The gaming industry is creative and exciting, with fast developments and technological innovation influencing the market and giving businesses in this space the opportunity for rapid growth. However, companies operating in this industry face increasing scrutiny over their use of personal data. Under UK GDPR rules, gaming platforms acting as data controllers have numerous obligations to safeguard user data. When their services are likely to be accessed by children, platforms must comply with strict additional legal obligations. This article will explore some key data protection compliance considerations for gaming platforms acting as data controllers when processing user data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaming platforms (particularly mobile apps) often collect a wide range of personal data, such as players’ contact details, location data, social media profiles, photographs, and gaming or spending habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding your platform’s data collection and flows is critical as a first step for compliance. You can achieve this by carrying out a data mapping exercise to understand how your business collects, stores, and shares personal data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your specific obligations under UK GDPR<\/a> will depend on how your platform processes personal data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n However, these are some common considerations for gaming platforms operating and processing personal data as data controllers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some additional considerations include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, the ICO recommends turning off behavioural profiling for marketing by default. It is vital that in-scope gaming platforms understand and comply with additional rules around child data privacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Platforms should seek legal advice<\/a> for a full understanding of their specific compliance obligations. This will be based on the way they use personal data in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strong security measures are crucial for protecting user data, particularly given the large volumes of player information a game will typically use. Platforms should access which measures are best placed to protect users. They can use various tools to safeguard data during transmission and storage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaming platforms can restrict access to personal data to employees, contractors, and agents who need it for business purposes but otherwise carefully safeguard data. Any individuals privy to personal data should follow strict instructions and confidentiality obligations to help protect it from risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Platforms should also implement clear processes and procedures for preventing and managing security incidents. Regular security audits and penetration testing help identify and address vulnerabilities, and staff training on data security can also help prevent risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the serious risks of cybersecurity and threats to online personal data, it is wise for a platform to take specific data security and data protection advice to implement robust security measures to safeguard user data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\nCommon Considerations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Additional Considerations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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How Should Gaming Platforms Secure User Data?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n