Gambling sites found illegally to share user data with meta

A recent study has revealed that several game sites have been hidden traceful visitors and transferred their data to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, without getting proper consent.

This unauthorized data transfer that appears to violate data protection legislation allows META to categorize individuals as players and target them with advertising platforms.

The investigation according to The Guardian and quotes data collected by ObserverTested 150 game sites, including online casinos, sports betting platforms and bingo pages.

Of these, it turned out that 52 automatically sent user data to Meta through the Meta Pixel tracking tool before users had the opportunity to consent to or reject data sharing.

These data contained details of the web pages and actions that were taken, such as click buttons.

Once this information was collected, users were profiled and then flooded with gaming ads across Facebook and other meta platforms.

The Observer reported that one of its investigators, after visiting gaming sites, received promotional offers from 49 different brands, including free bets, new player bonuses and high rewards incentives.

Data protection legislation requires companies to achieve explicitly user consent before collecting or sharing personal information for marketing purposes.

However, the testing revealed that data transfers emerged automatically after loading the site and bypassing user consent completely.

Government requires change (again)

Concerns about this practice have led to calls for immediate regulatory intervention.

Iain Duncan Smith, chairman of the parliamentary group with all parties on games reform, criticized the apparent legal violations stating that the use of tracking tools such as Meta Pixel without explicit user approval is a clear violation of data protection laws.

He emphasized the need for stricter enforcement and called the current legislative framework insufficient to control the gaming industry’s marketing tactics.

Privacy experts have also expressed alarms over the conclusions. Wolfie Christl, a researcher who specializes in data protection, said that sharing user data with meta without informed consent shows an obvious ignoring the law.

He added that Meta plays a complicated role in this practice by facilitating illegal data sharing and failing to enforce compliance with its own terms and conditions.

Meta displays pattern as repetition offender

This is not the first instance where Meta has been implicated in incorrect data sharing practices. In 2022, the company accepted a $ 725 million settlement. In response to a litigation on class cases on violation of data protection associated with Cambridge Analytica.

The trial, which dates from 2018, was filed after it was revealed that Facebook had allowed third -party applications to access personal user data without explicit permission.

Cambridge analytica -scandal involved a personality quiz -App, This EVERYOURDIGITALIFECreated by a Cambridge University researcher. The app harvested users’ personal data and their Facebook friends without permission, resulting in a data set of 87 million profiles.

The data was later used for political profiling and targeted advertising, which triggered widespread criticism and regulatory control.

In response to these questions, Meta implemented measures aimed at limiting third -party access to user information. It introduced a tool known as off-facebook activity that allows users to review and clear data shared with Meta on other sites.

Despite these efforts, recent revelations suggest that significant gaps remain in Meta’s enforcement of privacy policies.

Better monitoring is needed

The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioning Office (ICO) has investigated game -related data practice.

In September, ICO issued a reprimand for Sky Betting & Gaming for violating the advertising -cookie rules by collecting and using data without users’ consent.

The company attributed the question to a technical error and stated that it was resolved.

In a separate case, it was found that Sky Betting & Gaming had illegally dealt with a problem Gambler’s data that sent over 1,300 marketing -e emails despite their compulsive gaming behavior and detract from their ability to give meaningful consent.

The Supreme Court gave that the company’s actions violated data protection laws, although Sky Betting & Gaming has indicated that it is considering an appeal.

The British Gaming Commission has introduced measures to ban “cross -sale”, a practice where companies promote additional services to existing customers.

However, no current rules prevent game companies from using profiling third -party platforms such as Meta to target potential new users.

The latest conclusions have intensified demands that legislative bodies take stronger actions against privacy in the gaming industry. Critics claim that Meta’s role in facilitating illegal data sharing must be further investigated in view of its repeated involvement in privacy.

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