Metaversed

Chapter 10Privacy and Safety in the Metaverse

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.

—Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Between creating an interoperable way to completely access its full extent and linking open areas with several different walled gardens, one of the main promises of the metaverse is to provide you with a customized version of it—being able to wander around and interact with digital and physical elements in an increasingly bespoke way. The metaverse takes personalization to a whole new level. What powers that individual experience? Data.

Much of the discussion around data in the news today is focused on what is gathered via the Internet. There is data from social media, search engines, online retailers. The data that's collected goes well beyond the information you provide on registration forms. It's data about what you search for and your journey through the Internet—each and every time you log in. This kind of data improves your experience (for example, not having to look at the same news stories, not having to reenter your credit card information). The size of data you alone provide is massive, even if you don't see it. There is a constant debate about how much data should be tracked, as we don't want Big Tech to know “too much” about us. But on the flip side, we want our Internet experience to be easy and personal. It's ultimately about the value of a customized experience versus how much data is being tracked. ...