A High Court judge has determined that Sky Betting & Gaming unlawfully used a customer’s personal data to deliver targeted marketing
A High Court judge has ruled that Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) unlawfully processed a customer’s personal data to deliver targeted marketing materials over a historical period.
Justice Rowena Collins Rice delivered her decision on January 23, concluding that the customer, referred to as “RTM,” had not given valid consent for using his data in this manner.
Seeking Compensation
The case concerning claimant RTM and Bonne Terre was initially heard in November.
RTM, whose claim was funded by 3-Card poker inventor Derek Webb, was represented by legal consultancy AWO.
The latter accused the operator of relying on third-party cookies to analyze his client’s gambling behavior and send customized marketing offers that made his compulsive gambling problems worse.
According to RTM, this triggered significant harm and distress and eventually led to his decision to seek compensation.
While Justice Collins Rice did not address compensation in her ruling, she confirmed that SBG’s data practices during the specified period violated the law.
RTM Took Out 13 Loans to Keep Gambling
RTM’s gambling history dates back to 2009, with an SBG account opened in 2010. Between 2013 and 2016, he took out 13 commercial loans to support his gambling.
Although his SBG account was closed and reopened multiple times, his claim focuses on activities between early 2017 and early 2019, when he was using as many as 40 betting sites.
During that period, RTM deposited over £31,000 ($38,500) into his SBG account, with significant monthly losses, including £3,292 ($4,092) in August 2018.
SBG suspended his account in January 2019 due to safer gambling concerns.
The Ruling, Not to Be Used As a Precedent
RTM’s main allegation was that the British-based gambling company owned by Flutter Entertainment used cookies to harvest transactional data without obtaining proper consent.
He argued that while SBG could use his data to process bets and comply with regulations, it could not lawfully employ cookies for profiling, predictive analytics, or personalized marketing.
RTM also asserted that SBG processed sensitive health-related data linked to gambling addiction without consent.
SBG countered these claims, stating that RTM had agreed to cookie usage and marketing communications by accepting website notices and GDPR updates.
However, RTM claimed he was not in a sound state of mind due to his gambling addiction and did not fully understand or recall consenting to these terms.
Justice Collins Rice agreed with RTM, stating: “Judgment is given for the claimant on the issues of obtaining his personal data through the use of cookies for purposes of targeted direct marketing without his operative consent, and of targeted direct marketing to him by email without his operative consent.”
However, the High Court judge explained the ruling should not be used as a precedent for the global gambling community, which has since improved its data protection practices.
A spokesperson for Sky Betting & Gaming commented that they “fundamentally disagree” with the judgment and “will be considering an appeal.”
They added that their number one priority was protecting their customers, which is why they have made important changes to their controls and procedures in the past six years.
The company that is home to Sky Bet, Sky Vegas, Sky Casino, and Sky Poker, plus the UK’s most popular free-to-play sports games,
Last August, we reported a similar case in which FanDuel was sued for allegedly using privacy-violating software to track anonymous users.
