Opening a gambling account means verifying age, identity and place of residence. This policy explains what that involves in practice: what is collected, why, and what you can ask for.
1. Data controller
Société des loteries du Québec (Loto-Québec)
500 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC H3A 3G6
NEQ 1144330454
A person responsible for the protection of personal information is designated within the organisation, under the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information (CQLR, c. A-2.1). They answer for decisions on collecting, using, keeping, disclosing and destroying information, and they handle requests for access, correction and withdrawal of consent.
How to reach them:
- by email — info@espacejeux.co, with “protection of personal information” in the subject line;
- by post — Responsable de la protection des renseignements personnels, 500 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC H3A 3G6;
A written request receives a written answer within 30 days of being received. If more time is needed, you are told before the deadline, with the reason. Before an access or correction request can be handled, your identity has to be confirmed — that check is required, not an extra hurdle.
2. Information collected
- Identity — surname, first name, date of birth, occupation.
- Contact details — Québec mailing address, email address, phone number.
- Account — username, hashed password, preferences, gambling limits, request history.
- Verification — supporting documents provided during identity validation.
- Gambling activity — bets, deposits, withdrawals, prizes, dates and times of transactions.
- Technical data — IP address, device and browser type, pages viewed, location signals confirming presence in Québec.
The information requested in public forms is limited to what is needed to handle the request concerned.
3. Purposes
- Verifying eligibility: age, residence in Québec, presence in the province, absence of self-exclusion.
- Opening and administering the account, handling deposits, bets, withdrawals and prizes.
- Applying gambling limits, breaks and self-exclusions.
- Preventing fraud, duplicate accounts and money laundering.
- Answering requests sent to customer service.
- Meeting legal, regulatory and tax obligations.
- Measuring site use in aggregate, where you consent to it.
4. Basis for collection
Personal information is collected only where necessary for Loto-Québec to exercise its functions, administer its programs and services, comply with applicable legal requirements, or for another purpose permitted by Québec law. Where consent is required, it is obtained in accordance with the applicable legislation.
Optional audience measurement and promotional electronic communications are subject to the applicable consent requirements, and can be declined without affecting access to the service.
Messages that are necessary to operate the account — transaction confirmations, security alerts, notices about limits, breaks or self-exclusion, and communications required by law — are not optional and are sent whatever your marketing preferences.
5. Disclosure to third parties
Information is neither sold nor rented. It may be disclosed:
- to providers who process payments, host systems or verify identities, only as far as their mandate requires;
- to gambling oversight authorities, within their supervisory powers;
- to tax or judicial authorities, where the law requires it;
- to establishments, systems or authorised service providers involved in administering and enforcing an applicable self-exclusion measure, where permitted or required by law.
Providers are bound by contractual confidentiality and security commitments.
6. Disclosure outside Québec
Before personal information is communicated outside Québec, a privacy impact assessment is carried out in accordance with Québec law. Such information is communicated only where the assessment demonstrates that it will receive adequate protection, and the communication is governed by a written agreement providing appropriate safeguards.
7. Retention periods
Personal information is retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and in accordance with applicable legal requirements and retention schedules — in particular accounting, tax and anti-money-laundering obligations. At the end of the applicable retention period, it is securely destroyed or anonymised where permitted by law.
Information tied to a self-exclusion is kept for the whole length of the measure, since deleting it would make the exclusion inoperative. An account that has been inactive for 36 consecutive months may be closed in accordance with the applicable account conditions.
8. Security
Exchanges with the site are encrypted. Passwords are stored as hashes, access to data is restricted by role, and sensitive operations are logged.
In the event of a confidentiality incident presenting a risk of serious injury, the people concerned and the competent authority are notified as the law requires.
9. Your rights
- Access — obtain a copy of the information about you.
- Correction — have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected.
- Withdrawal of consent — for optional processing.
- Technological format — where applicable, obtain computerised personal information collected from you in a structured and commonly used technological format, as provided by Québec law.
A request is handled within 30 days. Proof of identity may be required, so that your information is not disclosed to somebody else. Some rights have limits: gambling and exclusion records must be kept even after an account is closed.
10. Cookies
The site uses cookies necessary to run it and, with your agreement, audience measurement and preference cookies. The details and how to change your choices are in the Cookie Policy.
11. Minors
The service is not intended for people under 18 and no information about them is knowingly collected. If an account is found to have been opened by a person under 18, it may be closed and the associated personal information will be handled and retained in accordance with applicable Québec law and retention requirements.
12. Complaints
To exercise a right or file a complaint, write to the person responsible for the protection of personal information — contact details in section 1 — or use the Contact us page.
A request moves faster when it says what you are after: access to personal information, correction of inaccurate information, withdrawal of consent where applicable, or closure of your gaming account. You do not have to give a reason for asking.
Closing an account does not necessarily result in the deletion of personal information that must be retained under applicable law.
If the answer does not satisfy you, or if no answer arrives within the deadline, you may refer the matter to the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (opens in a new window). The Commission reviews complaints about the protection of personal information and can order corrective measures. Filing with it is free and does not require a lawyer.
A question about this page? Write to customer service. Contact us.