The general data protection regulation (GDPR) and its effects on Maltese gaming entities

Abstract

On 25th May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enforced. The iGaming Industry was just one of the many different industries that were effected in a number of different ways. The scope of this dissertation was to recognise some of the key challenges that the iGaming Industry has passed through, also to understand what certain iGaming Companies did to overcome these challenges. Lastly to also gather an opinion on what future challenges related to GDPR will come about. A number of iGaming Companies were interviewed, small and large to be able to get a better perspective of the whole image. Not only iGaming Companies were interviewed but also the IDPC, the MGA, a lawyer, an ex-DPO and an individual from the iGaming Tuition Centre. In total 13 interviewees were questioned and asked several questions about this topic in relation to the iGaming Industry. The necessary data and material was researched from peer-viewed secondary data sources, and also from online resources such as data protection authority’s websites. The methodology was that of a qualitative ones and semi-structured interviews formed a critical part of this study. After analysing the transcripts of the interviews by making use of Thematic Analysis, the author derived 8 different themes and 25 different sub-themes. These themes not only formed part of the challenges faced, but also what they’ve done to overcome these challenges and what issues might be in store for the future of GDPR. The findings showed that GDPR had affected the company in a large variety of ways, from the culture of the employees to the actual organisation’s I.T. Infrastructure, by increasing security standards such as encryption, to allow personal data to be shared within the company in a secure manner.