The Metaverse's Big Challenge: Most People Think It's a Privacy Nightmare

pcmag.com:

Have you considered a move to the metaverse? It’s all the rage these days. While there’s nothing tangible about it, Facebook—excuse us, Meta—and other companies are betting that people will want to spend time and, of course, money there. 

NordVPN surveyed over 1,000 people in the United States to see how they feel about this place that doesn’t exist. As it turns out, 55% don't know what the metaverse is. (Allow us to explain, if this is also you.) Just 14% had a real grasp of the metaverse and how it functions. 

But even without a true understanding of it, lots of people were rightfully skeptical of how their information would be protected there. Eighty-seven percent had privacy concerns, 50% thought it sounded like the perfect place for hackers to impersonate others, 47% didn’t think there’d be legal protections for users’ identities, and 45% thought just having a presence in the metaverse would force them to share even more of their private data, which could be abused. 

Despite all this, 74% said they would join or at least consider joining the metaverse to experience things they can’t in the real world (41%), communicate with others (40%), escape their surroundings (28%), or become a different person altogether (23%).

One thing to remember is that no matter who you are or what you do in the metaverse, real-world concerns will still be there once you remove your VR headset.

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