Russell Slade Suing Football Data Collection Businesses

[DaveSmithRules]

Russell is not a fan of Football Radar then...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58873132

[CamPie]

Russell is not a fan of Football Radar then...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58873132

I have just read that too. Definitely could have an impact on the Football Radar income stream.

[The_Don_ORiordan]

Watch out UTM !

I think it’s has some legitimacy, but a lot of the data is very much in the public domain. And if clubs and the players have made it so, it might be difficult for them to prove harm or unlawful processing unless the data is really incorrect. We’ll see.

[macstop]

So are football clubs selling this information to Radar from those gadgets the players ware on their backs, similar to businesses selling your phone number to other businesses i suppose?

[Bushwacka]

So are football clubs selling this information to Radar from those gadgets the players ware on their backs, similar to businesses selling your phone number to other businesses i suppose?

I'd guess this sort of thing will be the sticking point.

As someone else has mentioned, a lot of the data is already in the public domain; there's nothing to stop me paying to get in a ground and recording my own stats. Do these belong to the player? It will be hard to prove that they do, especially as a lot of them (successful passes, tackles, dribbles etc.) are opinion, not fact. The only real facts is the data collected electronically (and goals scored etc but that is manifestly in the public domain).

[Chicken Balti Pie]

I can't see how this won't get thrown out? All this data being collected is either public information or can be easily determined from public data. If it was data such as heart traces and such during games, I could understand but it's not. It's performance data that anyone who watches a game can work out, it's not a private game, members of the public watch and many games are available to stream all around the world so therefore they can have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding performance data.

The argument of height is also a moot point. You can work out the heights of every player on the pitch without needing to even be passed any "personal data" you can work out the goalkeeper's height by working out how far up the goal post he measures up to (the post being a known value). From there you can then work out every other player from corner kicks and so on if they crowd the keeper or even from the hand shakes or ceremony at the start of the game.

TLr - Russell Slade is going to be a failure in litigation as well as in football management

[Bushwacka]

The only argument they may have is that companies are holding incorrect data about them, which they have a right to be rectified. Maybe there will be a token agreement with the companies to keep the players sweet.

And if this fails, you may see players taking out libel actions.

[jacobncfc]

The only argument they may have is that companies are holding incorrect data about them, which they have a right to be rectified. Maybe there will be a token agreement with the companies to keep the players sweet.

And if this fails, you may see players taking out libel actions.

Yeah, it’s an odd story. I don’t really see how a player can claim to ‘own’ data on how many passes they make in a football match.

[Bushwacka]

Yeah, it’s an odd story. I don’t really see how a player can claim to ‘own’ data on how many passes they make in a football match.

You do, though, have a right of access to data that an organisation holds about you. Players could, feasibly, request their own data from an analytics company and then sell it on themselves to other companies.

Like I say, I think we'll see a token settlement, but nothing like what the players will be after.

[legs77]

I read that as players want paying for it and what is so personal about some of the stuff.

Fans/scouts have eyes they can see how tall or quick players are.

As for you wouldnt like data going around in a "normal job" it does kind of happen as companies get reviewed on the internet so if you have 2 star reviews you are not likely to get much work.