EFF Criticizes DraftKings’ AI Targeting of Customers Likely to Lose Bets

Summary

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says DraftKings is using customers’ betting records to train a machine-learning model that identifies people likely to place losing bets. According to reporting cited by EFF, the company then sends those customers targeted promotions intended to bring them back to the platform. EFF argues that people it characterizes as problem gamblers may be especially vulnerable to this approach, while DraftKings has a financial incentive to retain customers who lose money. The article places the practice within the broader system of online behavioral advertising, in which companies use collected data to personalize advertising. It argues that AI can intensify the system’s harms by processing much larger data sets, encouraging additional data collection, and making it harder for developers to know which data points drive model decisions. EFF also notes that advertising data can flow to entities including insurers, banks, and law-enforcement agencies, although the article says DraftKings appears to be using first-party data rather than buying additional third-party data for this model. On that basis, EFF says policies focused only on third-party data sales would be insufficient and reiterates its call for a ban on behavioral advertising. The organization also points readers to resources for protecting personal data.