On October 9, colleagues and friends of CEACG gathered to celebrate the launch of the new DATA-ADDICT project. In addition to a relaxed evening, the event featured a short introduction to the project's research.
DATA-ADDICT is a project led by Virve Marionneau and funded by the European Research Council (ERC), that examines how the online environment and the power structures of data ownership contribute to addictions, and how these can be addressed through regulation.
All companies collect customer data, but gambling companies and their networks use it to sell and market products that are harmful to customers. Therefore, to prevent gambling-related harm, it is important to focus on the structural factors that enable the growth of digital markets for addictive products. The project’s three parts explore the topic from different perspectives, while the fourth part theorises the data-driven market powers behind addictions.
It is important to focus on the structural factors that enable the growth of digital markets for addictive products.
The first part of the project looks into what kind of data is collected by online gambling companies, whom the data is shared with, and which actors belong to the broader network of digital gambling. Researcher Sébastien Berret, who is responsible for this part, explained during the project presentation that previous research has shown how gambling companies share data with numerous actors, creating a complex digital “ecosystem.” In his work, Berret will analyse, among other things, privacy policies to uncover what gambling site users are actually consenting to.
Hypothesis is that the data ownership of the industry actors results in a power imbalance with regulators and especially customers.
In the third part, postdoctoral researcher Veera Kankainen explores how the use of data is regulated in Europe, and how the industry and actors in its ecosystem mobilise data to influence policies and regulations. Her research sheds light on how data ownership shapes the evolving regulatory environment around gambling. The project’s hypothesis is that the data ownership of the industry actors results in a power imbalance with regulators and especially customers, who are most affected by addictive products.
The CEACG team warmly thanks everyone who joined us to learn about the project and celebrate its launch! The five-year DATA-ADDICT project will run from 2025 to 2030, and its interesting research results will be shared through CEACG’s channels.