The Future of Community and Privacy in the Metaverse Without Third-Party Cookies

When crafting a metaverse strategy, brand marketers must carefully consider the privacy impacts of reaching audiences with ads as they transition from third-party cookies to Web 3.0.

The concept of the metaverse has evolved beyond a trend. To harness this new way of engaging with consumers, brands and their marketing teams are making significant investments.

In this digital realm, where individuals use avatars to work, play, and shop, brands are establishing their presence. However, as they move away from third-party cookies and embrace Web 3.0, marketers must be mindful of the privacy implications associated with advertising to audiences.

Fostering Community Trust

Many consumers are uncomfortable with their online activities being tracked. Given the heightened level of personal information accessible in the metaverse, respecting customer privacy is paramount. Businesses must work to build consumer trust while navigating this new platform.

Transparency should be a primary focus for companies. A recent MediaMath survey on third-party cookies revealed that 84% of consumers are more likely to trust companies that prioritize privacy when handling personal data. Brands should clearly and simply communicate to users the "what" and "why" behind their data collection, processing, and retention practices.

Businesses need to implement privacy-enhancing technologies such as data clean rooms and adhere to principles like purpose limitation, data minimization, and pseudonymization. Furthermore, companies must hold themselves accountable, ensuring they can validate their privacy policy claims to protect users. This includes conducting annual audits to review their procedures.

Privacy compliance programs should already be in place for brand operations on other platforms; the metaverse requires these programs to be adapted. The secret lies in consistently relying on industry thought leadership to collaboratively develop, enhance, and refine solutions that can scale and meet the compliance demands of this new digital frontier.

Privacy Considerations in the Metaverse

Until policymakers establish specific and comprehensive regulations for the metaverse, brand marketers must pave their own way to maintain consumer trust. To achieve this, brands should adopt a data ethics approach to ensure that consumer-first outcomes also prioritize privacy. If the initial design appears invasive, marketers must reconsider how to achieve their objectives with minimal impact on privacy.

Privacy laws vary across countries and states, reflecting different societal and governmental approaches to balancing individual and corporate legal rights. For instance, the EU’s GDPR treats personal data as an individual’s property, while California’s CCPA grants privacy rights to consumers under consumer protection laws. As a result, a one-size-fits-all approach is not feasible. The development and full adoption of industry-wide self-regulatory policies offer the most promising solution to this challenge.

Strategizing for Data Privacy in the Metaverse

Brands should prioritize the balance of community and consent in their metaverse strategies. In this new virtual space, brands must capitalize on the opportunity to provide richer, more sophisticated brand experiences without being intrusive. Additionally, they should advocate for regulations that prevent privacy violations and unethical data collection practices, demonstrating their commitment to protecting individual data privacy.

In the community-driven environment of the metaverse, the first-party relationship is often overlooked. By directly engaging with consumers and gathering information provided by them, brands and publishers can reconnect with their audience on a fundamental level.

Peter is the Editor at AiTech365.com & works with his team on latest technologies in AI