When Facebook changed its name to Meta on October 28, 2021, the word “metaverse” became a hot topic of conversation among people and businesses.
The Metaverse could open up more ways to gather information than traditional social media sites. From facial expressions to biometric data, the Metaverse has the potential to collect new and large amounts of personal information. This would let Meta target participants with even more personalized ads. With the Metaverse, Meta’s business model, which is based on ads, is even more dangerous to online privacy.
The concept of data privacy in a given field is dynamic and continually evolving. The most pressing privacy concerns for watchdogs in the Metaverse are discussed here.
Companies invest billions in improving telepresence and enabling people to relocate their lives online. Is the employment of avatars for communication in the virtual world of the future? The “Metaverse,” from a digital perspective, permeates every aspect of people’s life. As the Metaverse takes shape, many new cybersecurity concerns appear, and organizations need to start planning for them.
The Metaverse may be home to Avatars’ artificial intelligence-powered digital creations. If these innovations are found to be the work of AI rather than human brilliance, they may not be eligible for intellectual property rights.
Complex Metaverse Data Sharing and NFT
With the help of the Metaverse, data, files, and other digital assets will be easily transferable between devices. Video recordings of user-created racing avatars may be shared with others, and users can even challenge one another to wager-based races.
In the Metaverse, customers may buy digital items that improve their experience and deliver them to their houses. People will create their own material and experiences. Through photorealistic avatars, they may express their unique personalities in a world without boundaries on the number of users at once.
Blockchain in the Metaverse
Blockchain technology has the potential to contribute to the evolution of the Metaverse. Blockchain technology is a decentralized, distributed system for transferring and storing data safely. So far, its primary usage has been in financial dealings, but it might also be used in various other contexts.
Blockchain technology presents a promising solution for the Metaverse’s massive data and interaction needs. This may involve facilitating safe transactions and exchanges between users in the Metaverse, keeping tabs on who owns what in the virtual world, and so on. The Metaverse is still in its infancy of development, and it is unclear how blockchain technology may be applied in this setting.
Challenges for Privacy WatchDogs
New data-rich events and solutions that can improve our lives are where the Metaverse really shines. However, the success of the Metaverse depends on implementing a set of fundamental principles designed to protect data security and privacy.
Interoperability
To avoid the development of closed ecosystems, the Metaverse must be freely accessible and compatible with other systems. This compatibility is essential for bridging gaps and delivering a uniform service to users. If the Metaverse is open, users are not tied to any one service and may freely move their data across providers.
Decentralization System
What makes the Metaverse dangerous is that a small number of megacorporations will have the capacity to mediate our whole lives, selling access to our private information to the highest bidder.
If the Metaverse were decentralized, however, no one entity could be considered the “owner” of our data or have the authority to sell it. We may explore uncharted territories with a decentralized metaverse and create our ideal digital environments.
From Ad-Based to Subscription Model
If the Metaverse can successfully separate itself from Big Tech’s typical ad-based revenue model, it will be able to provide users with an experience unlike any other.
Researchers at PrivacyCircuit.com suggest that the Metaverse should adopt a subscription model to eliminate adverts and protect user privacy rather than functioning as a service meant to harvest data and monetize people’s lives.
Permission for Data Collection and Advertising
If ads-supported Metaverse must exist, all data collecting should need participant agreement. Companies and brands may start from scratch and promote more privacy-first monitoring options in the Metaverse with the future deprecation of cookie-based marketing.
Be Ready for the Future
As 3D encounters continue to blur the border between fiction and reality, the Metaverse is probably the next step in the evolution of the internet. Similar to the emergence of social media, legislators can be slow to respond to emerging technologies such as the Metaverse.
Before the Metaverse to be a safe and inviting environment for everyone, larger problems of codes of conduct, content moderation, sustainability, and accessibility must be addressed.
Despite its inherent dangers, the Metaverse aims to provide unique and engaging opportunities to work, play, and communicate with one another. Its emergence provides us with a further opportunity to reinvent data protection and place freedom and consent at the center of our new virtual communities.