Ibia: New Standards for Data Protection

Supply chain transparency required

A number of regulatory authorities, for example the MGA (Malta Gaming Authority) or Spelinspektionen (Sweden), are currently fighting against betting manipulation. Now the IBIA is also mobilizing: The international body for betting integrity has presented a body of new industry standards that are intended to contribute to the integrity of sports and bookmakers. The focus is on the fields of data and consumer protection.

A large part of the new standards relate to the logging of business transactions and the traceability of the data sets made available to betting providers. Since there is a general lack of regulation in both fields, a high level of accuracy and transparency is required. In order to ensure the integrity of sport, the supply chains must all be traceable.

According to IBIA, no data set is infallible or completely immune to corruption, but comprehensive measures should be taken to protect the sport, products and consumers from illegal activities. Merely comprehensive and effective controls could at least minimize the risks associated with sports betting.

Back in May, IBIA boss Khalid Ali advocated for more reliability in the collection of sports betting data. The Covid-19 pandemic has made the need for robust data chains even clearer. Secure data is of utmost importance for both licensed betting providers and customers. In this sense, all members of the IBIA were called upon to develop and implement best practice standards. Just a month earlier, the European industry association EGBA had also demanded the highest industry standards from all members.

Actions in three key areas

To ensure that all data is accurate, reliable and transparent, IBIA has defined its actions in three focus areas: firstly, staff verification and training, secondly, data collection processes and thirdly, data integrity and reporting. The employees of sports associations and betting companies are particularly affected by the measures.

Regarding staff screening and training, the IBIA requires that all data collections be conducted by individuals aged 18 years and over. Identity checks and additional background checks must be carried out in advance to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest. All individuals should also undergo live training, which must be repeated once a person has been inactive for 90 days or longer.

Minimum expectations of the association

When collecting data, the source and reliability of the data must be made clear by disclosing how the data was generated (i.e. In person at a game or through television broadcast). The process of data transfer between data suppliers and operator customers must be precisely documented. All data must also be stored securely for at least three years in the event of any inspections by any regulatory authorities.

Finally, for data integrity and reporting, a detailed risk assessment must be carried out on all data sets, with ongoing monitoring and review of potential risks. Any integrity issues must be reported immediately to all relevant regulatory, law enforcement and industry stakeholders. According to IBIA boss Khalid Ali, this reflects the minimum expectations of the association and its colleagues.

The IBIA's stringency is justified because curbing betting manipulation, corruption and illegal match-fixing in sports is currently one of the most important issues in the gambling world. Almost all regulated markets, including Sweden, Great Britain, Singapore, the Netherlands, Malta and the USA, have now raised their standards. The background is, among other things, a report from Europol, which drew attention to the increasing problem at the beginning of August. The integrity committee GLMS (Global Lottery Monitoring System) also warned of illegal match-fixing in July.

Issuance of certificates planned

All operators who implement the new standards will go through a certification process by the internationally recognized testing center eCOGRA. If all processes are carried out correctly, companies receive a Data Standards Kitemark certificate, which demonstrates the highest quality standards in terms of data security.

According to eCOGRA boss Shaun McCallaghan, the organization's auditors have already worked with many companies in the betting and data industries. This specialist knowledge will be incorporated into the evaluation of the new IBIA data standards. It starts with the sports data provider Stats Perform, which already works with many betting providers and is the first company to announceigte that it will implement the IBIA standards.

According to company spokesman Andrew Ashenden, the creation and implementation of global data standards for betting is an important and positive step. If implemented and monitored effectively, global standards would contribute sustainably to the growth of the booming sports betting sector. Stats Perform has already established a long-term investment program to maintain the strictest quality standards.

IBIA: New standards for data protection