Poll results: Bookies should fear spyware investigation

Operators using iovation’s iesnare tracking tool should be concerned by the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) decision to investigate how it is being used, according to the results of this week’s EGR Intel poll.

Last week, the ICO revealed that, following complaints from punters, Totesport and Sky Bet had been using iesnare, a piece of software which can be downloaded onto customers’ computers.

While a wider pool of bookmakers are thought to be using iesnare, both Totesport and Sky Bet said the ‘cookie’ was used to identify customers by device, which can help them detect instances of fraud.

However, customers argue iesnare is being placed on laptops and PCs without explicit permission and also believe it is being used to monitor their online activity, with resulting data used for risk profiling purposes.

Indeed, a lawyer speaking to EGR Intel under the cloak of anonymity said iesnare could be used to “spot good gamblers and bad gamblers”, enabling them to close the accounts of the costly and increase marketing to the profitable.

And with ICO recently launching an investigation into the use of iesnare, 62% of respondents to this week’s poll said bookies should be concerned by the probe.

However, the remaining 38% believed bookmakers shouldn’t lose any sleep over the ICO inquiry, a stance which Olswang lawyer Anna Soilleux-Mills agreed with.

“Provided that operators give clear and comprehensive information about their use of cookies and obtain consent to set the cookie, there is nothing remotely illegal about such use,” Soilleux-Mills said.

“This is making a complete mountain out of a molehill,” she added. “I would be very surprised if any of the gambling operators are overly concerned.”