Privacy Policy

Version: 1.0  |  Last Updated: 29 October 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to Best Online Irish Casinos, accessible at barkers.ie (hereinafter referred to as "the Website", "we", "us", or "our"). We are committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of every individual who visits, browses, or otherwise interacts with our Website. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, the purposes for which it is processed, with whom it may be shared, how long we retain it, and the rights you hold over your own information.

This Policy has been prepared in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), as retained and supplemented in Irish law by the Data Protection Acts 1988–2018, and any subsequent amendments thereto. By continuing to use our Website you acknowledge that you have read and understood the practices described in this document.

This Privacy Policy forms part of a suite of legal documents governing your use of the Website. Please also review our Terms and Conditions and our Responsible Gaming page, which set out the broader rules of engagement with our content and services.

2. Data We Collect

We collect personal data through a number of means — some of which you provide directly, and some of which we gather automatically. The categories of data we may process are described below.

2.1. Data You Provide Directly

When you interact with features of the Website that require you to submit information — such as contact forms, newsletter sign-up boxes, survey responses, or enquiry emails — you may provide:

• Identity data: your first name, last name, and any username or screen name you choose.
• Contact data: your email address and, where voluntarily supplied, a telephone number or postal address.
• Communication content: the body of messages you send to us, feedback you submit, and any attachments you include.
• Preference data: your stated interests, chosen categories of iGaming content, and any marketing preferences you set.

2.2. Data Collected Automatically

When you visit the Website, certain technical and behavioural data is collected automatically through our servers and third-party analytics tools:

• Device and technical data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, screen resolution, and device identifiers.
• Usage data: pages visited, time spent on each page, links clicked, referring URLs, and navigation paths through the Website.
• Log data: server access logs, error logs, and timestamps associated with your session.
• Cookie and tracking data: identifiers stored on your device via cookies, pixels, and similar technologies (see Section 6 for full details).

2.3. Data from Third Parties

We may receive data about you from third-party sources, including:

• Analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics) that aggregate and share anonymised or pseudonymised audience data.
• Advertising and affiliate networks that report on the performance of campaigns linking to our Website.
• Social media platforms when you interact with our content on those platforms or use social-sharing features embedded in our Website.

We do not purchase bulk marketing lists or obtain personal data from data brokers. Any third-party data we process is subject to the same standards described in this Policy.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data collected via the Website for the purposes described below. We do not process your data in any manner that is incompatible with these stated purposes without first obtaining your consent or establishing a new lawful basis.

3.1. Provision and Operation of the Website

The primary purpose for processing certain technical data is to deliver the Website to your device, ensure pages load correctly, diagnose faults, and maintain the security and integrity of our systems. Without this processing, we could not operate the Website at all.

3.2. Analytics and Performance Improvement

We analyse aggregated and pseudonymised usage data to understand how visitors navigate our content, which sections attract the most engagement, and where the user journey can be improved. This analysis informs editorial decisions and technical optimisation of the Website.

3.3. Marketing and Communications

Where you have subscribed to our newsletter or otherwise consented to receiving marketing communications, we use your name and email address to send you curated updates about online casino reviews, bonus offers, industry news, and responsible gambling resources relevant to Ireland. You may withdraw consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us at support@barkers.ie.

3.4. Responding to Enquiries

When you submit an enquiry or complaint, we use the contact and communication data you provide to investigate the matter and respond appropriately. Records of these exchanges may be retained as part of our compliance obligations.

3.5. Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Certain processing activities are necessary to meet our obligations under applicable law, including data protection legislation, anti-spam regulations, and any requirements imposed by regulatory authorities in Ireland. This may include disclosures to competent authorities where legally required.

3.6. Responsible Gaming Information

We may use aggregated, non-identifiable data to develop and publish responsible gaming resources on the Website, including information about problem gambling support organisations. For more information, visit our Responsible Gaming page.

4. Legal Bases for Processing

Under the GDPR, every processing activity must rest on a valid legal basis. The following table summarises the legal bases we rely upon:

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have assessed that those interests are not overridden by your fundamental rights and freedoms. You have the right to object to processing carried out on this basis — see Section 9 for details of how to exercise your rights.

5. Data Sharing & Third Parties

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. However, certain operations of the Website require us to share data with trusted partners. The categories of recipients are:

5.1. Service Providers and Processors

We engage third-party service providers who process data on our behalf under written data processing agreements that bind them to GDPR-equivalent standards. These include:

• Web hosting and infrastructure providers — who store Website files and databases.
• Analytics platforms — such as Google Analytics, which processes usage data to generate audience reports.
• Email service providers — used to deliver newsletters and transactional emails.
• Content delivery networks (CDNs) — which cache and serve static assets to improve page-load performance.

5.2. Affiliate and Advertising Networks

Our Website operates within the iGaming affiliate ecosystem. We may share anonymised click-tracking identifiers and performance data with affiliate networks and online casino operators whose products are reviewed or listed on the Website. This data does not contain information that directly identifies you by name or email address.

5.3. Legal Authorities

We may disclose personal data to An Garda Síochána, the Data Protection Commission, or other competent public authorities when required to do so by law, court order, or in connection with the prevention or detection of crime.

5.4. Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or part of the Website's assets, personal data held by us may be transferred to the successor entity. We will notify you via a prominent notice on the Website and, where required by law, seek your consent before completing such a transfer.

6. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

The Website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies — including web beacons, pixels, and local storage — to deliver core functionality, measure site performance, and support advertising activities. A cookie is a small text file placed on your device by a web server.

6.1. Categories of Cookies We Use

• Strictly necessary cookies: Essential for the Website to function. They manage session state, security tokens, and consent records. You cannot opt out of these without affecting core functionality.
• Analytics and performance cookies: Collect pseudonymous data about how visitors use the Website (e.g., pages visited, session duration). We use this information to improve navigation and content.
• Functional cookies: Remember your preferences, such as your chosen language or whether you have dismissed a notification banner, to personalise your experience on return visits.
• Advertising and targeting cookies: Placed by our affiliate and advertising partners to track referrals, measure campaign effectiveness, and, where applicable, serve relevant advertisements. These may involve cross-site tracking.

6.2. Managing Your Cookie Preferences

On your first visit, a cookie consent banner will invite you to accept, reject, or customise non-essential cookies. You may update your preferences at any time via the cookie settings link in our website footer. You can also configure your browser to block or delete cookies; however, doing so may impair certain features of the Website. For guidance on managing cookies by browser type, consult your browser's help documentation or visit aboutcookies.org.

7. Data Security

We implement and maintain a range of technical and organisational security measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or disclosure. These measures include:

• Transport Layer Security (TLS/HTTPS) encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our servers.
• Access controls that restrict access to personal data to those team members and contractors who have a documented operational need to view it.
• Regular security assessments, including vulnerability scanning and software update cycles, to address emerging threats.
• Pseudonymisation and aggregation of analytics data wherever direct identification is not necessary.
• Incident response procedures to detect, contain, and report personal data breaches in accordance with our obligations under GDPR Article 33 (reporting to the Data Protection Commission within 72 hours where a breach is likely to result in risk to your rights and freedoms) and Article 34 (notification to affected individuals where the risk is high).

While we take every reasonable precaution, no transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is entirely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, and you transmit personal data to us at your own risk.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected and to comply with our legal obligations. Our general retention principles are as follows:

• Newsletter and marketing data: Retained for the duration of your subscription and for a period of up to 12 months following unsubscription or withdrawal of consent, after which it is securely deleted.
• Enquiry and correspondence records: Retained for up to 3 years from the date of last communication, unless a longer period is required by applicable law.
• Analytics and log data: Retained in pseudonymised form for a maximum of 26 months, in line with standard analytics platform retention settings, then automatically purged.
• Cookie consent records: Retained for 12 months or until you update your preferences, whichever occurs first.

When data is no longer required, it is either deleted or irreversibly anonymised so that it can no longer be associated with any identifiable individual. Residual copies held in secure backup systems are overwritten on a rolling basis according to our backup lifecycle policy.

9. Your Rights

As a data subject under the GDPR and the Data Protection Acts 1988–2018, you hold a comprehensive set of rights in relation to your personal data. Each right is explained in detail below, together with any applicable conditions, limitations, and the process for exercising it.

9.1. Right of Access (Article 15 GDPR)

You have the right to obtain confirmation of whether we process personal data about you and, if so, to receive a copy of that data along with supplementary information about the purposes, categories, recipients, and retention periods involved. Submit a Subject Access Request (SAR) to privacy@barkers.ie. We will respond within one calendar month of receipt, extendable by a further two months where requests are complex or numerous (with prior notification to you).

9.2. Right to Rectification (Article 16 GDPR)

If the personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request that we correct or supplement it without undue delay. Please provide as much detail as possible about the specific inaccuracy when making your request, to help us act swiftly and accurately.

9.3. Right to Erasure — "Right to Be Forgotten" (Article 17 GDPR)

You may request the deletion of your personal data where: it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected; you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis; you object to processing based on legitimate interests and we have no overriding grounds; the data has been unlawfully processed; or erasure is required to comply with a legal obligation. We will assess each request individually. Where data must be retained to comply with a legal obligation (e.g., tax or regulatory records), we will inform you of the reason for refusal.

9.4. Right to Restriction of Processing (Article 18 GDPR)

You may ask us to restrict the processing of your data — meaning we may store it but not actively use it — in circumstances where: the accuracy of the data is contested; processing is unlawful but you prefer restriction to erasure; we no longer need the data but you require it for the establishment or defence of legal claims; or you have objected to processing and we are verifying whether our legitimate grounds override yours.

9.5. Right to Data Portability (Article 20 GDPR)

Where processing is based on your consent or the performance of a contract and is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format (such as CSV or JSON), and to transmit that data to another controller where technically feasible. This right applies to data you have actively provided; it does not cover inferred data or aggregated analytics.

9.6. Right to Object (Article 21 GDPR)

You have the right to object at any time to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling carried out for those purposes. Upon receipt of your objection, we will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or processing is required for the establishment or defence of legal claims. You have an absolute right to object to processing for direct marketing purposes; we will honour such objections without delay.

9.7. Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making (Article 22 GDPR)

We do not currently make decisions about you that produce legal or similarly significant effects solely by automated means. Should we introduce such processes in the future, we will update this Policy and ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

9.8. Right to Withdraw Consent

Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out prior to withdrawal. To withdraw consent for marketing communications, click the unsubscribe link in any email or contact us at support@barkers.ie.

9.9. Right to Lodge a Complaint

If you believe we have processed your personal data in a manner that does not comply with applicable data protection law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission of Ireland (DPC):

• Website: www.dataprotection.ie
• Phone: +353 57 868 4800
• Post: 21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, D02 RD28, Ireland

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly before you approach the DPC. Please contact us first at privacy@barkers.ie and we will endeavour to resolve the matter promptly.

10. International Data Transfers

As a Website that operates with cloud-based infrastructure and internationally hosted third-party service providers, personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). We take the following steps to ensure such transfers comply with Chapter V of the GDPR:

• Adequacy decisions: Where the European Commission has determined that a recipient country provides an adequate level of data protection, we rely on that decision as the transfer mechanism.
• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs): For transfers to countries without an adequacy decision, we incorporate the current EU SCCs — as updated by Commission Implementing Decision 2021/914 — into our contracts with service providers.
• Supplementary measures: Where required by our transfer impact assessments, we apply additional technical safeguards such as end-to-end encryption and pseudonymisation to reduce the risk of data exposure in the recipient country.

Our principal third-party analytics provider, Google LLC, processes data in the United States under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and applicable SCCs. You may obtain a copy of the relevant transfer safeguards by contacting us at privacy@barkers.ie.

11. Minors

The Website publishes information, reviews, and guidance relating to online gambling. All gambling-related activities, including access to and use of gambling platforms featured on this Website, are restricted to individuals aged 18 years or older. This minimum age applies across the Republic of Ireland.

We do not knowingly collect, solicit, or retain personal data from individuals under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that a minor has submitted personal data to us, please contact us immediately at privacy@barkers.ie. Upon verification, we will take prompt steps to delete such data from our records. We encourage parents and guardians to use parental control tools and to maintain open conversations about responsible internet use and the risks associated with gambling content.

For further information about protecting younger people from gambling-related harm, please visit our Responsible Gaming page.

12. Changes to This Policy

We review this Privacy Policy periodically and may update it to reflect changes in our data processing practices, developments in applicable law, or guidance issued by the Data Protection Commission or the European Data Protection Board. The version number and "Last Updated" date at the top of this document will be amended each time a meaningful change is made.

Where changes are material — that is, where they significantly affect how we use your data or the rights available to you — we will provide a prominent notice on the Website and, where we hold your email address, notify you directly. Your continued use of the Website following the publication of an updated Policy constitutes acknowledgment of the revised terms. If you disagree with any changes, you should discontinue use of the Website and, if applicable, contact us to request erasure of your data.

13. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the manner in which we process your personal data, please contact us using the details below. We aim to acknowledge all enquiries within 48 hours and resolve them within the statutory timeframe.

When contacting us about a data rights request, please include sufficient information to allow us to verify your identity and locate the relevant data. We may ask for clarification to ensure we respond accurately and securely. We will never charge a fee for processing a rights request unless it is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in which case we will inform you before proceeding.

This Privacy Policy should be read alongside our Terms and Conditions and Responsible Gaming policy. All three documents together govern your relationship with Best Online Irish Casinos and barkers.ie.