Following the first speech by GamProtect Chair of the Board and Gamesys Operations Managing Director Kane Purdy, Gambling Commission Executive Director of Research and Policy Tim Miller took to the stage of GamProtect’s launch event on Wednesday 11 September.
The event – which was announced earlier this month – follows swiftly after Grainne Hurst was officially appointed as CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council, a key body in facilitating GamProtect’s development.
Taking to the stage, Miller began by noting how GamProtect has “the potential to make a real difference” for operators and players. The Gambling Commission launched the “single customer view challenge in 2020,” with the aim of creating a collaborative system for player safety monitoring between participating operators.
Naturally, one of the first hurdles faced by the project was to form a sound legal basis – something critical when looking into player data and player privacy. Finding a way for “consumer data [to] be used in this way without breaking data protection laws” was crucial for GamProtect.
GamProtect is your opportunity to be ahead of the curve... on something that may become a requirement – Miller speaking to UK operators
Miller noted how operators have felt “hamstrung” by not having insight into player safety beyond their own operations (especially as the average UK bettor has multiple accounts).
GamProtect uses a flagging system, a flag that players volunteer to give, to identify risk, providing a “holistic view” on the harms faced by players.
The system “doesn’t require huge amounts of transactional data” for flagged players, instead only holding basic information like names and date of birth. In the time since its April launch, “5,527 players identified as of yesterday,” with “66% matched by at least two operators”
While participation in the system is voluntary, “GamProtect is your opportunity to be ahead of the curve... on something that may become a requirement,” said Miller, referencing the UK White Paper and its connection to the GamProtect project.
The project is a “combination of four years of work and collaboration” and has already kept players away from harm.
