The Gambling Business Group is setting about the task of driving facial recognition technology to help move self exclusion, age estimation and player protection programmes to the next level.
The Gambling Business Group is to set up a schedule of working groups to assess the technology currently available to optimise harm minimisation for players and strengthen self-exclusion for operators of Licenced Gambling Premises.
The first group, now being formulated, will focus on facial recognition (FR) and evaluate how the industry might incorporate FR technology into the self-exclusion process and into an industry standard format that can work across any sector that chooses to use it.
Subsequent working groups will be set up in the coming months to explore the possibility of a standardisation programme to help identify self-exclusion breaches, assess the programme’s flexibility to incorporate emerging new technology, including the GDPR implications, and estimate the costs for operators.
Drawing on the experience of its members from the land based AGC, betting, pub, bingo, motorway service and hospitality sectors, the GBG believes the ambitious project is the next big challenge for the wider based gaming and gambling industry.
GBG chief Peter Hannibal, who will chair the first group, told Coinslot that the time is right to properly explore facial recognition technology and evaluate whether it can be incorporated into the self-exclusion process.
“We would probably describe the working group series as a means to identify the ‘art of the possible’,” he said.
“The industry is very much tuned into ‘safer gambling’ as a cultural shift and our members have invested considerable funds into new SR technology. Facial recognition evolution has now reached a level where we can seriously explore its potential for self-exclusion, age verification and a whole host of other measures to help minimise harm.”
For the GBG working group programme, facial recognition is the obvious starting point; and for Hannibal, it’s the perfect fulcrum for the project.
“Within the work streams we obviously have to look at supporting established systems, protecting personal data, staying within regulations and of course the inevitable cost analysis. We want to facilitate all retail venues being able to install and operate facial recognition technology easily and cost effectively in the not too distant future. As a collective, we need to be more effective in detecting self-exclusion breaches and this is where the GBG can step up and leverage its members’ technological credentials.”
But Hannibal is under no illusions of the task ahead for his members.
“Self-exclusion is a vital tool in the safer gambling kit for protecting the vulnerable, and the working group is keen to keep the foot on the pedal in terms of driving forward new ideas. It’s not a perfect science as recent tests have certainly shown, and there is an argument that says we are asking too much of our staff to detect faces of people they have never met before. However, facial recognition might just be the new game changer here, providing the technological momentum we’ve been looking for,” Hannibal noted.
Ambitious, yes, But affordable? How does Hannibal answer this challenge. “The industry is under immense financial pressure – rising NICs, business rates, possible tax increases, the Gambling Levy – our high street operators are facing a significant squeeze. If FR is too expensive to deploy then the concept won’t get off the ground, we know it has to be affordable.”
The first meeting of the GBG self-exclusion group will take place later this month and it hopes to have preliminary recommendations by the autumn.
The self-exclusion conundrum
It’s an opportune time for movement in this area- not just on industry innovation but also Commission proactivity.
Self exclusion remains pretty high on the political radar. In a recent exchange in Parliament, Lord Foster of Bath asked the gambling minister what steps the government is taking to improve adherence by gambling operators to self-exclusion schemes.
Baroness Twycross, in her response, was supportive of the self-exclusion initiatives entering the marketplace, but was also cognisant of issues that arise from such a vast programme. She said: “We are aware that there are concerns about adherence to self-exclusion requirements in the adult gaming centre sector. We are seeking further assurance on how the sector is addressing these concerns. We will continue to work with our stakeholders, including the Gambling Commission and the gambling sector, to strengthen player protections.”
