This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Nearly nine in 10 (86%) UK-licensed online gambling websites are operating in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation, according to new research from the Gambling Research, Education and Treatment (GREAT) Center at Swansea University published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior Reports. The study audited the cookie consent banners and network traffic of all 624 casino and sports betting websites licensed by the Gambling Commission.
The team found that: In a second experimental part of the study, the team tested how these designs affect behavior. A sample of 615 UK online gamblers was presented with a simulated betting website carrying one of six consent banners. The design most used across the industry made participants three to four times more likely to accept tracking than a neutral, one-click alternative.
Participants who accepted also rated their choice as a far poorer reflection of their real privacy preferences than those who rejected (4.4 out of 10, compared with 7.9), suggesting the design, rather than the user, was driving the outcome. The effect was the same regardless of participants' level of gambling risk. The researchers argue that data collected in this way underpins the personalized marketing and cross-web tracking of gambling customers and that the characteristics used to identify commercially valuable players overlap substantially with the behavioral markers of gambling harm.
The research was led by doctoral student Jack McGarrigle and supervised by Professor Simon Dymond, Dr. McGarrigle said, "We audited every licensed gambling site in the UK, and the picture was stark. Most aren't giving customers a fair choice about tracking.
Some make it a single click to accept and up to 15 to refuse. Our follow-up experiment showed this isn't incidental; it works exactly as you'd expect, nudging people toward decisions they don't actually agree with." Dymond added, "Our research shows that the data being harvested through these designs isn't neutral; it's the same kind of behavioral signal that can flag risk. Getting consent right isn't just a data protection issue for the industry; it's an important part of preventing gambling harm." Jack McGarrigle et al, Consent banners, dark patterns, and GDPR infringements in online gambling: Evidence from a systematic audit and online experiment, Computers in Human Behavior Reports (2026).
DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2026.101270 BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile → Master's in physics with research experience.
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