On May 22, the Amsterdam District Court ruled as follows: Unibet must provide a player with access to their gambling data. The judge has imposed a penalty payment order of up to 10 000 euros on Unibet if they still decide not to do so.
What was the basis for this decision?
Last Saturday, CasinoZorgplicht released this news. This organization monitors the duty of care that a casino has as a responsibility. The duty of care includes that players who demonstrably do not have their gaming behavior under control, must be protected against themselves (and/or for the benefit of others).
It was lawyer Pepijn Le Heux who had initiated a civil GDPR petition procedure on behalf of a player. This procedure means that the prosecutor has the opportunity to obtain privacy data, when a certain party (organization, company) does not comply with requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is up to the judge assess whether a party has violated this.
The Court ruled that the player was within his rights and ordered Unibet’s former parent company Trannel Limited International to provide the betting data within two weeks. Trannel is based in Malta and was ordered to pay a penalty (of 250 euros for each day the betting company fails to provide the data) which can be as high as 10 000 euros.
Player already took action in last year’s April
This player had already taken steps to view his gambling data in April last year. But Unibet ignored that request citing European privacy rules and Maltese law.
At Unibet, they believe that they should not comply with such a request if they suspect that the information will be used to start legal proceedings. Emails included in the ruling also show that Trannel is prepared to reconsider the decision, provided that the applicant explicitly states that he will not take legal action. Lawyer Pepijn Le Heux expressed his opinion and indicates that he experiences this as blackmail.
Lawyer Pepijn Le Heux:
“It is shocking that Unibet is selectively applying the GDPR, depending on the purpose of the applicant. In other words: those who promise not to file a claim may still get their data. That is not data protection, that is blackmail.”
Another verdict will follow on July 7th
The concealment of gambling losses was already widely reported in the news because former professional footballer Tom Beugelsdijk also wanted to gain insight. One day before the summary proceedings in the District Court of The Hague, he finally received this information from Unibet.
The foundation Gokverliesterug is also taking this issue very seriously and is taking legal action on behalf of 23 players. They expect a ruling on July 7h. To be continued.