FINAL WORD
Ashley Diffey , Head of APAC and
Japan at Ping Identity
We ’ ve identified five risk areas that exist today that the metaverse could amplify .
With high-profile organizations now getting involved with the metaverse , it opens up the platforms to the spread of misinformation or fake news . Social sites such as Facebook and Instagram already have this problem , so how can this be policed within the metaverse when it is a creator-driven platform ? Are there design principles that metaverse developers could adopt that would mitigate or mute the enablers for misinformation that exist in today ’ s worlds ?
This blurring of physical and digital lines will only become more pronounced as the metaverse takes shape .
world you travel into . The real world consequences of users hypothetically taking the ‘ blue pill ’ and permanently ‘ jacking-in ’ to the metaverse over taking the ‘ red pill ’ to face reality are potentially catastrophic . The types of protections – legal and ethical – that keep our physical identities safe are not as developed in the digital world .
A second risk , which we ’ ve touched on , is lack of regulations , which could lead to serious privacy concerns or court cases over intellectual property ( asset ) ownership . Most global governments haven ’ t modernized their legal infrastructure yet to deal with the future metaverse . There is an enormous misalignment between regulation and technological innovation , which is moving faster than ever due to convergence and democratization .
The metaverse also risks multiplying issues around protecting personal privacy . Data mining has been a big concern when it comes to big players such as Facebook . With organizations such as these building the foundations for the future of the metaverse , this could intensify . Alongside this , a significant element of the metaverse is built on the sale of virtual goods , which means advertising , which will require data collection of individuals . With few government regulations on this , the metaverse threatens to continue and amplify the data mining trend for users .
A fourth risk that we ’ re almost certainly likely to import into the metaverse is vulnerabilities and criminals that exploit them . Cybercriminals and scammers could intercept the metaverse , hack users ’ avatars to take control , hold them hostage , or create copies allowing them to extract sensitive data .
The inability of existing online platforms to enforce robust user integrity and trust raises concerns about further exploitation within the metaverse . AI-driven content moderation , identity verification , user authentication , dynamic authorization and transaction monitoring will be essential for the safety of users in metaverse worlds .
Finally , the rise in the use of smart contracts opens up the opportunity of embedding code within these contracts that can be used for illicit and illegal activity . Even developers with high knowledge levels and the best intentions can create bugs or errors that trigger undesirable results that are hard to correct . Users need to evaluate the need for smart contracts instead of regular scripts and traditional contracts . p
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