A landmark ruling was delivered by Justice Collins Rice following a five-day High Court trial in London concerning the use of cookies, direct marketing, and consent under the Data Protection Act 1998, the UK General Data Protection Regulation, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. The case, RTM v Bonne Terre Ltd & Hestview Ltd was brought by a former customer of the defendants, who operate the Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) brand.
The case relates to a damages claim by an individual with a gambling disorder, arguing that the defendants unlawfully tracked his online activities along with the subsequent profiling and inclusion in direct marketing campaigns without obtaining his valid consent and that resulted in significant financial harm—as it encouraged him to gamble irresponsibly.
In her ruling, Collins Rice J supported RTM's claim, concluding that SBG failed to secure valid consent for the use of cookies and email marketing during the period in question, specifically from 2017 to 2018. A separate hearing to address remedies is scheduled to take place later this year.
Additional legal analysis by Jon Baines on his personal blog.
In an update, an article in The Observer reveals further details into how Sky Betting & Gaming's customer protection measures failed to protect an individual with a gambling problem and instead classified him as a "high-value" customer. A second article from the gambler's perspective outlines how the company's sophisticated targeted marketing activities contributed to destroying his life.

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