Sweden approves changes to gambling law to strengthen data use in combating illegal activities

The Swedish Riksdag (Parliament) has officially approved changes to the Gambling Act of 2018, giving license holders the ability to process personal data related to legal violations. The new provisions, which aim to improve regulatory oversight and combat illegal activities, will come into force on February 1, 2025.

The changes, approved on November 28, establish specific conditions under which gambling operators are allowed to handle sensitive data. This includes detecting criminal activity, monitoring suspicious betting patterns, preventing match-fixing and enforcing regulatory compliance.

However, operators must ensure that unlawful activity, such as fraud or fraud, has been detected on a particular account before processing personal data. The revised regulations also empower license holders to check accounts for unusual betting behaviora move intended to help Swedish authorities combat match-fixing and corruption in sport. This complements government measures introduced earlier this year to combat criminal activity in the gambling sector.

In May, Sweden’s conservative coalition government launched an interagency data-sharing platform to combat match-fixing and improve cooperation between regulators. The newly approved changes further consolidate efforts to curb corruption in sport by providing operators with a structured legal framework to effectively manage and share data.

Policy documents confirm that the changes comply with GDPR rules, particularly Article 6, which requires data processing to be limited to purposes such as fraud detection or legal compliance. The Swedish government emphasized that the changes to the Gambling Act meet these requirements, either as a legal obligation or under a legitimate interests clause.

Support for the proposal increased during the Riksdag consultation process. The culture committee agreed to the changes and no objections were raised. Furthermore, the Legislative Council considered the proposal without further comments.