AGENDA:
Introduction
Metaverse is defined as a vision for what the future will be like where personal and
commercial life is conducted digitally in parallel with our lives in the physical world. The
ultimate idea is a sort of second digital life for everyone to live online. The investment,
possibilities and vulnerabilities in the metaverse is gaining heavy traction. The intimate
nature of the metaverse and the data it creates will provide ample opportunities for
cybercriminals. Its potential is for disruptive change, and some of the key legal and
regulatory issues future stakeholders may need to consider.
Historical Conflict
Many were of the view that metaverse was far from pushing today’s online problems off the
front page, the metaverse heightens our challenges. Issues such as personal privacy,
marketplace competition, and misinformation only become greater challenges in the
metaverse due to the interconnectedness of that phenomenon. Rather than being distracted by
the shiny new bauble, policymakers need to focus on the underlying problems of the digital
revolution, which won’t go away with new technological developments.
The seminal asset, and thus the seminal issue, in the digital era is access to—and control of—
personal information. In the current online world, the digital companies have siphoned
personal information and then stored, manipulated, and repackaged that data in order to sell
access to targeted users. If the metaverse is moving to a persistent pseudo-world, then the
amount of data collected will be immense, as will the opportunity to monetize that data. In
the Metaverse, establishing which entity or entities have responsibility for determining how
and why personal data will be processed, and who processes personal data on behalf of
another, may not be easy. It will likely involve picking apart a tangled web of relationships,
and there may be no obvious or clear answers.
Major Stakeholders
