Controller Or Processor? – Court Of Appeal Confirms Tribunal's Decision On Data Processing Roles

A contentious matter between gaming operators and affiliates, in most gaming contract negotiations, is determining which of the parties is to be deemed a controller and which is to be deemed a processor.

A recent judgment of the Court of Appeal presided over by Judge Lawrence Mintoff¹ upheld a previous decision of the Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal ('Tribunal') against LeoVegas Gaming plc ('LeoVegas'). This decision determined that the controller in the relationship between a gaming operator and an affiliate is the gaming operator, on the basis that an affiliate only processes personal data on the instructions of the gaming operator, for which the affiliate works to attract clients.