We all know the so-called “slot machines” that are found everywhere (in bars, in tobacco shops …). These are also found in the local “casinos” that are mushrooming in every inhabited centre.
The use, or rather, abuse of this form of gambling is becoming a truly alarming social problem.
The Italian State has recently submitted proposals to limit their use.
For example, the proposal by Sen. Divina to link the machines to the state’s fiscal system, in order to prevent citizens from losing substantial amounts of money that might negatively affect the family’s finances … Or the recent “Dignity Decree”, that stipulates the use of the health card in order to be able to gain access to the slot machine.
In our opinion these proposals have some shortcomings, namely the privacy violation as well as the substantial modifications that would need to be implemented in all the already installed “slot” machines fleet.
After all, the need for control on this type of gambling is necessary since there are many minors who use this form of gambling.
The CNR survey has shown that the number of minors addicted to this type of gambling is always increasing.
In our opinion the idea of prohibiting minors from using slot machines, through the simple use of a health card, like the cigarette machines, is useless. This is due to the fact that access to the service (as you can see in the “Automated Distribution” page) is possible through the use of an expired health card or a card belonging to a deceased person.
Therefore the use of the card by the legitimate owner cannot be ensured.
First of all, the PrivacyCard guarantees that the person who has inserted the card is the legitimate owner, through the digital fingerprint verification. It is also very important to safeguard the client’s privacy.
In addition, this might eliminate the problem related to gambling by minors without the need to modify the existing slot machines.
The only requirement is the card reader that has to enable or disable the machine’s payment system. This ensures that the slot machine’s notes and coins acceptors become operational once the card is inserted and validated, through the fingerprint verification.
In addition, it will also be possible to ensure that the user’s bets and wins will be memorised on the same card. In this manner the citizen will always be able to keep an eye on the daily (weekly or monthly) bets and this information will obviously serve as a deterrent for any extremes.
In addition, it will also be possible for the same user to declare his/her risk appetite when purchasing the card. That is, declare the amount of euro that can be gambled every month and the same card will not allow any additional bets once the threshold is reached.
