When the Massachusetts Gaming Commission gathered operators for a roundtable discussion Tuesday on modifying current data privacy regulations in sports betting, it received feedback rarely heard in an industry that has moved at breakneck speed since states began legalizing five years ago: “Slow down,” operators said.
While operators clearly favor massaging the state’s data privacy standards that apply to customers’ information, they take issue with the commission’s desire to move fast. The concept of data privacy and the reality of it — developing the technology to meet Massachusetts’ unique regulations — are two different things.
One industry representative told that while “every operator wants to protect customer privacy and ensure trust in the operator,” the latest Massachusetts offering has been “cooked up in a short amount of time.”
Data privacy rules were approved in June with a Nov. 17 deadline to comply. But after Tuesday’s meeting, it’s clear that the MGC now understands that a five-month runway to comply may not be realistic, and it appears open to working with operators to extend the deadline.