Without question, new and advanced technologies such as emotion detection and affect recognition technologies, neurotechnologies, and XR and other metaversal technologies, among others, raise significant privacy-related concerns, writes Elizabeth M. Renieris in her book Beyond Data: Reclaiming Human Rights at the Dawn of the Metaverse. Extended reality (XR) technologies are a clear example of the simultaneously personal and collective nature of these privacy concerns, as they involve the collection and use of biometric identifiers and measurements, real-time location tracking and always-on audio and video recording technologies.
These practices raise concerns about the personal privacy and security of individuals, as well as the privacy and security of non-users and other people who may be implicated through interactions with that individual in both the virtual and physical worlds. As a result, there are few laws or regulations that account for these scenarios, leading to the potential of a global panopticon society of constant surveillance in public or semi-public spaces.
XR technologies also pose a direct threat to the values of personal autonomy, human dignity, choice, consent, and self-determination, values that often underlie concerns about privacy and are central to functioning democratic societies. Depending on the reality individuals are exposed to, they might be persuaded, manipulated, or coerced into choices, behaviors, or activities against their own best interests, and often unknowingly.