Metaverse IRL: Tackling Privacy Amid the Rampant Hype and Burst of Deals

Privacy & Data Security Chair /people/daniel-m-goldberg/Daniel M. Goldberg and Interactive Entertainment Co-Chair Gregory Boyd are quoted in Cybersecurity Law Report’s article, “Metaverse IRL: Tackling Privacy Amid the Rampant Hype and Burst of Deals.” The article discusses privacy issues that lawyers have encountered during real-life metaverse dealmaking and counseling.

Daniel is quoted saying, “Higher sales of headsets and the rise of platforms in 2022 raises the possibility of a mobilization to provide metaverse app experiences. Within the platforms, there will be opportunities for developers to release and be part of that. I see this as most comparable to the app gold rush of the early 2010s when Apple’s App Store opened.” Apple is working on a headset and platform, and has obtained trademarks for Reality One and Reality Pro. “When Apple opens its Reality Whatever, a number of companies can rush out and try to build the first apps for that Reality metaverse,” Daniel said. 

The emergence of this new tech market follows the pattern that innovation darts ahead of careful privacy planning. Daniel says, “A lot of these metaverse companies start off scrappy and small, and their goal is just to get the product out there. They’re not always thinking about the privacy issues when they explode. Then they have to retroactively figure it out.” Over half the young tech companies that Gregory Boyd encounters have run up a so-called privacy debt. Greg is quoted saying, “It’s probably seven out of ten. ‘We have a product making a lot of money. Can you help us shove some privacy in here?’”

Daniel says, “Metaverse privacy work, at core, involves upholding longstanding principles.” “Privacy is supposed to be technology agnostic.” Immersive worlds, for example, have faced COPPA restrictions since 1998, he observed.

Full article here. (Behind paywall)