Online gambling data collection is becoming a focus of interest for various stakeholders in the online gaming industry, since it is relevant for advertising, attracting new players, exploring new markets and trying out new products. Mark Griffiths, of Nottingham Trent University, and Monica Whitty, of the University of Leicester, give an overview of some of the ethical issues raised by data collection in the gaming industry and research undertaken in the gambling studies field

Griffiths, MD

Whitty, M

English

Nottingham Trent Institutional Repository (IRep)

world online gambling january 2011The ethics of online datacollection by the gamblingindustry It has been reported that one of thepotential concerns surroundinginternet gambling is the way thatonline gambling websites cancollect large amounts of data aboutthe gambler and the extent towhich this in an invasion of thegambler's privacy1. For instance,internet gamblers provide trackingdata for online gamblingcompanies that can be used tocompile customer profiles. Suchdata can tell online gamblingcompanies exactly how onlinegamblers are spending their timein any given financial transaction -which games they are gambling on,for how long and how muchmoney they are spending. Thecompanies argue that thisinformation can help in theretention of customers, and canalso link up with existing customerdatabases and operating loyaltyschemes. However, it has beenargued that many online gamblersare unknowingly passing oninformation about themselves andthat this raises serious questionsabout the gradual erosion of onlinegamblers' privacy.Using sophisticated software,gaming companies can tailor theirservice to the gambler's knowninterests. However, there is a veryfine line between providing whatthe online gambler wants andwhen the player is exploited. Whenjoining an online gambling site,gamblers supply lots ofinformation such as their name,address, date of birth, gender etc.Arguably, online gamingcompanies know more about thegamblers' playing behaviour thanthe gamblers themselves.Furthermore, they can send thegamblers offers and redemptionvouchers or complimentaryaccounts, for example.The gaming industry claims thatall of these things are introduced toenhance customer experience.However, it has been argued thatthe more unscrupulous operatorswill be able to entice knownproblem gamblers back onto theirpremises with tailored freebiessuch as the inducement of ‘free’bets in the case of internetgambling. It could therefore beargued that the introduction ofinternet gambling has come at aprice, and that price is arguably aninvasion of the gambler's privacy.However, it has also been arguedthat the data collected by onlinegambling companies could be usedin a different way. Morespecifically, experts in problemgambling have beenrecommending to gamingcompanies that they should startusing their large behaviouraltracking data sets to help identifyproblem gamblers rather than‘exploit’ them, and share the datawith academics. If gamingcompanies can use behaviouraltracking to learn more about theirclientele, there is no reason whysocial science researchers could notadopt the same practice in carryingout their research. There are, of course, many otheradvantages of the use ofobservational tracking data forresearch purposes. The dataprovide a record of events and canbe revisited after the event itself hasfinished. Furthermore, severalmembers of a research team can beused to gain different perspectives,to compare notes on, for example,excessive play, and/or to gaugeinter-observer reliability.Additionally, the problem offinding suitable online gamblingparticipants and whether or notthey want to be included in a studyis instantly overcome as themethod provides an immediatedata set if access is granted by thegaming company. They do noteven have to travel to participate inDATA COLLECTION14Ethical issues surrounding e-gambling data collectionOnline gambling data collection isbecoming a focus of interest forvarious stakeholders in the onlinegaming industry, since it is relevantfor advertising, attracting newplayers, exploring new markets andtrying out new products. MarkGriffiths, of Nottingham TrentUniversity, and Monica Whitty, of theUniversity of Leicester, give anoverview of some of the ethicalissues raised by data collection inthe gaming industry and researchundertaken in the gambling studiesfield. the study. However, theparticipants are unaware that theyare even participating in a studyand this raises issues aroundinformed consent, which will bediscussed further below.The ethics of online datacollection by gamblingresearchers Researchers in the gamblingstudies field are starting to useonline methods to gather theirdata, rather than traditional offlineresearch approaches. There is anumber of reasons why the onlinemedium is a good place to conductresearch with online gamblers. Thisis because the internet: ! is usually accessible to thesegamblers, and they are usuallyproficient in using it; ! allows for studies to beadministered to potentially largescale samples quickly andefficiently; ! can facilitate automated datainputting allowing large scalesamples to be administered at afraction of the cost and time of‘pen and paper’ equivalents; ! has a disinhibiting effect onusers and reduces socialdesirability, leading to increasedlevels of honesty, and thereforehigher validity in the case of self-report; ! has potentially a global pool ofparticipants, therefore researchersare able to study extreme anduncommon behaviours as well asmake cross-cultural comparisons; ! provides access to ‘sociallyunskilled’ individuals who may nothave taken part in the research if itwas offline; ! can aid participant recruitmentthrough advertising on variousbulletin boards and websites; and ! can aid researchers because theydo not have to be in the samegeographical location as either theparticipants or fellow researchcolleagues. Arguably, the most importantissues regarding the ethics ofconducting online research intointernet gambling includeinformed consent, deception andprivate versus public space.Informed consent requiresresearchers to be honest and openabout the aims of their researchand how they are going to beutilise the data they collect.Although informed consent caneasily be obtained online for onlinesurveys, there is much debate overwhether it is required when peoplecollect data using postings onpublic online forums.Confidentiality is also a majorconcern given that many onlinesurveys are hosted on insecuresites. Cultural issues have also beena concern for researchers. Onlinesurveys give researchers theopportunity to collect largersamples, but at what cost? Thecollection of data from ethicallydiverse samples may sometimesmake research findings moredifficult to interpret. The issue of deception has beennoted as a serious ethical concernfor online researchers, particularlyif the researcher poses as a memberof the group under investigation -for example, he is identified byothers as an online gambler ratherthan as a researcher. Not letting thepeople under investigation knowthat a researcher is present isgenerally seen as unacceptable,especially given the fact there areother more ethical ways to collectdata.This practice of lettingparticipants know that a researcheris present in the onlineenvironment has been adopted bygambling researchers - particularlycyber-ethnographers - and hasbeen outlined. However, in onlinebehavioural tracking, this is notreally an issue as the data arealmost always amassed without theneed for researcher intervention.Another concern that is moreunique to studying onlineinteractions is the perception ofthe space where the data iscollected. Although onlineinteractions in an internetgambling forum or gamblingwebsite are often observed bymany other people, the persononline may not perceive theirinteractions as public. A publicspace is much more obvious inface-to-face settings. We argue thatalthough interactions take placeonline in public spaces, this doesnot mean that the intendedaudience is a social scienceresearcher. In relation to sensitiveissues such as problem gambling,they warn that researchers need tothink about how the participantwould feel if they were included intheir studies without giving anyconsent. Some social scientists have optedto play the role of lurker (being apassive observer in a chat room ordiscussion group) for the purposesof collecting participant data.However, respecting a participant'sright to privacy is a basic ethicalrequirement of any social sciencestudy. This issue becomes morecomplicated when studying onlinegamblers in online environments.In general, the rule of thumb isthat researchers should onlyobserve people in a situation wherethey would ordinarily expect to beobserved, such as a public space.However, in cyberspace, theseboundaries become blurred, as it isoften difficult to ascertain whatexactly is a public domain andwhat is a private domain. Socialresearchers need to seriouslyconsider if they have the right to‘lurk’ in online settings in order tolearn more about the activities theyare investigating. In relation toonline gambling research, ethicalconcerns have been raised forcyber-ethnographers studyingonline poker players by accessingworld online gambling january 2011 15DATA COLLECTIONExperts inproblemgambling havebeenrecommendingto gamingcompanies thatthey shouldstart using theirlargebehaviouraltracking datasets to helpidentifyproblemgamblersrather than‘exploit’ themworld online gambling january 201116presence unless they makethemselves explicitly known tothem, at which point the situationbecomes public, unless those beingstudied are under the impressionthat they are in a privatecorrespondence with theresearcher. In other words, theperceptions of the participantdefine the domain as public orprivate, rather than the physicalityof the situation. ConclusionOnline data methods in all theirvarieties tend to provide a cost-efficient way of gathering onlinegambling data that can have manybenefits for both researchers andtheir study participants. Onlinegamblers' familiarity with internettechnology - whether they haveproblems or not - may facilitateand enhance such studies beingundertaken. The most salientproblems that online researchers inthe gambling studies field are likelyto face concern ethical issues(informed consent, deception,public versus private spaces andlurking). Despite such ethicaldilemmas, these are notinsurmountable and can beremedied if careful thought andrationale is provided.Professor Mark GriffithsInternational Gaming Research UnitNottingham Trent UniversityMonica WhittyDepartment of Media andCommunication, University of Leicestermark.griffiths@ntu.ac.ukmw229@le.ac.uk1. Griffiths, M.D. & Parke, J. (2002), ‘Thesocial impact of internet gambling’,Social Science Computer Review, 20,312-320.DATA COLLECTIONonline poker forums.Social science researchers need toacknowledge that there are manytypes of online environments andthat some may be deemed morepublic or private than others. Forexample, a chat room or an onlinepoker forum might be deemed amore public space than, forexample, email. This is a crucialethical concern that should not bedismissed and it would be arrogantfor social science researchers todebate this issue amongstthemselves without consulting theindividuals who inhabit theparticular web spaces. While thereis no definitive answer, the wayforward is to begin questioning thenature of this space. To this end, itis argued that lurking in publicnewsgroups might be ethicallyquestionable. If researchers are to makedivisions between private andpublic spaces online, thedemarcations are not alwaysobvious. For instance, is an onlinesupport group for gamblers - thatcan be accessed by anyone online -a public or a private space? Theinternet can give an individual asense of privacy and anonymity. Ifit is concluded that online spacesare public spaces, the anonymitythey afford can give the illusionthat these are private spaces.Therefore, should researchersethically take advantage of onlineusers' false sense of privacy andsecurity? Is it ethically justifiable tolurk in these sites and collect datawithout the knowledge or consentof the individuals who inhabitthese sites? It is probably best to assume thatpeople are not aware of others'SIGN UP FOR FREE E-LAW ALERTSWorld Online Gambling Law Report provides a free alert service. We send out updates on breaking news, forthcoming events and each month on theday of publication we send out the headlines and a precis of all of the articles in the issue. To receive these free e-law alerts, register on www.e-comlaw.com/updates.asp or email ngaio.claris@e-comlaw.com. Follow us on Twitter! www.twitter.com/WOGLReport

Ethical issues surrounding e-gambling data collection

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