Consent Management for Gambling Operators

Why Consent Is Different for Gambling Operators

Online betting, casino and bingo operators deal with two kinds of consent. Like any website, they need a cookie banner for analytics and advertising cookies. On top of that, gambling regulators set their own rules for direct marketing and advertising, and those rules are often stricter than general privacy law: separate opt-ins per product and channel in Great Britain, an advertising opt-out and age targeting in the Netherlands, explicit documented consent in Sweden and an outright advertising ban in Italy.

This guide summarizes what these rules mean for the way you collect, store and prove marketing choices, and how a consent management platform can help.

UK: Gambling Commission Direct Marketing Opt-ins (SR Code 5.1.12)

The Gambling Commission added social responsibility code provision 5.1.12 on direct marketing preferences to its licence conditions. It has been in force for remote operators since 1 May 2025.

What the code requires:

• Per product. Customers must be offered the option to opt in to direct marketing for each product type you offer, such as betting, casino and bingo, where applicable.
• Per channel. Within each product, customers must be able to choose the channels, such as email, SMS and phone, where applicable.
• Unticked by default. The opt-in options must start unticked. A pre-ticked box is not an opt-in.
• No soft opt-in. The Commission's position is that the soft opt-in is no longer viable for remote gambling operators, so you cannot rely on an existing customer relationship to send marketing.
• Existing customers. Customers who had not opted out must be asked to confirm their marketing preferences at their first log-in after the code came into force.

For an operator that offers all three products and all three channels, that means nine separate choices:

Each choice should be stored on its own, with the time it was given or changed, so your marketing tools only contact a customer about the products and through the channels they chose.

Separately, from 19 December 2025 a single incentive (bonus or promotion) may not mix gambling product types, for example betting and casino in one offer.

Netherlands: Online Gambling Advertising Opt-out

Untargeted online gambling advertising has been banned in the Netherlands since 1 July 2023. The rules are in article 2ab of the Decree on recruitment, advertising and addiction prevention (Besluit werving, reclame en verslavingspreventie kansspelen, Bwrvk), as amended by Staatsblad 2023, 120, published in April 2023.

Online advertising, on the internet and in on-demand media, is only allowed when all of these conditions are met:

1. People are given the opportunity to indicate that they do not want to be reached by the advertising.
2. The best available measures are taken to prevent reaching people under 24 and other vulnerable groups.
3. You can show, with the best available techniques, that at least 95% of the people reached are 24 or older.

Note that the decree describes an opt-out, not a consent: people must be able to say they do not want to see gambling advertising. In practice, that means offering a clear switch to turn it off, respecting that choice wherever your advertising tags run, and keeping evidence that the choice was available and honored.

Sweden: Explicit Consent for Direct Marketing

According to trade press, the Swedish gambling regulator's 2025 guidance takes a strict view of direct marketing consent:

• Implied consent is not consent for direct marketing.
• Pre-ticked boxes or blanket opt-ins do not meet the regulator's expectations.
• Explicit, documented consent is expected, including before resuming marketing to a customer whose account was closed.

The guidance is not legally binding, but it shows what the regulator expects. A separate, unticked opt-in that you record with a timestamp fits that expectation.

Italy: Gambling Advertising Ban

Italy has banned gambling advertising since 2018 under the Decreto Dignità. Consent does not make gambling advertising lawful there, so a consent banner or marketing opt-in is not a way around the ban.

Cookie Consent on Gambling Websites

Marketing rules from gambling regulators come on top of general privacy law, not instead of it. Gambling sites need cookie consent like any other site: under the GDPR, the ePrivacy rules and the UK GDPR, analytics and advertising cookies and pixels need prior consent. Read how the UK ICO took action against Sky Betting and Gaming for using advertising cookies without consent.

How to Collect and Prove Marketing Opt-ins

1. Map your products and channels. List the products you offer and the channels you use for marketing, and create one choice for each combination.
2. Ask in the right place. Collect marketing opt-ins in your sign-up form and account settings, where the customer is identified, with every option unticked.
3. Ask existing customers again. Show the preferences screen at the first log-in where it applies, and update your marketing lists with their answers.
4. Record every change. Store each opt-in and opt-out with the customer's ID and a timestamp, so you can show what the customer chose and when.
5. Respect opt-outs everywhere. Make sure your CRM, email and SMS tools and advertising tags all read the same choices.
6. Keep cookie consent separate. Your cookie banner covers cookies and tracking on the site; it does not replace product and channel opt-ins.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the UKGC SR code 5.1.12 require?

Since 1 May 2025, remote operators in Great Britain must offer customers the option to opt in to direct marketing for each product (such as betting, casino and bingo) and each channel (such as email, SMS and phone), where applicable. The options must start unticked, the soft opt-in is no longer viable in the Commission's view, and existing customers who had not opted out must confirm their preferences at their first log-in after the code came into force.

Can a cookie banner collect UKGC marketing opt-ins?

A cookie banner is the wrong main place for them. Collect product and channel opt-ins in your sign-up form and account settings, where the customer is identified, and record each choice against the customer's account. The banner's custom purposes can show the same choices too, so a visitor can review them alongside their cookie settings.

Is the Netherlands gambling advertising rule an opt-out or a consent?

An opt-out. Article 2ab of the Bwrvk requires that people are given the opportunity to indicate they do not want to be reached, together with the best available measures to avoid reaching under-24s and other vulnerable groups, and evidence that at least 95% of the people reached are 24 or older.

Do gambling websites still need cookie consent?

Yes. Gambling marketing rules apply on top of general privacy law. Analytics and advertising cookies and pixels on a gambling site need consent under the GDPR, the ePrivacy rules and the UK GDPR, just like on any other website.

How can an operator prove marketing consent?

Keep a record of each opt-in and opt-out with the customer's ID, the purpose, the choice and the time it was made. A consent log that you can search by customer lets you answer a regulator or a complaint with the exact history of that customer's choices.

Does consent make gambling advertising lawful in Italy?

No. Italy has banned gambling advertising since 2018 under the Decreto Dignità, and consent does not make it lawful.

How UniConsent Helps Gambling Operators

UniConsent combines cookie consent with the marketing choices gambling regulators ask for:

• UK gambling direct marketing template. In the dashboard, the UK gambling direct marketing custom purpose template creates 9 opt-in purposes in one step, one for each product and channel: marketing_betting_email, marketing_betting_sms, marketing_betting_phone, marketing_casino_email and so on, up to marketing_bingo_phone.
• Netherlands advertising opt-out template. The Netherlands online gambling advertising opt-out template creates a gambling_ads purpose, with English and Dutch text, that visitors can switch off. Load your gambling advertising tags only when it is granted, with UnicScript tag loading.
• Choices from your own forms. Record the choices made in your sign-up form or account settings with setCustomConsent, on your website and in the iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native SDKs (from version 26.10.1).
• Proof of every opt-in and opt-out. Each change is recorded in the Consent DB with the customer's user IDs. An email address is stored as a SHA-256 hash. Search consent logs in the dashboard to see a customer's history. See Consent Logging and the Consent Audit Trail.
• Cookie consent. A compliant cookie banner, prior blocking of tags, a cookie scanner and Google Consent Mode v2.

Set up the templates with the Custom Purposes guide, or create a free UniConsent account to get started.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check the rules that apply to your licences and markets with your legal advisers.