GamProtect Launch Event - Tim Miller speech
13 September 2024
This speech was delivered by executive director Tim Miller at the GamProtect Launch Event on 11 September 2024.
Please note: This is the speech as drafted and may slightly differ from the delivered version.
Thank you Wes and thank you everyone for attending today. I think you will already have realised this from what we heard before the break, but today’s event has the potential to make a real difference for both your companies and your customers.
It is now over four years since we all started talking about what we then referred to as a ‘Single Customer View’. The Commission asked industry to collectively explore what was possible. Challenging you and ourselves to work with the ICO to develop something that could protect consumers from harm whilst also protecting their data.
The Commission launched that ‘challenge’ at an event with over a hundred people from across the industry and wider sector, collaborating on what could be achieved.
Since then, BGC and the operators involved have made substantial and significant progress.
Thousands of people have already seen interventions as a result of GamProtect, that would otherwise have been at risk of experiencing serious harms. And that is just during these early stages of development.
And I am here to say that the progress made by BGC and the team at GamProtect now means we are in a position to encourage more operators to come forward and sign up to the scheme.
But why is that the case? How did we get to this point and why should you have the same confidence in the future role that GamProtect can play?
Following the launch of what was the Single Customer View challenge, back in 2020, the Commission, Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) began the important process of finding a sound legal basis not too long afterwards. This took some time and rightfully so. Ever since the idea of what would become GamProtect was first discussed, there have been plenty of questions asked about how secure people’s data would be. These concerns have been felt across the board as well, from operators to safer gambling campaigners and of course consumers concerned about their own privacy. So it was fundamental to the project that a sound legal basis was found with the ICO, demonstrating that consumers data could be used in this way to protect them from risk without breaching data protection laws or risking their data being shared inappropriately.
Working together, that key milestone was cleared last year and since then, GamProtect has been able to prove the concept through the Pilot, making important progress and helping protect consumers from risk.
And that is an important point that should give everyone confidence as well. Collaboration has been at the heart of the project throughout. The Gambling Commission recognises that often we can make quicker progress towards safer gambling by working with industry and others than we often can alone. And as with other challenges and projects in the past, that is the case with GamProtect. Collaborative working has made it possible and we are sure that the future GamProtect will be stronger through collaboration too.
But for collaboration to work, it relies on all of us. And that is where those of you who are yet to engage have as much a part to play as those who have done so already. Now is the time for everyone to get involved.
At the Commission we often hear operators tell us that they are hamstrung by not having sight of levels of risk to consumers outside of their own business. GamProtect can help you all fill that blind spot. Where an operator has closed a customer’s account after identifying a customer that has self-declared a very serious marker of health related gambling harm, the system allows for that operator to share that decision by a flag through the system with other participating operators.
The concept behind the GamProtect solution is focused on this. Based on flag sharing risks between operators, it does so without sharing any further details about a consumer, with protections in place to stop anyone gaining an unfair competitive advantage from that shared flag. This system is now a proven way for operators to see a more holistic view of the risk of serious harm to their customers in a proportionate way.
But does this system meet the initial challenge we set industry back in 2020?
The original challenge goal was to reduce risk of harm by providing a holistic view of the risk of harm to consumers and for it to be delivered in a proportionate manner. So how does GamProtect match up to that?
From a starting point, the GamProtect concept does not require huge volumes of transactional data to be shared and analysed, it simply flags where it is appropriate to do so. And as I have already said a couple of times, GamProtect is already live, with the four largest operator groups. It also had extensive dry run trials ahead of going live. This in-depth, detailed testing and piloting provides assurance the tech works as intended.
And it is already showing results too.
GamProtect has already identified 5527 consumers to date, helping protect them from risk and serious harm. Of these consumers 88 percent were matched by at least one operator, and 66 percent by at least two.
Today you will hear plenty more about how GamProtect works and how it can improve outcomes for you and your customers.
We at the Commission are very pleased with the progress that has been made to date. We can also see the opportunities for it expand, with more operators signing up, and the potential for it to continue to strengthen in the future and incorporate other serious markers of harm.
Up until now GamProtect has been completely focussed on the more extreme, self-declared markers of harm. This has worked during its trial and early implementation stages. These were the consumers, at the most risk of life changing harms who should have been prioritised. And with relatively small numbers of them, it has made a for a good way of testing the tech. We understood this approach and are pleased its worked.
But, in common with other play protection tools like GamStop, from the Commission’s perspective, we always need to be looking for how we can build upon success and continue to show that Britain is an innovator in harm reduction.
But before we can even consider the future development of GamProtect further, wider participation from operators is necessary. The views of operators outside of the development group are needed to drive this on. So we encourage those who have not yet done so to engage with GamProtect and BGC to begin the onboarding process. Share in the benefits that your consumers could receive now. Be a part in shaping the future of this important tool. You will have our support in doing so.
Hopefully what you have already heard today from myself, Grainne and Kane will have gone some way to persuading you that onboarding at this time is the right thing for your business and for your customers. And there will be more to come throughout today. But whilst I think this is an appealing carrot, as the regulator, I am sure you all understand why I need to mention the potential of a stick too.
A solution to the challenge that GamProtect seeks to meet is referenced within the 2023 White Paper. GamProtect is the best opportunity to collaborate on the solution to that challenge voluntarily. But the White Paper was clear that the options of mandating a solution would be also be considered. I think this could especially be the case if participation by operators does not increase. GamProtect is your opportunity to be ahead of the curve and shape something that could, in the future, become a requirement.
So I will wrap it up there. The Commission supports GamProtect and we support you getting involved. Within the room today we have a number of Commission colleagues who can answer your questions and talk to you in further detail about our role in GamProtect up to now. And I am happy to answer any questions you have right now too.
Today’s event is a key moment in the development of GamProtect. It is the culmination of four years of work and collaboration. Its' legal basis has been secured with the ICO. It is already helping people avoid harm. Now is the time to get involved. So thank you for being here today and I look forward to seeing how GamProtect progresses with you involved.
Thank you.
Last updated: 13 September 2024
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