The gambling company secretly tracks visitors to the website and sends data to Facebook’s parent company without agreeing to its clear violation of data protection law.
The information is then used by Facebook owner Meta to profile people as gamblers and flood them with ads for casinos and betting sites, allowing observers to reveal. Hidden tracking tools embedded in dozens of UK gambling websites extract visitor data (such as details of web pages and click buttons displayed) are shared with social media companies .
By law, data must be used and shared for marketing purposes only. This will obtain explicit permission from the user on the website where the tool is built into it. However, tests by observers of 150 gambling sites, including virtual casinos, sports betting sites and online bingo, have found widespread violations of the rules.
This weekend, Ian Duncan Smith, the conservative chairman of the All-Parliamentary Group on Gambling Reform, called for “immediate intervention.” He states: “Using tools such as Metapixel without express consent appears to be a complete violation of the law and should be stopped immediately. Marketing practices in the gambling industry are currently out of control; Our regulatory structure and code of practice have been shown to be inadequate repeatedly, and this cannot be continued.”
“We’ve seen a lot of effort into this world,” said Wolfie Christl, a data privacy expert who has researched the advertising technology industry.
“Meta is an accomplice and must be accountable. It benefits from promoting problematic and illegal data practices in clients and rather than seriously enforcing its terms and conditions. Using the Terms of Use as a shield, it looks systematically in the opposite direction.”
Of the 150 websites tested by the observer, 52 shared data were automatically shared via meta pixel tracking tools without explicit consent, according to analyses of network traffic. Sites that have been found to send data to Facebook without permission include Hollywoodbets, Sporting Index, Bwin, Lottoland, 10bet, and Bet442.
Data transfer occurred automatically when loading a web page. Then people clicked to agree or declined to marketing. At the time of testing, the reporter agreed to the use of the data for marketing purposes.
Over the next few days, they were attacked by Facebook ads on gambling websites and showed that they were featured by Meta as someone interested in gambling as a result of illegal data sharing.
In a single browsing session, gambling ads were displayed from 49 brands. This also showed not only websites that illegally shared data, but also other websites. This included betting companies that were unaware of illegal data sharing and had their own use of Metapicle within the rules.
The offer included a free bet, a “new player offer” with a 200% bonus, and an opportunity to “win up to 5,000 times the bet”;
Details of data sharing and profiling come as a result of a demand for more extensive research into gambler targeting. In September, the Information Committee (ICO) issued a responsibilities to Bonne Terre Ltd, which trades as Sky Betting & Gaming, in order to illegally process people’s data through advertising cookies without consent. The brand said at the time it regretted the “technical error.”
As Observer reported last week, in another case, Sky Betting & Gaming collected hundreds of thousands of data on problem gamblers who were sent over 1,300 marketing emails. The High Court found the data to be illegally used and found that the obsessive nature of men’s gambling impairs their ability to give consent. The company has made significant changes since its claimant experience in 2017-19, but it said it “fun’t agreed to the ruling” and is considering appeals.
The Gambling Commission has announced measures to ban businesses from cross-selling targeting existing customers in advertising for other parts of their business. However, there is nothing to prevent brands trying to rely on third-party profiling such as Meta to rely on brands seeking to recruit new customers.
Meta did not comment on the Observer’s findings but pointed out the terms of use. This provides that businesses must obtain consent before sending data. “We educate advertisers about setting up business tools properly,” the spokesman said.
“It is important that gambling companies and online platforms act legally and see evidence of ongoing illegal practices,” said liberal Democrat Pea Don Foster, fellow chairman of gambling reform. is concerned,” said Professor Heather Wardle, a gambling research specialist at the University of Glasgow. If gambling is already difficult, you may bet more on gambling. ”
Observers have previously reported misuse of metapixel in other sectors. This includes the NHS trusts that incorrectly shared sensitive health data. The ICO conducted a “broad review” of tracking pixels that need to be used “pretty, legally, transparently” last year, including “not hesitate” to take enforcement action when necessary. He said. Fines up to £500,000. “Frequently, there is a lack of accountability for the way these tools collect and use people’s personal information, and there is a less transparent and deceptive design,” the spokesman said.
After being contacted by observers, some gambling operators updated their website to prevent automatic data sharing. Or, I removed the Meta Pixel tool completely.
Bwin Bwin, a former sponsor of Real Madrid and the UEFA Europa League, shared data on people visiting the promotional page with a free bet of £20. Data sharing automatically occurred when the website was loaded without consent.
Analyses and opinions on news and culture of the week brought to you by the best observer writers
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising, and content funded by external parties. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy. We use Google Recaptcha to protect our website and the application of Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
After the newsletter promotion
A Bwin spokesperson said: “Due to internal errors, the promotion page was not fully consistent with other group sites. We are committed to making sure that personal data is properly processed and that we are taking immediate action to correct the issue. I am deeply committed to ensuring it.”
26 websites operating under Gambling Group AG Communications license appeared to automatically share data without express consent, including BET442, King Casino, 666 Casino, and 24Spin . The representative said compliance with that obligation has become very serious.
Hollywood Bet, another company sponsoring Premier League club Brentford, offers website visitors the option to share data with “social media, advertising and analytics partners” and “allow everything” We have provided an agreement banner to inform you of this.
However, the observer test showed that even if the person did not click (accept), the data would still be shared with the meta, including the details of the page where the data was displayed and the buttons that he clicked.
The person then appeared on a Facebook ad for Hollywoodbets, and Meta’s activity log showed that the data was received from the website. A representative for Hollywoodbets said he complies with all regulatory requirements but declined to comment further.
Lottoland said it had 20 million customers but declined to comment. Its website includes banners that appear to offer people the option to “reject” or “not essential” tracking. However, observers’ testing revealed that it sent data to the meta before website visitors showed their choice.
The Sporting Index and 10bet did not respond to requests for comment.
The industry’s leading Betting and Game Council said: “Ads must adhere to strict guidelines, and safer gambling messages will be displayed regularly and prominently. Previous governments say that research between exposure to advertising and development of problematic gambling He said he has not established a causal relationship.”
The Gambling Committee, which regulates betting companies, said: “Operators should focus on collecting and using data to attract customs in a legal and data protection law-compliant way, preventing gambling harm. The question is an ICO issue.”
Flutter, which offers ads on Facebook, owns several brands that did not illegally share data with Meta, said they “we always acted properly and always got consent.”
BET365 declined to comment, but is understood to refuse to set up marketing campaigns that specifically target users of other gambling websites. No other advertisers commented.
