There are some very unhappy players this week, after Unibet has decided to hand out customer data to the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT), for use in their upcoming study on problem gambling and its causes.
Although the small print of their terms and conditions stipulates that they can hand out information when requested, this usually only applies to governmental agencies, not study groups. The move is likely to be met with fierce opposition by Unibet’s players, and seen as a betrayal of trust.
Unibet is reportedly set to offer information on its players’ habits from their online bingo, casino, poker, and sports betting websites. The study itself will be carried out by Sophro Ltd, and is the third such period of study in an 18-month window.
The study aims to discover the causes of problem gambling, and aim to minimise the damage it does. Without Unibet’s cooperation, it is believed that the study would have had a great deal of difficulty in landing player data. This may be taken as a sign that many other operators refused to dish out their customers’ data, as you would expect.
As mentioned, the move is likely to infuriate fans and clients at Unibet Casino, and it is not immediately clear what their response is to be. The mot betrayed fans are likely to cease playing at the online casino, whilst some may take more serious measures, and complain to the casino, bingo, poker, and sports betting website itself.
Although this is not the first time that such a thing has happened in the online gambling community, released player data for surveys and studies is incredibly rare, due to its unpopularity. Although Unibet won’t be handing out individual player names, and banking information, they are still handing out data relevant to players, and to many this is already bad enough.
