New Proposal to Fight Problem Gambling in Sweden

A new proposal seeks to combat problem gambling and help reduce gambling harm in Sweden. Niklas Wykman, the Swedish Minister of Financial Markets, announced a new memorandum Wednesday that plans to combat gambling addiction.

Proposal Seeks to Protect Customers from Gambling Harm

Ultimately, the new proposal plans to allow gambling companies to process additional personal information to help strengthen the protection of their consumers and reduce gambling harm. The new proposal comes after a discussion with the State Treasury and acknowledges that gambling operators need to have better knowledge of their customers in order to effectively fight against problem gambling and safeguard their well-being.

Under the proposal, gambling operators will have the right to process personal data and leverage it to fight problem gambling. The operators can use personal data such as gaming behavior or customer spending to identify problem gambling. But the new proposal seeks to extend this data and offers an opportunity for the operators to “review and analyze self-reported information about a player’s health and finances in order to counteract excessive gambling.”

This proposal plans to extend the operators’ responsibilities under the existing gambling regulation. Still, the proposal details that additional information such as financial data and self-reported details regarding the players’ health must only be used to prevent excessive gambling and gambling harm.

The Changes Strengthen the Protection of Customers

In other words, the new proposal in Sweden seeks to boost the information gambling operators can access to prevent gambling harm before it occurs. At the same time, the operators in the country will be able to leverage this data to identify people that are at potential risk of problem gambling. The proposal is yet to gain further traction but it calls for the changes needed to be implemented into the Gambling Act to be effective from January 1, 2024.

“Through the proposal, we can ensure strong consumer protection in the gambling market and better help those who need to get out of gambling addiction.“

Niklas Wykman, Minister of Financial Markets in Sweden

Commenting on the topic, Wykman said that the recent proposal strengthens consumer protection. At the same time, he pointed out that the changes seek to help people affected by problem gambling or at-risk gambling. Last but not least, Wykman acknowledged that it is important for gambling operators to better understand their customers and have knowledge that can help prevent problem gambling and harm.