A recent study by the Gambling Research, Education and Treatment (GREAT) Center at Swansea University has revealed that 86% of UK-licensed online gambling websites are violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a set of European Union rules designed to protect personal data and privacy. The research, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior Reports, examined 624 websites licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, focusing on how they handle user data through cookie consent banners and network traffic. The study found that 67% of these websites started collecting personal information—such as unique user identifiers—before users had explicitly given their consent, often sending this data to third-party marketing and analytics platforms. Nearly a quarter (24%) of the sites provided no option for users to refuse tracking, with 2% of sites not displaying any consent banner at all. Only 29% of the websites allowed users to reject tracking with the same ease as accepting it. On some sites, refusing tracking required up to 15 separate clicks. Many of the websites used "dark patterns," which are website design techniques that subtly manipulate users into making decisions that may not align with their best interests. These included making the "accept" button more visually prominent (60%), hiding the "reject" option behind additional layers of menus (47%), and pre-selecting privacy-unfriendly settings (29%). In an experiment, researchers tested how these designs influenced user behavior. Participants were shown a simulated betting site with one of six different consent banners. The most common design in the industry made users three to four times more likely to accept tracking than a neutral, one-click alternative. Those who accepted tracking later rated their choice as a poor reflection of their true privacy preferences, suggesting the design, not the user, was influencing the decision. The researchers argue that the data collected through these practices is used for personalized marketing and tracking users across different websites. The characteristics used to identify potentially valuable customers often overlap with behavioral signs of gambling-related harm. The study was led by doctoral student Jack McGarrigle, with supervision from Professors Simon Dymond, Martyn Quigley, and Jamie Torrance. McGarrigle noted that the findings highlight a serious issue with how users are being asked for their consent, with some sites making it easy to accept tracking and difficult to refuse. Dymond emphasized that the data collected in this way is not neutral and can be used to identify individuals at risk of gambling harm, making proper consent procedures essential not only for data protection but also for public health.