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Challenges faced by judges in enforcing EU Competition Law: EU and national perspectives
This working paper includes a collection of case notes written by those national judges who attended the European Networking and Training for National Competition Enforcers (ENTraNCE Judges 2023). The training programme was organised by...
Avatars are digital representations of oneself, allowing us to freely express our identity, personality, and appearance. Further, they express one’s mood and enable interaction with others in virtual worlds such as the Metaverse. Nonetheless, avatars could also entail multiple challenges from a data protection perspective: are hyper-realistic Metaverse avatars personal data and, more specifically, biometric data? Is there a legal basis for their processing by Metaverse platforms if that is the case? What does the potential avatar’s interoperability entail from a data protection perspective?
This paper discusses the lack of clarity about the legal status of data from Metaverse avatars. Further, the contribution proposes using blockchain technology for avatar’s data governance to counterbalance the potential data protection risks posed by using hyper-realistic Metaverse avatars. In this regard, blockchain offers a promising alternative due to its decentralised, immutable, and transparent nature. Finally, the author examines the potential benefits of using blockchain technology to ensure avatar’s interoperability between virtual worlds in the Metaverse from a legal perspective.