B.C. online casino relaunched after privacy breaches

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia government has fixed its online gambling site, which was shut down due to a privacy breach, officials confirmed Thursday.

PlayNow.com, the first government-sanctioned online casino in North America, was taken offline a few hours after it was launched on July 15 and it was relaunched on Thursday evening, after approval by both the province's Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch and the B.C. information and privacy commissioner.

Officials from British Columbia Lottery Corp. said that 134 accounts were left exposed and open to any other player to access, whereas 12 accounts had "a measure of sensitive, personal information viewed by another player."

But on Thursday, BCLC CEO and president Michael Graydon said in a news statement that the privacy problem has been fixed; an external review by consulting firm Deloitte found that the information was leaked due to a flaw in the software.

View Full Story

Online Casino Gambling :Gettysburg Casino Gambling Plan Has Backing Of Preservation Group

British Columbia may have started the biggest online gambling movement of the current generation when they announced they would be offering Internet gambling to their residents. Now, Canadian provinces are lining up to follow B.C. into the online gaming industry.

Alberta and Ontario officials have made comments in recent months suggesting that they’re both willing to examine the possibility of online gambling regulations and the two provinces seem to be taking an if rather than when attitude towards online casinos.

Saskatchewan has now become the latest province to throw their name into the mix. The Saskatchewan government is moving slowly and ensuring that all precautions are taken before moving into the online gambling industry.

Saskatchewan will have experience to draw from when it comes to gambling. Already, 2 land based casinos exist in the province, leading residents to understand the dangers of casino gambling. Gaming Minister Ken Cheveldayoff believes it is time to keep Internet gaming revenue in the province.

"We're open to the idea," said Ken Cheveldayoff. "We want to learn more about it." If the province does become serious about advancing into the industry, there likely will be political pressure to come up with details on how problem gambling and other potential problems will be controlled.

Ken Cheveldayoff estimates that $40 million is spent annually by Saskatchewan residents at offshore online gambling sites. The Gaming Minister is hoping the province can give residents an option where that $40 million can stay within the borders of Saskatchewan.

British Columbia has already launched their gaming site, PlayNow.com, but the B.C. Lottery Corp. had to pull the site down just hours after launching because of a security breach issue.