Sky Vegas could face legal action due to promotional emails

[ipanks]

It depends on how those people keep trying to recover from the addiction, even if they got so many emails from many gambling websites. That will not stop them to continue the recovering phase to cure their addiction to gambling because if those people do not have a strong heart and big willingness to solve their addiction, they will come back to the gambling games and play some gambling games. If that happens, their addiction can become heavy and that will be difficult to solve as they already failed before.

[acroman08]

Spam emails... who doesn't do that nowadays?

you have to understand that there were people who unsubscribe so they wouldn't get an email regarding promotions or anything from the casino, yet they still got one.

We need to punish every drug company because their viagra ads are targeting recovering sex addicts?

they should if the drug company still sending emails to the people who unsubscribe from their email subscription.

[BitcoinAccepted]

No wonder they are going to face legal actions to that. Those people are recovering or probably trying to turn their lives to a better one but there you are trying to attract them to your website again. It's like inviting again the drug addicts that after their rehabilitation. Honestly, what they are thinking? I think they're just thinking about the project and not the status of their players, really selfish intentions.

[Fortify]

Basically what happened is that Sky Vegas sent promotional email to previous clients that had opted-out of this, now while this many not seem like a big deal, and most of the time it is not, a number of those that received those emails were recovering addicts doing their best to stay away from the temptation to gamble again, an offer like this could be what they needed to go back to the addiction they were trying to overcome, so while I have the tendency to think this could have been an honest mistake it is still very worrying that something like this can happen as it could derail the recovery of those struggling to control their gambling.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/gambling-commission-b965600.html

Unlike some others here I think that it should be rather simple to exclude people who have opted out of receiving such emails if the IT systems have been setup correctly. Whoever is responsible for managing the marketing emails should be fully aware of who can receive them (if for no other reason but to be anti-spam compliant) before sending out any communications. There should be a simple flag in the database that determines whether an account has chosen to stop receiving such emails and it should be the first thing checked, otherwise you have to assume that they are actively seeking to target these people - some of whom may have gambling problems. It'd be good to see the regulator impose fines and I wonder if they could be based on the size of any bets from those accounts since the emails were sent out (x2 or x3)

[AicecreaME]

The mistakes I've seen here is that Sky Vegas and I guess all of the casinos in will never care about what you're doing in life, whether you get addicted on gambling or recovering from your gambling addiction, and sending a promotional emails on their players seems a little bit insensitive, especially if that certain client is not playing gambling for years already. So I would understand if someone will definitely goes up against this kind of action.

[davis196]

I think that this is definitely a big mistake made by someone working at the marketing team of Sky Vegas.
However,going to court against a casino just because they sent you a promotional email?Really?
If a guy has truly recovered from his gambling addiction,would a simple email incentivize him to become addicted again?If I was a former gambling addict and I was completely done with gambling,NO email from any casino in the world would convince me to start gambling again.
I think that probably someone is looking for an excuse to sue a casino and get some "easy money" out of his "gambling addiction".

[Slow death]

this is a tricky situation, i read some post in this thread that the company has already apologized and i think their apology should be accepted because they are to some extent not blamed for someone becoming addicted to gambling and it is up to the addict to block the emails related to casinos, maybe even abandon the emails you created in the casino account and create another email. when a person creates an account in a casino he knows that he is being responsible for himself, for this reason the casinos warn of this and force that only people over 18 years old use the casinos. I think the apology that the casino gave is a good thing and that the injured parties should accept

[acroman08]

this is a tricky situation, i read some post in this thread that the company has already apologized and i think their apology should be accepted because they are to some extent not blamed for someone becoming addicted to gambling and it is up to the addict to block the emails related to casinos, maybe even abandon the emails you created in the casino account and create another email.

they did(read the article). sure we can't blame the casino for them becoming addicted but it is fully on the casino's fault if they sent the emails to those who have opted out from receiving emails regarding promotions or anything from the casino. also, not everyone can easily abandon an email address since they could be using it for other things.

[Boristhecat]

Basically what happened is that Sky Vegas sent promotional email to previous clients that had opted-out of this, now while this many not seem like a big deal, and most of the time it is not, a number of those that received those emails were recovering addicts doing their best to stay away from the temptation to gamble again, an offer like this could be what they needed to go back to the addiction they were trying to overcome, so while I have the tendency to think this could have been an honest mistake it is still very worrying that something like this can happen as it could derail the recovery of those struggling to control their gambling.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/gambling-commission-b965600.html

Even without taking into account the dire consequences to which the distribution of these letters could lead, I believe that this should be seriously punished. Spam and irresponsible handling of personal data is something that no one likes and serious punishment will be a good economic incentive for a company to put things in order in this matter.

[Coin_trader]

this is a tricky situation, i read some post in this thread that the company has already apologized and i think their apology should be accepted because they are to some extent not blamed for someone becoming addicted to gambling and it is up to the addict to block the emails related to casinos, maybe even abandon the emails you created in the casino account and create another email.

they did(read the article). sure we can't blame the casino for them becoming addicted but it is fully on the casino's fault if they sent the emails to those who have opted out from receiving emails regarding promotions or anything from the casino. also, not everyone can easily abandon an email address since they could be using it for other things.

The complainant has the right to sue the casino since they break there rules about opted-out client even if its by mistake. Being on a serious gambling is very critical especially on psychological aspect. For normal people perspective, This is very simple by just not reading it but this means a lot for people that abstaining on gambling, Probably they lose huge sum of money that can make a fortune that's why they opted-out and seeing a gambling promotion again might get them back to square 1 since they started to become tempted by just seeing a casino promotion mail title.

I'm confused on why the Sky Vegas still save those emails of opted-out players while it should deleted on there data base since these persons account is considered to be deleted at all.

[iv4n]

Basically what happened is that Sky Vegas sent promotional email to previous clients that had opted-out of this, now while this many not seem like a big deal, and most of the time it is not, a number of those that received those emails were recovering addicts doing their best to stay away from the temptation to gamble again, an offer like this could be what they needed to go back to the addiction they were trying to overcome, so while I have the tendency to think this could have been an honest mistake it is still very worrying that something like this can happen as it could derail the recovery of those struggling to control their gambling.

And it's not like a big deal... for some services and casinos, I had to unsubscribe a few times before they stopped sending promotional emails! And I don't think that addicts are some victims here... addicts are always pointing fingers at everyone else, but actually, they are responsible for their actions! Someone who gets triggered so easily shouldn't even be close to a computer or TV! That level of sensitivity is a huge problem, I get it, but there are ways to keep the distance from all possible triggers and to focus on other things... like books, different hobbies, gardening, animals...

It's like with fire... you need to be aware that you can get burned! So don't play with it, don't come close to it... don't even try to watch it from the distance!

[Cling18]

Receiving promotional emails wouldn't affect us unless we get attracted to them. It could be an honest mistake or another strategy to attract players again but the decision is still ours. It still depends on how we're going to deal with these emails but I would suggest that if a person is already recovering from a gambling addiction, he o she should know how to ignore promotional emails. It shouldn't be a big deal for those who are recovering.

[KTChampions]

And it's not like a big deal... for some services and casinos, I had to unsubscribe a few times before they stopped sending promotional emails! And I don't think that addicts are some victims here... addicts are always pointing fingers at everyone else, but actually, they are responsible for their actions! Someone who gets triggered so easily shouldn't even be close to a computer or TV! That level of sensitivity is a huge problem, I get it, but there are ways to keep the distance from all possible triggers and to focus on other things... like books, different hobbies, gardening, animals...

It's like with fire... you need to be aware that you can get burned! So don't play with it, don't come close to it... don't even try to watch it from the distance!

It is true - you cannot shift your responsibility to someone else. But at the same time, we know that according to the terms (and the law), these services are also responsible for sending spam and especially for processing personal data. I think many people are familiar with the situation when you register somewhere and after that you start receiving a bunch of spam in your mailbox (which obviously was disclosed by service where you registered). I think these are close situations.

[Silberman]

I really feel for these gambling addicts, because with Google algorithms and historic data .. those people are targeted for that kind of promotions too. Apart from that... Gambling sites other than Sky Vegas are advertising on TV too, so the urge to gamble might be triggered by these advertisements on other platforms too.

This might be one of the reasons why platforms like Twitch are banning gamblers that are streaming and promoting gambling referrals during their sessions.

You will never be blocked off 100% from gambling advertising, even if you opt out of one single casino. Sky Vegas should be given a huge fine, even if this was done by mistake. 

I have not thought about that but you bring an important point, those that are trying to recover from a gambling addiction or any addiction for that matter are going to have a more difficult time doing so because targeted advertising will use their data to see what interests they had, and if on their files they see you had interest in gambling then they will serve you gambling ads creating a huge temptation for people to gamble again even if that is not what they want.

[izsara]

on the other hand I seem to hesitate when they say accidentally sent
but with something like this especially for addicts I think they subconsciously have the possibility to return to the site with the lure which is quite good.
but things like this will be a different story for people who really want to quit from there.
this is good enough to at least get a reprimand from the authorities.

[Stedsm]

That's what needs to be done with such casinos that send unsolicited emails even after opting out of them because then, they are not only encouraging spam but also breaching their own ToS by sending such promotional emails that are unexpected by the struggling gamblers. Gamblers who were an addict but are trying to overcome from their addiction get lured by such promotions and can't really stop themselves from gambling again, which could result in losses as well as even more loss of concentration towards other things IRL.

[goaldigger]

Promotional emails are system generated, you allow this in the first place by agreeing on their terms and conditions without reading it and I can remember that there’s an option for this either not to allow or allow the site to notify you. If you really want to stay away from gambling, you can inform the site you are using about this and they might help you as well, so don’t over react when you still receiving an email from them, you can easily block it.

[maju69]

Honestly not a Sky Vegas user, therefore I don't really know what's going on. When I skimmed the news I was of the opinion that not all casinos would deal with these kinds of things with gamblers. An addiction that continues to be felt even though it has stopped. But the casino contacted him via email. A strategy to keep gamblers from leaving the casino just like that until they have spent all their money. Usually there is a feature to Unsubscribe.

[Oilacris]

Honestly not a Sky Vegas user, therefore I don't really know what's going on. When I skimmed the news I was of the opinion that not all casinos would deal with these kinds of things with gamblers. An addiction that continues to be felt even though it has stopped. But the casino contacted him via email. A strategy to keep gamblers from leaving the casino just like that until they have spent all their money. Usually there is a feature to Unsubscribe.

The issue on here is that a certain user had already opted out or did unsubscribe but still the casino did make or sent out those promotional

emails which i could say that they had definitely had some mistakes on here because not all would really be that fine on poking up again

their gambling addiction once they had able to see it once again after they had stopped out on a certain period of time but honestly
we cant really give all the blame into the casino because there are things which that certain person could also have his mistakes on.

[johhnyUA]

Basically what happened is that Sky Vegas sent promotional email to previous clients that had opted-out of this, now while this many not seem like a big deal, and most of the time it is not, a number of those that received those emails were recovering addicts doing their best to stay away from the temptation to gamble again, an offer like this could be what they needed to go back to the addiction they were trying to overcome, so while I have the tendency to think this could have been an honest mistake it is still very worrying that something like this can happen as it could derail the recovery of those struggling to control their gambling.

This is not the thing we can tolerate. And as i know, in EU and USA it's forbidden to do. So it will be fair enough to punish Sky Vegas for such actions. And they should punish those who came up with such marketing strategy