Technical Requirements for Online Bookmakers in Poland: Data Archiving, Servers and Audits

A Polish mutual betting permit is not only a legal authorisation; it is a technical specification. The Gambling Act and its implementing regulations set out how an online bookmaker must record, store and make available betting data, and how the platform must handle players. Operators used to lighter regimes often underestimate the engineering work involved. Here is what is required.

The archiving obligation

Every online betting operator must archive all data exchanged between the operator and the participant, including bets placed, stakes, odds, results and payouts, on an archiving device. The device must be located in Poland or, subject to conditions including guaranteed access for Polish authorities, in another EU or EEA member state. Data must be recorded in real time, protected against alteration and retained for a statutory period, and the authorities must be able to access it on demand.

Platform and domain

The betting website must operate under the domain specified in the permit, and changes to the domain require the Minister’s approval. The permit application must include a technical description of the system, its security measures and the archiving solution, and the operator must notify material changes. Servers hosting the betting platform itself may be located outside Poland, but the archiving device and access requirements remain.

Player registration and verification

Registration requires identification of the player, including verification of age and identity, before betting is permitted. Operators must implement age verification measures at registration and prevent participation by minors. Identity verification methods have evolved with AML requirements and electronic identification tools, but the obligation to verify before play is absolute.

Responsible-gambling tools

Operators must adopt and implement responsible-gambling regulations approved as part of the permit, including deposit and time limits available to players, self-exclusion options, information on the risks of gambling and warnings displayed on the site. The regulator reviews these mechanisms during inspections.

Reporting and audits

Operators must submit periodic reports on turnover, tax and operations, and the customs and tax administration can inspect systems, request data from the archiving device and verify compliance with the technical documentation. Discrepancies between declared and archived data are a serious matter with tax and permit consequences.

Planning the build

The archiving solution, the domain, verification flows and responsible-gambling features should be designed into the platform before the permit application, since the application describes them and the operator is bound by what it declares. Retrofitting after approval is possible but requires notifications and, in some cases, consent.

Our licensing practice works with operators’ technical teams to prepare compliant system documentation for Polish permit applications.