There has been much talk about the concept of the metaverse since Facebook, now Meta, announced its future entry into this universe. Although this is not a new concept, having originated in the early 90s, it is now gaining momentum and heating up a scenario previously considered futuristic: Web 3.
MetaversePeople with augmented reality glasses, a world where you can choose who you want to be. It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but it's just the future. And it's near.
While little was said about it before, today we have tech giants vying for space in this new universe, seeking to create their communities and strengthen their brands in this space, which will soon be taking over our daily lives.
And precisely because of the prospect that we will soon migrate from Web 2 (the internet as we know it today) to... Web3 (immersive internet), which requires that issues involving privacy and data protection They should be considered starting now.
Today, Meta holds a near-monopoly, dominating the market and possessing the world's largest database of personal information. It is also the target of one of the largest data breach operations – the Cambridge Analytica case Given that the scandal involved using information from up to 87 million users to aid Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, it's inevitable to think about how we will be protected in this new virtual world.
Centralized or decentralized, that is the question.
The fact is that, if we analyze it, Meta today does not possess the necessary criteria for Web 3, since the company now operates in a centralized manner, and may end up "carrying" with it the privacy issues that already exist in the Web 2 model.
The fact that they request personal data to create accounts, metaverses like Meta They may end up stumbling over the guidelines established by regulations such as the LGPD.
In an interview with Exame, Julia Peranovich, a lawyer at AP Digital Services, said: "The best way for the metaverse to comply with the LGPD (Brazilian General Data Protection Law) is to adopt strict measures for data processing and storage, avoiding improper sharing and any other problems that may arise from it, in addition to adopting a very clear measure of what data will be used and for what reason, and also creating a data usage permission form that people actually read.".
However, the platforms that operate through blockchainIn other words, in a decentralized manner, they have a different relationship with personal data.
Currently considered a benchmark in terms of a decentralized metaverse, the Decentraland It owns virtual plots of land that are highly sought after by giants like JPMorgan and Samsung, and can cost as much as R$ 2,4 million.
But why is Decentraland so attractive?
In addition to operating through Blockchain technology, which gained traction through Bitcoin, Decentraland is a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) that uses governance tokens, where its users have the power to directly influence its decisions, representing a challenge to the monopoly established until then by giants Meta and Google.
“When you look at metaverses that are decentralized, open-source, and on the blockchain, I think that specific combination demonstrates a new chance for the internet. It’s an opportunity for the internet that we’re building now in this second decade of the 2000s, which people call Web 3.”"This is a true statement," said Giovanna Casimiro, producer at the Decentraland Foundation.
Decentraland may represent a wave of new companies that operate transparently through Blockchain – a technology that does not depend on monopolies or organizations and allows users to have more autonomy in their actions – showing that decentralization can be the beginning of a future where the protection of personal data is a principle that is already part of the DNA of organizations.
