Webinar in cooperation with EUIPO and EPO: Protection of Privacy in Virtual Worlds

On Thursday, 8th February 2024, the Chair for the responsible development of the Metaverse, in cooperation with the European Union Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office, hosted the Webinar “Protection of Privacy in Virtual Worlds”. The webinar was organised in a hybrid format, with online attendees and physical presence of an audience in the main premises of EUIPO in Alicante. The brilliant experts that acted as speakers in this session shed light on many relevant aspects. Mavi SÁNCHEZ-VIVES (Instituto de investigaciones biomédicas August Pi i Sunyer in Barcelona, Spain) introduced what virtual worlds are and what technologies they involve. She developed the explanation at a high level of some technologies such as perceptual or multisensory consciousness, virtual embodiment and Virtual Reality for patients and for training. Ricard MARTÍNEZ (Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at University of Valencia, Spain) developed some ideas about the impact in privacy of these technological developments and the need for a correct evaluation of impact of these technologies in a critical development. Martin EBERS (President of the Robotics & AI Law Society (RAILS) and Associate Professor of IT Law at the University of Tartu, Estonia) developed some ideas about digital identities and avatars in virtual worlds. The webinar was moderated by Aurelio LÓPEZ-TARRUELLA (Associate Professor of Private International Law at University of Alicante).