The Australian Privacy Commissioner says it is checking to see whether laws may have been broken amid claims staff at gambling venues have been "spying" on patrons.
It comes as the company at the centre of the allegations has referred the claims to the regulator.
Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie says he has been approached by at least two former staff from the ALH Group, which is owned by Woolworths, who have spoken out about alleged "predatory" behaviours at poker machine venues across the country.
Mr Wilkie claims the whistleblowers have told of how staff have been directed to befriend gamblers to find out as much personal information they can - such as their work, the name of their partner, their favourite footy team or drinks - in order to keep them at the venue for longer and spend more.
"A reasonable person would say that is quite predatory and immoral behaviour for a gambling venue to do everything to …effectively lie to people," Mr Wilkie told ABC radio on Wednesday.
Mr Wilkie alleges information is then shared across the network of ALH pokies venues throughout the country.
"It’s one thing to run a business and try and maximize your profits but it's another thing to keep a secret database of as much sensitive personal information as you can harvest," he said.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie Source: AAP
Mr Wilkie says it is much different to loyalty programs because consumers opt-in to those schemes and have the ability to find out what kind of information is being stored about them.
"It's increasing the amount of time and the regularity with which patrons come to [spend at] Woolies pubs and with that will come an increase rate of gambling addiction."
The comments come as Tasmanians prepare to go the polls this weekend.
ALH Group said it had notified the independent regulator in Queensland and was ready to provide any information it needed.
"There is a line which must be respected between legitimate customer service and loyalty initiatives that are part and parcel of every hospitality business and the requirements of the RSG and RSA codes," it said in a statement.
"If there are instances where that line has been crossed ALH is committed to taking the necessary steps to rectify any breach and address any non-compliant behaviour."
Woolworths said it was concerned about the allegations.
"At Woolworths, our priorities and values must always match those of our customers and communities we operate in and this includes taking important steps to ensure we, through ALH, are a responsible gaming operator," Gordon Cairns, Chairman, Woolworths Group said in a statement.
The Privacy Commissioner said claims such as this highlight the importance of privacy processes within business and government agencies.
"My office is making inquiries to determine whether personal information of individuals is being managed in "accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act)," the commissioner said in a statement.
"Allegations such as this highlight the importance of business and government agencies having effective privacy governance processes in place to ensure that the personal information they are entrusted with is handled sensitively and is not collected unnecessarily or mishandled.
"Failure to do this could not only lead to a business or government agency being in breach of the Privacy Act, but could also result in significant reputational harm."
