This morning, the ICO revealed that following an investigation, it had concluded that Sky Bet had processed personal data through advertising cookies without providing users’ consent.
The investigation was launched following a complaint submitted to the ICO by gambling reform campaigners Clean Up Gambling.
The complaint, which was publicised by the Financial Times and Daily Mail, accused Sky Bet of illegally gathering data to build “detailed and intimate profiles of individuals, often without their knowledge.”
Clean Up Gambling’s complaint demanded that the ICO investigate whether Sky Bet was deliberately using personal data without consent to target vulnerable gamblers – “such profiles include indicators of personal vulnerability and addictive behaviours, which can then be used to target the most vulnerable.”
The ICO investigation found that..