Over the past few weeks, the Police from several Brazilian states carried out operations against the so-called Jogo do Tigrinho – a type of online casino that promises easy winnings for gamblers, creating the risk of addicting participants.
At the end of June, a nurse from Piracicaba, in the interior of São Paulo, was located after having been missing for a week. The family believes that she disappeared after getting into debt because of Jogo do Tigrinho.
Last week, the São Paulo Public Security Department reported that, from last year until last Thursday (27), around 500 incidents related to Jogo do Tigrinho had been registered at police stations in the state.
Professor André Lima, who teaches Information Technology courses at the Catholic University of Brasília, explains that Jogo do Tigrinho is similar to traditional slot machines.
“Although, The difference between it and older machines is that it is software, not a machine that has its programming ready. . The software gives you much greater programming power. And this is one of the questions that has been appearing in the investigations: what is in this algorithm?”, he asks.
The expert warns that it is possible to manipulate the algorithms so that the results are altered, that is, to control when bettors will win or lose.
“There may be some paths in the software programming in the algorithm that lead the person to lose or have a certain level of gains and then this does not happen,” he explains.
Lima adds, however, that to be certain whether or not there is manipulation, an external audit of the algorithm is necessary. And, according to the professor, there is a lack of transparency regarding the codes used.
“We can guarantee that it has or that it does not have [manipulação]“We can’t say for sure. But yes, there is a possibility. All code can be updated at any time. So, there may also be new features, as well as some type of change.”
The professor adds that, regardless of whether there is manipulation or not, this type of gambling is, mathematically, more favorable to the casino than to the player. “This makes the player addicted, because he wins once, wins again, and thinks he can always win.”
Demo versions
Investigations carried out in several Brazilian states show that developers of this type of application create demo versions of the games.
These demo accounts, as they are called, They are used by influencers, who publish videos on social media in which they supposedly earn a large amount of money in just one game.
“These demo versions can be programmed to give the false impression that the person will win more in that type of game,” says the professor.
Risk to user privacy
In addition to the possibility of addiction and financial losses, the expert adds that this type of platform can pose a risk to the security of users’ data.
Casino games are prohibited in Brazil. For this reason, they are hosted on servers in other countries. Therefore, they are not subject to the regulations set out in the General Data Protection Law (LGPD).
Among the information that can be collected by the platforms, warns the professor, are the bettor’s bank details.
Source: CNN Brasil
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