How to Make Sure Your Personal Data is Safe at Online Casinos

While it’s true that the majority of online casinos are operated above board, there will always be the rare few that are less than scrupulous. The good news, however, is that these are easy to spot if you know what to look for, like whether they’re licensed (and thus regulated), or not.

All reputable and trusted online casinos, including those that welcome players from South Africa, are licensed in one or more of the world’s recognised online gambling jurisdictions. These include Antigua and Barbuda, Malta, Gibraltar, Kahnawake, the UK, (Canada) and Curacao (Netherlands Antilles). You’ll find a casino’s licensing information on the bottom of its homepage. If you can’t find any, leave the casino.

Another way to spot if an online or mobile casino is on the level is to examine its game providers. Although online casino game vendors are a dime a dozen, only a handful supply the world’s best casinos. Some of these include Betsoft, 1X2gaming, Rival, Aristocrat, Playtech, Amatic, Amuzi, Realtime Gaming, NetEnt and Microgaming.

If in doubt, conduct a web search on a casino and/or its respective software partners and if you come across a worryingly high number of negative reviews, articles or blogs, just stay clear. Thankfully in this day and age where so many people are online and connected and only too happy to share their opinions, nothing kills bad casinos faster than negative word of mouth.< Incidentally, you may be pleased to know that Zebra Casino only features the world’s best and most reputable South African online casinos all of which have been vetted thoroughly by our team of online casino reviewers. Any casino sites that don’t make the grade you won’t find listed here. Furthermore, the banking options at these casinos are all safe, secure and regulated!

The general rule of thumb regarding online casino banking methods i.e. deposit and withdrawal options is ‘the more the merrier.’ In other words, seek out casinos that accept a wide variety of payment options in multiple categorises.

For instance, major credit and debit cards (like Visa and MasterCard), electronic bank transfers (EFTs) with any of South Africa’s major banks, e-wallets (like Neteller, Skrill and EcoPayz), wire transfers, instant deposits (SID Instant EFT) and even Bitcoin, the world’s first and most popular cryptocurrency.

If ever you see a range of payment methods accepted by South African online casino sites that include those listed above and others, you can rest assured that the casino will use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and/or TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocols to keep your payment info safe and private.

If a casino being licensed and regulated is not enough of a security blanket for you, you can also look out for ‘stamps’ or ‘seals’ of approval issued by one or more leading online gambling industry independent testing and /or standards authorities.

Online casinos use the services of these independent 3rd party firms to examine and evaluate each and every aspect of their platform, processes, RNG (Random Number Generator), games, payment gateways, customer care facilities, information storage and much more.

Only if a casino passes these assessments with flying colours are they permitted to display the respective seal or stamp of approval on their site. These seals are usually linked to the casino’s actual certificate to demonstrate to players that its games are fair, it is run honestly and responsibly, and it keeps all data safe and protected.

Arguably the best known of these authorities is eCOGRA (e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance), the seal of which you’ll find proudly displayed on many highly ranked casino sites. Started in 2003, this UK firm is an internationally recognised testing agency that certifies online gambling systems and software.

Another is TST Labs (Technical Systems Testing), launched in 1993. It too offers an assortment of consulting and testing services for the land and online gambling industries, and in 2010 became part of Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), in a move that both broadened and improved its global reach and testing capabilities.

Whenever you sign up for a new online or mobile casino account (you can use the same login details to access either) you are required to choose a username and password. These are literally the key to you getting access to any online casino.

While you can choose pretty much any username (provided it’s not already in use by another player at the casino) you should always be very mindful about setting your password. In other words choose a word or letter/number string impossible for anyone to guess and different from all your other passwords.

If you have to write down your online casino name and password, be sure to keep it in a safe place or even in an encrypted folder on your computer that nobody else can access. While hackers are unlikely to go after your casino account, you don’t want your children to either. There is no harm in being diligent.

While from time to time you may have to contact casino customer care via either Live Chat, email or telephone, wait for the customer support agent ask you for information, and only give them what they ask for i.e. keep your information on a need to know basis.

While casino customer support staff are thoroughly vetted and thus considered to be 100% trustworthy, don’t be tempted to volunteer sensitive financial information that they don’t specifically require. And as obvious as it sounds, especially do not disclose your account password unless there is a very specific reason to do so.

Always bear in mind that although Rand online casinos are all about providing you with hours of fun and entertainment, there is always real money is at stake which is why you must always be vigilant with your login details, financial transactions and any personal interactions. Keep your information to yourself whenever possible.

The prospect of a website sharing your personal information can be extremely concerning, which is why online casinos always publish detailed and comprehensive privacy policies on their sites. Most casinos will collect and use your information in some form.

The good news is that their privacy policies are designed to tell you exactly how and why, and within the data protection laws of the countries in which they operate. In other words, privacy policies are designed to put your mind at rest that a casino will never sell nor share any of your information unless stipulated in the policy.

As mentioned above, most casinos will bend over backwards to make their players feel at ease so they keep on returning and depositing, and easing their privacy fears plays a major role in achieving this. It’s not surprising that many of the world’s most popular virtual or remote casinos are also some of the most transparent.

Privacy policies typically cover the type of information they collect, how they collect it, how they use it, what role cookies and google analytics plays (if applicable), who they share the information with and why, how long they keep it and importantly, exactly how they keep this information protected and safeguarded 24/7.

If after reading a casino’s privacy policy you’re uncomfortable with any aspect of it, simply don’t sign up with the casino. You should be aware though that much of the information collected by casinos is used for research and marketing purposes to help them gauge the most popular games and what other games you might like.