BBC File on 4 — June 2025
Undercover investigation found self-excluded individuals able to access multiple Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs) in Southern England undetected. The Gambling Commission launched a formal investigation in response.
Source: BBC News
Gambling Commission enforcement — May 2025
An AGC was suspended for failure to participate in a self-exclusion scheme — the first such suspension. The Commission CEO addressed Bacta’s Annual Convention on heightened AGC scrutiny throughout 2025.
Source: Gambling Commission
Bacta Self-Exclusion Plan — Sept 2025
Bacta’s enhanced plan calls explicitly for ‘investment in advanced technology, including the development of a unified national scheme for operators’ — the precise need FRACT addresses.
Source: Bacta
Governance & Accountability
Clear accountability at every level of the supply chain. Named responsible persons. Documented controller responsibilities. Audit rights established. Annual review cycle mandated.
Human Agency & Oversight
Mandatory human-in-the-loop verification before any adverse action. No consequential decision based solely on FR output. Staff training required at every venue.
Privacy & Data Governance
UK GDPR / DPA 2018 compliant. DPIA mandatory. 24-hour deletion of alert images (hard rule). Data minimisation. Privacy notices and venue signage required.
Technical Robustness & Safety
NIST FRVT accuracy benchmarks required. Site-specific testing before go-live. Appropriate similarity threshold. 99.8% uptime SLA. Incident response plan.
Transparency & Explainability
Venue signage at all entry points. Published privacy notices. Explainable process for individuals. ICO registration required. FRACT accredited register published.
Non-Discrimination & Fairness
Bias audit required for accreditation. Demographic accuracy monitoring ongoing. Mandatory suspension if error rates cannot be mitigated. Equality Act 2010 compliance.
Questions about FRACT accreditation?
Learn more about the proposed standard, accreditation process, governance requirements and deployment expectations.
FRACT is a proposed cross-sector governance standard establishing minimum requirements for the ethical, lawful and technically robust deployment of facial recognition technology within UK gambling self-exclusion schemes.
No. FRACT is a voluntary accreditation framework that complements existing legal obligations under UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act and Gambling Commission requirements.
Gambling operators, technology suppliers and scheme administrators involved in self-exclusion programmes.
Yes. Human review is mandatory before any action is taken following a facial recognition match.
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