The Metaverse: Security Breach

Imagine a world where your home is full of cameras. Picture a place where your only safe space is your thoughts, and everything you say or do is merely data to be sold. Sounds dystopian, right? Too bad that’s the world we’re living in already. But, now you think; things couldn’t possibly get worse, could it? Oh, they absolutely can and will, thanks to Facebook’s metaverse. A literal Doctor Zuckersteins’ monster, the metaverse is a security breach like no other. You see, for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality to work, you need cameras, lots of them. Every one of them watching you play, work, eat, and sleep from within the metaverse. Simply put, there will be no escaping the watchful eye of Facebook’s Big Brother monstrosity.

Pictured above, irony. Via Facebook about gallery

Virtual reality worlds are nothing new. Since the dawn of the internet, writers and storytellers have dreamt of worlds to upload our consciousness and escape reality. In all of these stories, such as Snow Crash, and Ready Player One, a Crapsack World lay on one side, and on the other, a realm of endless possibility. Universes where you could be whoever or whatever you want without limitations. Sadly, that’s not the version of virtual reality we’re getting because at least RPO’s Oasis didn’t sell your information to the highest bidder. Don’t believe me? Let me remind you that the only reason they found Wade Watts’ identity in the story was that he doxxed himself.

But, Facebook’s Jank Tiberius Zuckerkirk doesn’t have the scruples of Gregarious Simulation Systems’ James Halliday. Nor does he feel any remorse in selling your teenager’s information to corporations. He doesn’t even care about lying to congress about its misdeeds. All Facebook cares about is making profits at your expense. This reason is why the metaverse wants you to spend all day inside it. Facebook wants your information, and it wants to gather it with your permission. Since it requires you to willfully install sensors, projectors, processors, and cameras that will map out your surroundings, and yes, that does include the barbecue sauce bottles we all keep on our bookshelves.

Why we normal humans do this is a question that future anthropologist will be asking for centuries. Credit: Facebook Meme

Imagine what the metaverse will look like thanks to this information regarding our taste in marinades and sauces. You will not be able to walk ten feet without seeing ads for Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce. They’ll know exactly where to place the ads, thanks to their patented eye-movement tracking tech. Look to your left; there’s an ad; you sharply face the right, and a billboard with various sauces materializes. In a panic, you dash to the virtual home you paid half a million dollars in bitcoin for, and there it is, a giant bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s Gourmet BBQ Sauce screaming at you like the animatronics in Five Nights at Freddie’s. Your only escape? The sweet release of death. You officially condemned your soul to purgatory, and its name is the metaverse. If this scenario sounds pleasant to you, congratulations, you’re not a human; you’re Dark Zoidberg’s marketing team.

The Marketing Team outdid themselves on this one. Hence the Five Nights at Freddie’s reference.

The first few comments are gold. Via YouTube

Ideally, the metaverse will be nothing like the scenario above. But, the chances of it not turning into that same dystopian nightmare are slim. As I’ve mentioned before, Facebook needs the metaverse to be a massive success. Otherwise, it will have lost billions of dollars on nothing, and that will be a blow to its CEO’s pride. He’s banking on this type of technology stealing every last bit of data it doesn’t already have on its users, and for specific reasons. Facebook lives and thrives off of data it sells to corporations. If it doesn’t have any new information to sell, it will die, and this is its last hope for a stable business model. Your security and privacy are none of its concern if it means putting a few billion dollars in the pockets of the elite. But, therein lies various questions that need answers sooner rather than later.

Who wants this type of game? Who wants to wear a camera strapped to their heads all day? What kind of madman enjoys setting up a plethora of recording devices in every crevice of their home? Or the notion that they will never be alone for even a second? I haven’t met anyone excited about an idea like that yet. Honestly, I hope I never meet someone with that sort of insanity or disregard for privacy. But, Facebook has doubled down on its metaverse gamble, and they’re getting more desperate by the second.

Right now, Facebook is bleeding billions of dollars. Not only because of its investment in the metaverse but also because the Oculus sells at a loss. Another blow to its finances came from none other than Apple, whose new app privacy policies directly impact Facebook’s bottom line. These losses have put the company in a precarious situation, something they’ve never faced since their rise to power. For a long time, Facebook’s reign as the king of social media was undeniable. Twitter, Reddit, Myspace, or Snapchat, none of these could compare to Facebook’s widespread reach and appeal. Their ability to steal information was unparalleled. Yet, their future seems uncertain now, and the company is struggling to stay relevant in an increasingly conscious environment. I don’t doubt that the metaverse is one of their final gambits at remaining in power.

If Facebook manages to make the metaverse a mega success, they’ll have all the information they need to sell for all eternity. But, if it becomes anything less than that, it will kill the company instead. The metaverses product isn’t the games or the social experience; it’s the people who use it. They aren’t selling the game; they’re selling you. Without your participation, it all falls apart, and it’s not like it’s an appealing experience either.

The metaverse before the metaverse. Via Linden Labs Second Life Logo.

The metaverses’ graphics already look outdated. The whole concept of it isn’t new either. Go read about the online game Second Life. People just aren’t clamoring for a way to watch television with someone on a screen inside some virtual reality goggles. Much less for a way to be in a pretend office from our homes. People aren’t comfortable with a camera system monitoring their lives 24/7. We all have to face the reality that Facebook’s metaverse is a security breach waiting to happen. The whole system wants to steal your data literally from under your nose. But what’s going to happen when someone inevitably hacks into their database and steals theirs?

To recap:

• The metaverse needs a lot of cameras to work in your home.
• Virtual reality worlds aren’t a new concept.
• The security and privacy measures in Ready Player One were better than on Facebook.
• Facebook will sell your teenager’s information for profit.
• The metaverse requires that you willfully install projectors, processors, and other gear in your home.
• Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauces on the bookshelf are no longer safe.
• Without information to sell, Facebook will die.
• Who asked for any of this?
• They’re bleeding billions of dollars on a gambit that might not pay off.
• You’re the metaverses’ product, not the games.
• Second life exists and already works better than metaverse.
• What will happen when someone hacks Facebook?