UPAP calls on Members of Parliament on the eve of the adoption of a law contrary to the Constitution

Brussels, 15 July 2022 - UPAP, Union Professionnelle des Agences de Paris, continues its fight for the enactment of rules that protect players and allow for a coherent operation of the sports betting activity in betting agencies.

The legislator wishes that any person wishing to bet in a betting agency must first present an identity document (EPIS control to prohibit access to betting for those prohibited from gambling). One modality of this control is the conservation of the player's personal data for ... ten years.

Thus, any player (even one who plays a single five-euro game) will have his or her identity (surname, first name, national registration number), date and place of birth, photograph, address and occupation stored for ten years. This is completely disproportionate and does not make sense with regard to the key principles of the GDRP, such as the principle of minimisation, according to which a minimum amount of data must be collected.

The risk of identity theft and impersonation is obviously increased by this measure which, in practice, makes no sense.

Why keep the player's data for 10 years when there is no identity control and data retention for National Lottery players? For example, Giuseppe from La Louvière who spends €500 a month on WinForLife tickets will never have his identity checked or his data verified, while Johan from Ostend who plays a €5 trifecta every Sunday will have his details kept for ten years.

Weird? Even more counterproductive than this will be difficult. What kind of player protection are we talking about? The very purpose of the law is not consistent with the GDPR requirement. 

The UPAP asks Parliament to review this proposal and not act in the logication of particracy. The government and, in particular, the Minister of Justice wishes to force the adoption of a law that is contrary to the protection of private life as guaranteed by the Constitution, contrary to the GDPR and contrary to the objective of channelling players towards a quality legal offer.

As mentioned, the UPAP does not oppose the tightening of rules for the gaming sector. We fully understand that certain measures are necessary. We only ask that these restrictions be considered and not adopted hastily for dogmatic reasons and that, in the logic of equality, these restrictions be imposed on all gaming operators (public or private) in order to achieve coherent and fair regulation. Is this not the least we can ask of our elected representatives?

"Ladies and Gentlemen representatives of the people, it is never too late to do the right thing. You are about to pass a law that violates the higher standards of our street of law (Constitution and GPDR) and the basic respect for the private lives of your fellow citizens by stigmatising them through disproportionate measures".

For more information and annexes, please click here: https://we.tl/t-wn0vHb6VzT

For more information :

Tom STAMMELEER, +32 477 20 05 99, tom.stammeleer@upap-bvwk.be

Monica PARYS, +32 494 87 36 70, monica.parys@upap-bvwk.be

Tim CALLEBAUT, +32 495 88 39 07, tim.callebaut@bingoal.be

Justice Minister's passage of law in violation of GDPR : https://www.lachambre.be/media/index.html?sid=55U3054&offset=6510 (01:46:40)