Data Protection violation? What should I do?

[just play]

He had no idea I had self excluded all he knew was that I had played Roulette at BetVictor.

He's an acquaintance of mine; not a friend.

He hunted down my account and posted a public tweet. He needs training on Data protection.

In the tweet, he said "good thing you asked for permanent", how did he know that? You mean after he hunted down your account, he found that out? Then posted that?

I'm very confused. Facebook and Twitter are public social media, people use their real names, unlike here, we use nicknames. Not for me, too much private information can be posted, even if one thinks it's no big deal, another might.

I'm assuming BetVictor will have him fired. I never heard of them, but any company who found out something like this would take that action wouldn't they?

 

[killahwhale]

Self Exculsion was done as I asked for it, he would be able to read all my notes.

I'm really in two minds.

 

[Nifty29]

As Nifty says, this thread will invite all sorts of barrack-room lawyers, but one thing I will say with certainty and from knowledge of a similar and less damagesome case is that the person concerned (IF you identify them) WILL be dismissed for gross misconduct for breach of confidentiality, and it would be an easy compo claim via a civil case. Your move really.

Yep...and they didn't let us down

 

[P.V.]

Hi P.V,

This may sound bad but could you possibly tell a small lie to your family member, say it was spam or something to that affect?

The OP could have, if they wanted I guess.

The main concern here is that the OP has stated it's not a friend, therefore I'd have no problem reporting the incident. Since this person has access to this information, what else have they gained access too? Do they have clearance?

I've had some interesting conversations with people that deal daily with problem gambling, many look at this as a medical condition which should be kept confidential such as your medical records are.

It should not be posted on Twitter, never shared without the consent of the self excluded person to another party. JMO.

 

[PegeeSue]

I'd certainly report him. I'm certain he knew the laws about Data Protection and yet went about posting on a social media board anyways.

Wonder if he's tapped into anyone else's accts just to snoop. I definately wouldn't be depositing any place that he had ability to check over anyones accounts at a whim without prior approval.

 

[vinylweatherman]

The problem here is that this person just went on a "fishing expedition" looking at account data "for pleasure". I see no job related reason for him to even be looking at data in a closed account to start with, let alone the stupidity of thinking that tweeting about it is going to be a private exchange between him and the player.

This employee has a disregard in general to data handling, not just confined to this one incident. The operator also has a shockingly lax attitude to security and control if employees can simply wade through account data purely to satisfy their personal curiosity. This employee should already have been caught and disciplined via internal controls without any need for his name to be given to the casino.

If he remains in his post, what's to stop him going through other players' accounts, and being equally cavalier with their data.

Unless he is known outside the casino-player relationship, he is not a friend, nor even an acquaintance in the usual sense. He is an employee trained to APPEAR to be the players' friend in order to entice them to play, just like a host in a land casino.

 

[Casinomeister]

I agree; it really does raise some trust issues. I didn't even tell the person my username and they still found my account (which I'm sure is easy to do by name or email).

I just don't know how to handle this situation

You need to report this guy to the casino imediately. Email the casino and direct them to this thread. I wouldn't worry about this guy's job. He ought to be fired. There is no excuse for this type of behavior. Think about the level of access he has to other player accounts.

 

[killahwhale]

Unless he is known outside the casino-player relationship, he is not a friend, nor even an acquaintance in the usual sense. He is an employee trained to APPEAR to be the players' friend in order to entice them to play, just like a host in a land casino.

He is known outside the casino-player relationship but as I've said, we're not friends but we know each other to see and even the term acquaintance is being generous. However, he's part of my small community and that's why I'm apprehensive about causing action that could lose him his job.

 

[killahwhale]

Update: I've made BetVictor aware that it's being discussed here and spoke to a Manager over chat. There was no real interest shown in the fact it was being discussed and they'll contact me in due course.

2:25:15 PM : Anon: Essentially, my main concern is that we live in a small community and even though your employee has caused me harm and embarrassment I'm concerned that it could be made worse if I report it

2:26:01 PM : Anon: and given BetVictor's inability to protect my data at the time, I'm really not sure what to do and I'd really appreciate if someone who was qualified in this area could contact me.

The above is my main concern.

 

[Nate]

Interesting...

Please keep us posted on events

Nate

 

[Jasminebed]

I've sent a pm to the Rep for Bet Victor.

I think if I was you, I would report him. Keep in mind that you won't be causing him to lose his job, its his own disgraceful behaviour that would cause his termination.

It's bad enough he went snooping through a closed account to see how much you lost (and that's exactly what it was, snooping), but to tweet about it as well shows a complete disregard for player privacy.

 

[killahwhale]

I've sent a pm to the Rep for Bet Victor.

I think if I was you, I would report him. Keep in mind that you won't be causing him to lose his job, its his own disgraceful behaviour that would cause his termination.

It's bad enough he went snooping through a closed account to see how much you lost (and that's exactly what it was, snooping), but to tweet about it as well shows a complete disregard for player privacy.

Thank you very much.

I contacted BetVictor today and although initially I felt there wasn't much concern, another manager helped me allay my fears. However, I live in a small community and I am afraid that should this individual lose their job that I may need to worry for my personal safety. I have told this to BetVictor and hope that this doesn't result in anything worse happening.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Thank you very much.

I contacted BetVictor today and although initially I felt there wasn't much concern, another manager helped me allay my fears. However, I live in a small community and I am afraid that should this individual lose their job that I may need to worry for my personal safety. I have told this to BetVictor and hope that this doesn't result in anything worse happening.

If he is this type of individual, he deserves to be fired AND reported to the police. Bad enough that he went through your account and tweeted about it, but if he has made you fear for your personal safety if you report him, he has no business being in any kind of position of trust in the casino. This kind of individual should not be working where he has access to personal data, nor control of finances of the company. There are plenty of jobs where his attitude would not present a risk to customers or their data.

He could go on to become the "rogue employee" that does the REAL damage to a brand, such as by stealing a database on the way out and selling it to spammers, or other undesirables.

 

[killahwhale]

I think perhaps personal safety was the wrong choice of words; I do apologise.

Personal reputation is what I meant - This is a small place after all!

 

[Jasminebed]

Small town or not, if he starts going about badmouthing you or speaking about your gambling, then police and/or solicitors should probably be involved.

 

[killahwhale]

Small town or not, if he starts going about badmouthing you or speaking about your gambling, then police and/or solicitors should probably be involved.

True, it's such an awkward situation. I'm not even sure what security I can get out of this other than BetVictor getting rid of an employ who flaunts DPA laws.

I don't see any benefit on my part reporting this; it sounds selfish but the more I think about it the more I worry.

 

[killahwhale]

Ok so a lot has happened today, especially since I mentioned the Casino by name. I'm heading to the Gaming Commissioner tomorrow.

However, I'm not exactly sure what I need to be asking for? My intention only was to have the individual schooled on Data Protection. What would you seek from Bet Victor and/or the Gaming Commission?

 

[Pauline_BV]

Hi All,

Apologies for not posting sooner on this, due to the seriousness of this issue i wanted to have all the facts in hand first.

Betvictor take issues of data protection extremely seriously, this is not conduct we condone and it is treated with the utmost severity.

The issue was initially hampered by the length of time since the incident, as it was last year, and of course the fact that we were not given a name.

Through exhaustive internal investigations we have determined the individual involved, and while i cant comment on specifics at this time, they are being dealt with in the appropriate manner.

Regards,

Pauline

 

[Balthazar]

treated with the utmost severity.

Good to hear.

it was last year

Now that's weird. Why did you wait a whole year to report this, killahwhale? Was it because he was your friend last year and something happened recently so you decided to take revenge on him?

 

[Richas]

Ok so a lot has happened today, especially since I mentioned the Casino by name. I'm heading to the Gaming Commissioner tomorrow.

However, I'm not exactly sure what I need to be asking for? My intention only was to have the individual schooled on Data Protection. What would you seek from Bet Victor and/or the Gaming Commission?

I would ask BetVictor to make a reasonable cash offer in terms of compensation for the severe embarrassment and distress caused.

My reading of the tweet is that it implies that you lost a lot, hence the comment about it being good that you permanently excluded and the sense of shock. That adds to the embarrassment.

To me "reasonable" would be a proportion of the total loss that he has made so public. Somewhere between 10% and 50% would be my ballpark without knowing the sum involved. I'd also expect an apology, a commitment to train him and some commitment to warn all staff about how public twitter is and so no personal data should ever be used in tweets, indeed tweeting customers at all seems unnecessary and potentially dangerous.

 

[Richas]

Good to hear.



Now that's weird. Why did you wait a whole year to report this, killahwhale? Was it because he was your friend last year and something happened recently so you decided to take revenge on him?

The OP made clear that the tweet was months ago, fully in line with "last year". The post makes clear that the consequences have become clearer with time, indeed the fact that they have had lasting consequences is the point. If nobody had seen the tweet then there would have been few consequences but they did and the consequences are ongoing.

 

[killahwhale]

Hey all,

It's nice to see BetVictor try to buff up their image a little but I've had no assurances for them about anything and although I'm advised this is the first time this has happened and they will deal with it from a company and personal perspective, they've thus far failed to answer any of my concerns.

I find Pauline's attempt to undermine my situation by talking about the length of time and the lack of information, to be quite honest, disgusting.

A breach of the Data Protection Act is a breach whether it happened today or 2 years ago and the full affects of the mistake on the part of the BetVictor employee have only become apparent to me of late.

In regards to 'lack of information' this was done purposely on my part to try and gage what would be done as this is a small community and I was worried - again, BetVictor did nothing to protect my anonymity or data and yesterday I was contacted by the individual, after they were approached at work, and harassed to withdraw my complaint.

I'm raging.

 

[Pauline_BV]

Hey all,

It's nice to see BetVictor try to buff up their image a little but I've had no assurances for them about anything and although I'm advised this is the first time this has happened and they will deal with it from a company and personal perspective, they've thus far failed to answer any of my concerns.

I find Pauline's attempt to undermine my situation by talking about the length of time and the lack of information, to be quite honest, disgusting.

A breach of the Data Protection Act is a breach whether it happened today or 2 years ago and the full affects of the mistake on the part of the BetVictor employee have only become apparent to me of late.

In regards to 'lack of information' this was done purposely on my part to try and gage what would be done as this is a small community and I was worried - again, BetVictor did nothing to protect my anonymity or data and yesterday I was contacted by the individual, after they were approached at work, and harassed to withdraw my complaint.

I'm raging.

I'm very sorry if you took it that way, it was not my intention in the slightest as you had made it clear that this was months ago in your original posts and had also stated you wouldn't name the individual, it was merely meant as an explanation as to why it had taken a while to post on behalf of the company. It certainly wasn't meant to detract from the seriousness of the situation, nor in anyway to undermine your complaint.

As you are speaking to management i cant and wont comment on any other aspects of the situation at this time.

Pauline

 

[killahwhale]

I'm sorry Pauline but I simply don't believe that. The attitude expressed in your previous post matches exactly that in the email I received from management this morning and now I will have to deal directly with the Gaming Commission.

BetVictor have done everything they can to make this entire experience more hassle and work than it needed to be for me as the victim of their complacency. I am genuinely and truly astonished that a reputable Casino is behaving like this.

 

[Nifty29]

BetVictor did nothing to protect my anonymity or data and yesterday I was contacted by the individual, after they were approached at work, and harassed to withdraw my complaint.

Appalling. Right there.

It is disgraceful behaviour of the highest order and the employee involved should be terminated immediately. In fact, I don't know why they haven't been already....to me, that shows that BV does NOT take this matter seriously.

I would submit a formal complaint to the relevant authorities and seek legal advice.

I would also contact Max and see what he can do via the PAB system, although I have a feeling it may have gone beyond that now. However, at least Max may be kind enough to pass it on to Bryan for his consideration and further action.

If everything reported thus far is true (I am a little concerned about what "information" the OP is withholding), and BV does not take serious punitive action against the perpetrator, and provide compensation, then their status should be reviewed.

It's tough enough keeping our personal information private without some cowboy giving a running commentary on our account activity to all and sundry. Disgraceful.