The Irish government’s diligence when awarding online gaming licences has been called into question by Catherine Murphy TD, a member of parliament for the opposition Social Democrat party, reports The Times.
Murphy said that “proper regulation” was needed “to strike the right balance between the fun and danger” of online gambling.
“I would question if enough scrutiny is being given to the awarding of such licences,” she said.
The Department of Justice said that all 133 applications to launch an online betting service in Ireland had been successful.
Murphy also questioned the ways in which online gaming operators were using the information available to them. “The idea that some betting companies could be constructing user profiles around their customers’ online behaviour is also worrying,” she said.
“In the face of EU laws that were introduced to give people a better awareness of how to control their privacy online, the information that is being gleaned may be being used in an unethical fashion.”
The Times reports that representatives of the Department of Justice planned to meet with stakeholders and authorities from other jurisdictions to establish how best Ireland could regulate gambling.
Source: The Times
