What do gambling sites do with my personal data, and what can I do about it?

In 2019, a Statistica poll showed that almost a third of the UK population gamble once a week. A further fifth of the country said they gambled twice a week or more. However you look at it, the gambling industry is massive: with more than 30 million online gambling accounts currently active in the UK. Gambling sites, like other online businesses, collect a lot of personal data, and with an industry this big it’s worth knowing what those sites do with your information.

Perhaps you or someone you care about uses gambling sites, or perhaps you're just curious. Either way, it's good to know what gambling websites do with all of the (often very sensitive) information that they collect. And most importantly, what you can do about it.

So, what do they do with it all? While many gambling companies handle personal data similarly, there are some key differences. We've researched how the most popular gambling companies use your information, so you don't have to.

Remember, if you'd like to delete your data from gambling companies, you can with Rightly for free here.

Betfair’s Privacy Policy

What data does Betfair collect?

Betfair collects a lot of information about its users when they sign up for an account, or when they use the service. This kind of information includes:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Postal address
• Payment information
• Location data
• IP address and device information
• Your activity on their site (e.g. how much you bet, what you click)
• Your messages through their site

Betfair also collects some information indirectly. If you link your account with your Facebook profile, for example, Facebook shares some of your profile details with Betfair.

How does Betfair use my data?

Betfair explains its collection of your data on their privacy policy, listing a number of ways they put it to use. These ways include:

• Account setup and management
• Personalisation of content on their site
• Personalisation of marketing materials they send to you
• Analyse and improve their site
• Provide information to their advertisers
• To fulfil legal obligations (e.g. related to criminal proceedings)
• Fraud detection and prevention
• Share information with trusted third-parties

Delete my data from Betfair

Ladbrokes’s Privacy Policy

What data does Ladbrokes collect?

Ladbrokes are super specific in their privacy policy about the personal information they collect. The kind of data they gather includes:

• Name
• Age
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Email or postal address
• Phone number
• Payment information
• Location data
• IP address and device information
• Your activity on their site (e.g. how much you bet, what you click)
• Your messages through their site
• Health information
• Criminal record

How does Ladbrokes use my data?

Again, Ladbrokes are pretty clear about how they use the data they collect. The site uses your information for a number of purposes, including:

• Account set-up and management
• Personalisation of content on their site
• Personalisation of marketing materials they send to you
• To analyse and improve their site
• To provide information to their advertisers
• Fraud detection and prevention

Ladbrokes are explicit about the fact that they “build a profile of you, your preferences and your habits to better understand your interests”. This kind of profile, built for marketing purposes, is always important to bear in mind when you’re thinking about how and whether to manage your data online.

Delete my data from Ladbrokes

Bet365’s Privacy Policy

What data does Bet365 collect?

Like other betting companies, Bet365 collects a lot of data about its users. The kinds of data Bet365 collect include:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Postal address
• Payment information
• Location data
• IP address and device information
• Your activity on their site (e.g. how much you bet, what you click)
• Your messages through their site

Bet365 also note in their privacy policy that they collect information about you from other sources, such as common internet searches, Companies House, broadcast media and/or public social media profiles.

How does Bet365 use my data?

Bet365 explains some of the reasons they collect your data in their privacy policy. Some of the ways the site uses your data include:

• Delivering their services
• Analysing and improving their site operations
• Managing customer accounts
• Personalising content on their site
• Personalising marketing they send you
• Giving performance information to partner advertisers
• To fulfil legal obligations (e.g. related to criminal proceedings)
• Fraud detection and prevention
• Share information with trusted third-parties

N.B. ‘trusted third-parties’ does not necessarily mean that consumers would agree that they’re trustworthy.

Delete my data from Bet365

William Hill’s Privacy Policy

What data does William Hill collect?

William Hill gives an itemised list of all the personal data they collect on you. They’re pretty comprehensive about it, and the list includes:

• Name and title
• Date of birth (DOB)
• Telephone number
• IP address
• Email and postal address
• Your betting and gaming activity
• Information on source of funds
• Your marketing preferences
• Occupation
• Payment information

How does William Hill use my data?

William Hill uses your data in a number of ways. Some of them are particularly important, and you should be aware of their implications for your privacy online. William Hill uses you data for:

• Providing the betting service they offer
• Managing their users’ accounts
• Collecting data to analyse and optimise their website
• Provide information to their advertisers
• To fulfil legal obligations (e.g. related to criminal proceedings)
• Fraud detection and prevention
• Share information with trusted third-parties

Delete my data from William Hill

Betfred’s Privacy Policy

What data does Betfred collect?

Lastly, Betfred. Betfred don’t actually give a definitive list of the kind of data they collect, instead opting to show the contexts in which they collect that data. We picked out a general list of the kinds of personal data they collect:

• Name
• Email and postal address
• Telephone number
• Your betting and gaming activity
• Payment information
• Use of their site and interaction with ads

Betfred are also clear that they “carry out profiling of you and your activity in relation to our services so we can tailor marketing communications to better suit your interests”, and also note that they collect public domain and social media information about you too.

How does Betfred use my data?

Betfred collects your data for a number of purposes, including for:

• Account setup and management
• Personalisation of content on their site
• Personalisation of marketing materials they send to you
• To analyse and improve their site
• To provide information to their advertisers
• To fulfil legal obligations (e.g. related to criminal proceedings)
• Fraud detection and prevention

Delete my data from Betfred

The betting industry is pretty concentrated

One key thing to point out is that the betting industry in the UK is quite concentrated -- this means that a few large companies own the majority of betting companies and websites. Flutter Stars Group, for example, owns Paddy Power, Betfair, SkyBet, PokerStars, and others, and this means information can be shared pretty freely across those platforms.

What can I do gambling sites using my data?

It’s clear that if you use a gambling site they’re likely to collect, store, and share quite a significant amount of your personal details. However Betfair, Ladbrokes, and many other companies all make it clear in their Privacy Policies that users can exert their rights in a number of ways. While they state this, many people often feel that they've given away too much information without being properly informed. Or, that they don't have a way of finding out what the gambling companies know about them, or a way of deleting that information. Helping you deal with situations like this is exactly why we created Rightly, to make data fairer for everyone.

You can request your information from gambling companies or delete your data from them for free. Or, if you have any questions, get in touch with our customer support team.

How can I delete my data from gambling sites?

Remember, you have the legal right to delete all of your personal information a company holds about you. This is due to your 'right to be forgotten' under GDPR law. It's easy to exercise this by sending a 'deletion request' to any company (or gambling website) of your choice through Rightly here.

Let us know how you get on, and please do get in touch if we can help in any way - we'd love to hear from you.