No Children in the Metaverse? The Privacy and Safety Risks of Virtual Worlds (and How to Deal with Them)

This paper examines how the Metaverse could impact on both the privacy and safety of children. It assesses the challenges both of designing virtual reality devices for the Metaverse and of designing the virtual reality spaces in the Metaverse and posits solutions which ensure that child safety remains paramount. It also examines the relevant child data privacy laws vis-à-vis the Metaverse and how potential regulatory difficulties could be overcome. Lastly, it analyses the threats that children may experience when using the Metaverse and how these could be mitigated.