Sky Betting and Gaming prevails in legal appeal concerning personal data handling

(AsiaGameHub) –   The Flutter-owned subsidiary has successfully appealed a decision that found its marketing activities to be unlawful.

UK.- **Sky Betting and Gaming** (SBG), part of the Flutter group, has won an appeal against a High Court ruling regarding **marketing communications** sent to a problem gambler. The case of **RTM v Bonne Terre Limited & Anor**, which centered on allegations of data consent breaches, will now be referred back to the High Court.

Last year, the High Court ruled that the claimant, identified as RTM, had not given **“legally operative consent”** for their personal data to be collected. RTM subsequently received direct marketing from Sky Betting and Gaming via **cookie tracking** and data harvesting, eventually gambling with the firm between 2007 and 2019 and **losing £45,000**.

**Justice Collins Rice** previously held that “consent is subjective not objective,” ruling that RTM’s condition as a problem gambler meant they could not provide valid consent. SBG immediately contested the decision. During the appeal, the **Information Commissioner’s Office** (ICO) was asked to provide expert advice on how consent should be interpreted under data protection statutes.

The Court of Appeal has since reversed the initial judgment. **Lord Justice Mark Warby** stated that the High Court’s previous verdict was based on a “legally mistaken approach” to the requirements for proving that a data subject had “given consent.”

The judge clarified that SBG, as a data controller, is “not required to prove the actual state of mind of the individual data subject” when they indicate consent for data processing related to direct marketing. He added that it is “neither necessary nor relevant” to investigate whether the subject was vulnerable or had an **impaired ability** to make autonomous decisions.

Flutter UK&I hailed the ruling as a landmark decision for Sky Bet and the entire gambling sector.