Massachusetts Finalizes New Sports Betting Data Privacy Regulations
Massachusetts regulators have finalized a set of rules covering sports betting operators’ data-privacy obligations. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) agreed to several clarifications to its regulations, which were originally adopted in August 2023. To allow for questions to be raised about the new rules, sports betting operators were granted waivers until June 2024, at which point they will be required to comply with the measures.
The final round of changes to the regulations included clarifying that operators could use personal information for necessary commercial purposes, for instance in the event of a merger or acquisition. The rules also prohibit operators from using confidential information to promote certain types of bets to individuals based on “any computerized algorithm, automated decision-making, machine learning, [or] artificial intelligence.” The MGC views these tools as potentially contributing to making sports betting more addictive for certain consumers.
Another amendment clarifies that individualized data can be used to promote responsible gaming practices.
The rules provide for patron rights to access their personal information being held by an operator and to require that their information be deleted when it is no longer required to be retained by applicable law or judicial order.
An Occasional Editorial Comment
We have decided to spice up our Updates with occasional editorial comments – this one from practice chair, Behnam Dayanim.
The Washington Post, in an April 11 editorial, focused on recent scandals involving sports leagues and sports betting. The editorial decried the “pernicious” expansion of mobile bets and micro-wagers and the gaming industry’s purported resistance to “virtually all proposals for regulation.”
The paper called for a number of federal measures to address what it sees as these problems.
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