Gokverliesterug falls short in injunction battle against Unibet
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9 Jul 2025 •
Reading time: 3 minutes There was already a lot of fuss about viewing the gambling data at Unibet. For example, in April of last year, a player took steps to gain access to this transaction history, but at Unibet they hid behind the European privacy data and the Maltese regulations.
The court ruled that the player was within his rights and ordered Unibet’s former parent company, Trannel Limited International (based in Malta), to provide the gambling data within 14 days.
This story is not an isolated case. Former footballer Tom Beugelsdijk also wanted to gain insight into his playing behaviour and how much money he had lost before 2021. One day before the summary proceedings at the court in The Hague, he finally received this information from Unibet.
Gokverliesterug takes this issue seriously and has taken legal action on behalf of 23 players. The verdict followed on July 7.
What was the initial cause of this commotion?
In fact, the focus of these lawsuits is on the period before 2021, when Unibet was still active without a license from the Kansspelautoriteit and online gambling was not yet legalized in the Netherlands. Since Unibet was operating without a license, winnings from that period are considered illegal and they therefore refuse to provide access to gambling data.
Last April, Gokverliesterug announced that they had filed a lawsuit against Unibet because the gambling company is denying players access to their gambling data from before the legalization of online gambling. With this step, they hoped to encourage Unibet to provide this data after all.
Gokverliesterug acted on behalf of the players involved and wanted not only to obtain the right to inspect the data, but also to obtain information about who exactly is responsible for processing the data per website. Finally, Gokverliesterug also found that gambling companies were not allowed to delete data.
It has now become known that Gokverliesterug has lost the summary proceedings it had initiated against Unibet at the Amsterdam District Court.
Why did Gokverliesterug lose its summary proceedings?
The judge ruled that Gokverliesterug lost the case because the organization did not meet the strict requirements of the GDPR to file lawsuits on behalf of third parties regarding privacy rights.
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, a European law that sets rules for the protection of personal data that enables citizens to gain more control over their data and its processing by companies and organizations.
How did Unibet defend itself in this case?
They supported the European privacy law (GDPR) and believed that Gokverliesterug should not have started this lawsuit at all. This law stipulates that an organization may only act on behalf of others if they meet the following conditions: They may not have a profit motive, they must serve the public interest as an organization and are committed to protecting privacy.
According to Unibet, Gokverliesterug does not meet these requirements at all, because it is a commercial organization that collaborates with investors and tries to make a profit from lawsuits against online casinos.
The judge followed Unibet’s position. The verdict states that Gokverliesterug does not meet the strict requirements of the GPDR. As a result, the organization was declared inadmissible, which means that the judge will not look at the case in terms of content.
This means that Unibet does not have to provide access to the requested data. In addition, Gokverliesterug must reimburse the gambling company for the legal costs of approximately 5.000 euros.