Metaverse is Sitting on a Tinderbox of Data! Will it Explode?

Web 3.0 will usher in security for data in Metaverse. But how far is it possible?

Until the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out in 2018 most internet users did not have an inkling of how the internet as a safe space is a false concept. Users are data breeders with every interaction on the internet generating horde of personal information. That is the story of Web2. Now that Web 3.0 is here, the concept of Metaverse is supposed to ring a warning bell, for the immersive technologies the platform is going to implement to give users otherworldly virtual experiences. As predicted by Bloomberg, Metaverse as a virtual space will grow exponentially. It will grow by a whopping $800B by 2024. It translates into a lot of people and hence lots of transactions and hence opportunities for marketers and developers to prepare for the data strategies for Metaverse in scale, potential, and risk.  

Do Metaverse and Privacy Make Difficult Partners?

A vast amount of personal data will be collected as the number of interactions increases on Metaverse. When the added Social Media Metaverse platform comes into the picture, due to its immersive nature, and the period of time it will be used, there will be an explosion of user data to the minutest detail. Erasing the signs of digital existence is completely impossible as it is designed to be a repository of technosignatures of humans. The in-depth details will help advertisers harvest it for designing custom-made ads targeting the users without them being aware of it. In Metaverse, it is very difficult to distinguish between authentic content, and paid content promoted specifically for a person. CIOs though are still catching up with their digitization efforts and sketching AI strategies, they are yet to take to the idea of Metaverse.

The way out

Web3 being a more democratic and distributed space there is ample opportunity that the user data may not be used the way it is currently being used. This means Metaverse provides an incentive for data security. For Metaverse to achieve this goal, Web 3.0 has to work from scratch rebuilding security protocols pertaining to user data. Charting interoperability standards for Metaverse, which requires many layers of technology standards and protocols needs to be established and adopted for Metaverse platforms. Metaverse Security Forum, a forum that is supposed to dictate terms and conditions for harmonizing standards and best practices, is still clueless in terms of applying interoperability and security standards. It is very much evident that privacy at Metaverse cannot be imposed by Governments, at least going by the way how it took GDPR  20 years to implement the Data Protection Act of 1998. For now, it is only businesses and metaverse users who can act for themselves or the immediate beneficiaries. Companies should frame policies that determine how each entity displays the privacy notice, if that can be done collaboratively or how and when should user consent can be collected, or who is responsible for data being lost or stolen. What data-sharing processes can be put in place and how can they be implemented?