gamblers from finding a way to play even under self-exclusion, it is still a great option for those who would like to mitigate their gambling habits but do not know about sites outside GamStop. GamStop has proven its effectiveness in Great Britain and is a trusted software solution that users are not afraid to entrust their personal information. Below, we will take a closer look at how this self-exclusion tool gathers and uses the collected data.
Sources From Which GamStop Gathers User Data
The first and foremost is via the registration process of a casino player on GamStop. Call recordings are done via the GamStop Contact Center for service accuracy, performance monitoring, and personnel training. Phone call recording is a part of the data collection process of GamStop. When a gambler contacts GamStop to register themselves for either a period of 6 months, 1 year, or 5 years, the GamStop Contact Center comes into play. They inform the gambler that the calls they have with him will be recorded for monitoring personal progress, personal training, and providing better services as per his needs. Users get a message at the beginning of the call that their calls are recorded for the above-mentioned reasons.
Another way of collecting user data is during the online registration process. This is done with TransUnion for determining whether the data gathered is genuine. GamStop obtains large amounts of data into the database. TransUnion asks questions and queries to the punter during the registration process. They check the correspondence of reply with its database and GamStop informs the user and then proceeds with the self-exclusion registration.
How Your Data Is Used?
GamStop collects data and shares it with the service providers like Data Shed which handles the IT, SendInBlue which handles emails, Connect Assist which handles consumer service, TransUnion handles identity verification and Zendesk which handles case management. It is also circulated to Microsoft which handles software, Citrix, and Nexus IT. This data also goes to the gambling operators regulated by the UKGC from banning access to these platforms.
Every punter must fulfil their self-exclusion period before accessing casinos in the UK. Even after that, GamStop might keep the data as it is officially legal even if the punters agree or disagree. This is done due to protective reasons for keeping track of the future. GamStop users might return later on or might need help again. The UKGC also has access to the data and the research outlets might have access too.
Is It Possible To Get Around GamStop Data Collection?
There is only one way to prevent GamStop from collecting the personal data of the users – not to participate in this self-exclusion program. If you have registered at GamStop, your information will be inside its database for 7 years after your period ends.
But there are some ways to bypass your personal data usage. You can avoid registering at GamStop casinos so that your data in GamStop database will not be accessed. This is the main reason why some users are seeking ways to get around GamStop – data privacy. Of course, this will not delete players’ information but will stop UK casino operators from accessing the gamblers’ personal details.
Conclusion
The sole reason behind GamStop collecting and sharing user data with UK-based casinos is to check if punters try to gamble irrespective of GamStop registration. The aim is to block gamblers who have voluntarily signed up on GamStop in order to improve their gambling addiction tendencies. All the collected private data is protected and stored safely on the company’s servers.
However, GDPR has stringent norms to protect individual data which clashes with GamStop rules. Punters are restricted from UK-based casinos but they can access offshore or land-based casinos. To protect themselves from gambling harm, they might also join SENSE, and register themselves on Gamban and Gamblock to benefit themselves rightfully.
