Conscious Gaming and GeoComply Solutions Inc. announced last week that they will take part in a pilot agreement with IXUP Ltd. to leverage the latter’s secure data collaboration technologies in the U.S. online gaming and sports wagering markets. The collaboration will work across platforms and jurisdictions to address next-generation needs for responsible gaming and integrity.
Conscious Gaming, a Nevada-based nonprofit founded by GeoComply, uses technology to support a safer and more responsible online gaming environment. GeoComply, based in Canada, is the global market leader in geolocation security, the leading specialist in fraud prevention and cyber security to U.S. based sports betting operators, and services nearly 100 percent of the U.S. iGaming market.
Under the terms of the agreement, IXUP will contribute its world-leading secure data collaboration technology as well as develop, operate and maintain the jointly developed product. GeoComply will contribute its existing “PlayPause” self-exclusion product and be responsible for assisting with all regulatory matters, as well as overseeing all sales and marketing efforts with its existing extensive customer base with the major U.S. online betting operators.
GeoComply has successfully deployed PlayPause in Pennsylvania via a partnership with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and is engaging with additional gaming regulatory agencies as well as major U.S. sporting leagues regarding the provision of this exclusion product.
“For some time now we have been assessing opportunities for our secure data collaboration technologies within the lucrative U.S. sports data and sports wagering and gaming markets,” said Marcus Gracey, CEO of IXUP. “This collaboration is an ideal opportunity to showcase the application of our technology within this highly regulated market, where the handling of sensitive data is paramount, with serious consequences for non-compliance. The collaboration will involve the secure interaction of databases containing sensitive personal information supplied by the teams and leagues themselves, which will then form the basis of excluding impermissible bettors from making bets with sports betting operators.”
Anna Sainsbury, founder of GeoComply and Conscious Gaming, commented, “With the significant growth of sports betting in the U.S. market, it is imperative that stakeholders proactively mitigate problem gambling and effectively manage Impermissible bettors. Whether a player has self-excluded or if they are prohibited from betting due to regulatory restrictions, a technology solution will be available that gives operators the confidence that they are compliant. IXUP’s unique secure data collaboration technology will be key to bolstering PlayPause, and we are extremely excited to be working with them to deliver this proof of concept and ultimately make this product available across the broader North American sports betting and iGaming landscape in coming years.”
The final IXUP-enhanced “PlayPause” product is intended to be deployed as a distributed, fully encrypted and highly secure cloud platform to enable impermissible betters to be registered and queried in a privacy-preserving manner, the companies stated. The platform will use a blend of military-grade encryption techniques (including homomorphic encryption) to ensure data is protected and controlled by data owners at all times, yet still enable the data to be searched to identify impermissible bettors. The scalability of the cloud platform will ensure the solution can support the growing size of the sports betting market and the significant amount of data that will need to be queried in real time as a resource, the partners said.
