ICO statement on C4 Dispatches: Inside the Metaverse

27/04/2022 | ICO

The ICO published a statement following the recent Channel4 Dispatches episode: Inside the Metaverse, which looked at the dangers posed by immersive technology. The programme included examples of racist and sexual behaviour, some of which were targeted at children. The ICO statement read: 

“Online services and products that use personal data and are likely to be accessed by children are required to comply with the standards of our Children’s Code. Services must take proportionate steps to assess the age of users and provide high default privacy settings for children or, alternatively, apply the code’s standards to all users.

“We are continuing to assess the data protection risks associated with the deployment of new and emerging immersive technologies, like virtual and augmented reality, as well as the interaction between privacy and online safety in this area. Parents and children who have concerns about how their data is being handled can complain to us at the ICO.”

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