The International Betting Integrity Association has released standards spelling out protocols for the collection of sports data for wagering purposes.
“IBIA believes that this is an effective means of achieving an approach which best serves to protect the integrity of sport, its data, betting markets generated by that data and consumers enjoying those products,” the integrity watchdog said. “No data approach is infallible or immune from potential corruption, but measures can and should be taken to guard against such illicit activity and effective controls can minimize the associated risks.”
The standards focused on three key areas: personnel vetting and training; data collation processes; and data integrity and reporting.
Personnel vetting and training requires all data collection to be carried out by people aged 18 and above, whose identities have been verified, and additional background checks carried out to ensure there are no conflicts of interest, according to iGaming Business.
People involved in collating data should receive live training, which must be repeated if a person has been inactive for 90 days or more. This training should include identifying and reporting integrity concerns.
The collation process must ensure the source, accuracy and reliability of data, by marking how it has been generated.
The speed, latency and process of transmission must be established by the data provider. All data needs to be held securely for at least three years, the standards said.
A detailed risk assessment must be conducted for each sport competition on which data is collated, with ongoing monitoring and reviews of potential risks.
Integrity problems need to be flagged by all parties in the data supply chain, as well as any other relevant industry officials. Information sharing agreements must be approved regulatory and law enforcement investigators.
“When we started this process, I stated that upholding the reliability and credibility of sporting event data was of paramount importance for IBIA members and that the challenges posed by the pandemic had further highlighted the necessity for robust data chains,” IBIA chief executive Khalid Ali said. “IBIA has put in place a set of data standards that reflects the minimum expectations of the association and its members.”
Compliance with these standards, coupled with a data collation audit by testing agency and standards body eCOGRA, will earn a Data Standards Kitemark.
“The association believes that data collation is an important part of the wider sports betting integrity debate and this standards and auditing process represents the next step in the association’s work in this area,” Ali said.
