The Dark Side Of The Metaverse — Should We Be Worried?
Today we’re exploring the metaverse and some of the not-so-wonderful concerns that it’s raising. After that, we’ll give you an overview of what looks to be a very busy week in the markets. Let’s go!
metaverse safety concerns
The buzz around the metaverse continues to grow day by day, yet many are now raising concerns about the potential risks that this wild west-like environment, somewhere between the physical and virtual world, poses.
Speaking of our physical world, digital commerce already has so many money laundering, phishing, piracy, and fraud concerns. Is it therefore inevitable that the metaverse will also follow suit?
Any situation in which people make and sell things to others must be subject to some degree of regulation. Yet, the threat of having your money stolen is one thing, something even more important might be at risk as you enter the metaverse — your identity.
The metaverse and identity
When entering into “free” environments like the metaverse, “users” must ask themselves: “What is this getting out of me? Where are they making money”. Sometimes the answers to those questions aren’t clear. The real answer is, more often than not, something almost invaluable — your data.
According to the WEF’s Global Risks Report, 2022, “The emergence of the metaverse could also expand the attack surface for malicious actors by creating more entry points for malware and data breaches.”
The amount of personal information that’s being gathered about players in the metaverse is staggering. If you also add the AR/VR element onto that, then it’s also possible to see behavioural information, like eye and other muscle movements, being tracked and logged.
This all raises the age-old question of digital identity and data control. Who really has access and what could they do with it?
It’s not just a metaverse problem
Don’t get us wrong, this issue is certainly not something unique to the metaverse. Some of the biggest companies in the world have servers full of consumer data and social media companies collect more than anyone.
Top 5 data-collecting social apps
- TikTok
- Clubhouse
Source: Clario
While these companies continue to collect data, frameworks and regulations that protect people and the sovereignty of their data are starting to be drawn up and some tech companies are even working on practical solutions to the problem.
Take Microsoft, for example, whose Decentralised Identity concept allows people to control their identity through blockchain technology and limit what they disclose to whom, in what level of detail. Such a system would take control away from platforms and keep consumers safer.
Let’s hope that systems like this, and data regulation win out in the long run. In the meantime, be careful out there.
Are you a metaverser?
What do you make of the metaverse? Are you already exploring it? Are you concerned with its lack of safety features? Or perhaps you don’t want or need it in your life?! Let us know by tweeting us at @_Contentworks!
Top trading events this week
There’s a fair bit going on this week, here’s when and where you need to tune in.
Monday
● EUR — GDP Growth Rate QoQ Flash (Q4); GDP Growth Rate YoY Flash (Q4)
Tuesday
● AUD — RBA Interest Rate Decision
● USD — Markit Manufacturing PMI Final (JAN); ISM Manufacturing PMI (JAN)
● NZD — Employment Change QoQ (Q4); Unemployment Rate (Q4)
Wednesday
● AUD — RBA Chart Pack
● EUR — Core Inflation Rate YoY Flash (JAN)
Thursday
● GBP — BoE Interest Rate Decision
● EUR — ECB Interest Rate Decision; ECB Press Conference
● USD — ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (JAN)
Friday
● AUD — RBA Statement on Monetary Policy
● CAD — Employment Change (JAN); Unemployment Rate (JAN)
● USD — Non Farm Payrolls (JAN); Unemployment Rate (JAN)
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The Contentworks team
