Introduction

Before we start talking about privacy in metaverse let’s talk about when this term introduced and what is metaverse. Most of us think that metaverse is a new concept but it’s not. Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash introduced the concept of metaverse for the first time, and Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel Ready Player One reimagined it as the “Oasis.”[1] The metaverse is described as the inevitable evolution of the internet. It is a virtual world where millions or billions of people live, learn, work, shop, and interact with each other from the comfort of their houses in the physical world. It’s a new world, where computer screens have become portals to a 3D virtual realm that’s palpable – like real life, only bigger and better. Basically, we can say that the metaverse is the virtual reality serves as a computing platform for living a second life online.  But to run this virtual world a billion tons of data required and with those billion tons of data, a thousand tons of problem regarding protection of data arises. In this article, first, we are going to cover what is the definition of privacy in the metaverse, and how does it differ from traditional understandings of privacy? And second, how can we ensure that individuals are aware of the risks associated with sharing personal information in the metaverse, and that they are equipped with the tools and knowledge to protect their privacy and data? And finally, what are the implications of cross-platform data sharing and interoperability on user privacy in the metaverse, and how can they be addressed? Ultimately, this article talks about the challenges and opportunities for data protection and privacy in metaverse.

What is the definition of privacy in the metaverse, and how does it differ from traditional understandings of privacy?

Privacy in the metaverse refers to the protection of personal information, including any data that reveals something about an individual’s physical, medical, physiological, economic, cultural, or social status.[2] Unlike traditional understandings of privacy, which focus on an individual’s expectation of privacy or the right to be let alone,[3] metaverse privacy concerns the participants represented as avatars inside the metaverse environment. The legal landscape of the metaverse is complex and still developing, presenting several challenges and considerations for intellectual property, privacy, and jurisdiction.[4] Some of the limitations of the metaverse may include weaker social connections, the possibility of privacy impingement, the commission of various crimes due to the virtual space and anonymity of the metaverse; and maladaptation to the real world for students whose identity has not been established.[5] In metaverse users share even more personal data than they do on traditional platforms, the more concern in metaverse is the brain – computer interfaces (BCI), this technology will track brain wave patterns and deduct users thought processes. Moreover, according to research findings, eye-tracking data, such as gaze direction and pupil reactivity, has the potential to implicitly reveal a user’s “biometric identity, gender, age, ethnicity, body weight, personality traits, drug consumption habits, emotional state, skills and abilities, fear, interests, and sexual preferences.”

How can we ensure that individuals are aware of the risks associated with sharing personal information in the metaverse, and that they are equipped with the tools and knowledge to protect their privacy and data?   

To ensure that individuals are aware of the risks associated with sharing personal information in the metaverse and equipped with the tools and knowledge to protect their privacy and data, several measures can be taken. Firstly, there should be comprehensive education and awareness campaigns to inform individuals about the potential risks and how to protect themselves. This education should cover topics such as personal information leakage, eavesdropping, unauthorized access, phishing, data injection, broken authentication, insecure design, and more.[6] Secondly, ethical considerations should be taken into account, especially in the use of the metaverse in education, as personal information, identity, and privacy appear difficult to protect within a metaverse context.[7]Thirdly, enterprises should be aware of the risks of privacy, property rights, and economy when using the metaverse for brand promotion and marketing. Fourthly, proprietary algorithms should be developed to process and analyse the complex data generated in adaptive interactions, which challenges the privacy security of user data in the metaverse.[8] Fifthly, fundamental challenges such as scalability and interoperability can arise in metaverse security provisioning owing to the intrinsic characteristics of metaverse, such as immersive realism, hyper spatiotemporal, sustainability, and heterogeneity.[9] Sixthly, federated learning can be applied to the metaverse to protect the data privacy of participants and reduce the need for high computing power and high memory on servers.[10] Finally, private and secure mechanisms for privatizing sensitive data attributes and securing machine learning algorithms running in a distributed manner within the metaverse platforms should be developed.[11]

What are the implications of cross-platform data sharing and interoperability on user privacy in the metaverse, and how can they be addressed?

The metaverse’s cross-platform data sharing and interoperability have profound implications for user privacy. While enabling seamless movement and data exchange between virtual environments, these advancements raise concerns about data collection, tracking, security, consent, and anonymization. To address these issues, robust privacy regulations are necessary, emphasizing transparent data practices, user consent, and control. Implementing encryption, secure protocols, and rigorous security measures across platforms helps protect against breaches and unauthorized access. Granting users granular control over data sharing and offering customizable privacy settings empowers individuals. Anonymizing and aggregating data safeguards privacy while enabling personalized experiences. Educating users about the implications and fostering transparent communication builds trust. Privacy-focused design principles and privacy-by-design approaches are essential for the metaverse to ensure individual privacy rights while leveraging the benefits of cross-platform data sharing and interoperability.

Conclusion

Seeing the current situation, the use of the metaverse is like double-edged sword. Its time to wake up to reality that metaverse is going to stay and grow in coming future due to which data protection and privacy concerns are going to arise. Privacy in metaverse is totally different from the tradition understanding of privacy, its emphasis on the control of personal information in the context of multiple identities, the new opportunities for data collection and use, and the blurred distinction between public and private spaces. So, it’s important to education, and take vital measures to safeguard personal information and privacy in this evolving digital landscape. And due to cross-platform data sharing a lot of implications are also arises regarding data collection, tracking, tracking, security, consent, and anonymization. To counter this issues implementation of robust regulations, encryption, user consent, anonymization, education, and privacy-focused design to foster trust and maintain a delicate balance.

Footnotes

[1] Andrew Morse & Scott Stein, The Metaverse Is on the Way: Here’s What You Need to Know, CNET (Mar. 27, 2022, 7:16 AM), The Metaverse Is on the Way: Here’s What You Need to Know – CNET.

[2] Glorin Sebastian, A Descriptive Study on Metaverse: Cybersecurity Risks, Controls, and Regulatory Framework (January 2, 2023). International Journal of Security and Privacy in Pervasive Computing, Volume 15 • Issue 1, 2023, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4316659.

[3] Julie Manning Magid, Mohan V. Tatikonda, and Philip L. Cochran, Radio Frequency Identification and Privacy Law: An Integrative Approach (February, 22 2009). American Business Law Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1, Spring 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1347762.

[4] Maria Kalyvaki, Navigating the Metaverse Business and Legal Challenges: Intellectual Property, Privacy, and Jurisdiction, Journal of Metaverse, 3 (1), pp. 87-92

[5] Bokyung Kye, Nara Han, Eunji Kim, Yeonjeong Park, Soyoung Jo, Educational applications of metaverse: possibilities and limitations, Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 13 Dec 2021, 18:32, DOI: 10.3352/jeehp.2021.18.32.

[6] Yan Huang, Yi (Joy) Li , and Zhipeng Cai, Security and Privacy in Metaverse: A Comprehensive Survey, Big Data Mining and Analytics, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 234-247, June 2023, DOI : 10.26599/BDMA.2022.9020047.

[7] Wentao Chen, Jinyu Zhang, Zhonggen Yu, A Bibliometric Analysis of the Use of the Metaverse in Education Over Three Decades, International journal of information and communication technology education: an official publication of the Information Resources Management Association 19(1):1-16, DOI: 10.4018/IJICTE.322101.

[8] Hong Wu, Wenxiang Zhang, Digital Identity, Privacy Security and their Legal Safeguards in the Metaverse, Security and Safety, 2023.

[9] Yuntao Wang, Zhou Su, Ning Zhang, Rui Xing, Dongxiao Liu, Tom H. Luan, Xuemin Shen, A Survey on Metaverse: Fundamentals, Security, and Privacy, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 2022.

[10] Yao Chen, Shan Huang, Wensheng Gan, Gengsen Huang, Yongdong Wu, Federated Learning for Metaverse: A Survey, Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2023, Pages 1151–1160, https://doi.org/10.1145/3543873.3587584.

[11] Vesal Ahsani, Ali Rahimi, Mehdi Letafati, Babak Hossein Khalaj, Unlocking Metaverse-as-a-Service The three pillars to watch: Privacy and Security, Edge Computing and Blockchain, arXiv:2301.01221, 2023.