Data Privacy and Security Perceptions in Virtual Reality Technologies amid EU Citizens European “Quest 2” user’s perception towards the collection and processing of personal data

In recent years the virtual reality industry oversaw important growth due to the innovative nature incorporated within Virtual Reality (VR) systems and new product launches made by high tech giants such as Meta. In fact, noticeable public figures such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates made public statements claiming that VR can revolutionize daily aspects of people’s lives such as working, communicating and spending leisure time. However, given the increased public attention and use of VR technology, a substantial number of users’ personal data is being generated and can potentially be used for malicious purposes. Therefore, this study aims to understand how users feel towards the collection and processing of personal data in virtual reality technology to understand public VR perception, to mitigate data privacy and security risks for safer user experience and shape the quality of future business and data regulation models. The research question “What is the perception of European VR users towards privacy and security of personal data collection?” was answered by means of a thematic analysis to find relevant patterns amid 10 VR users utilizing the Quest 2, which is the VR headset manufactured and commercialized by Oculus, currently a sub-company of Meta. The 10 European VR users were found through Facebook and Reddit VR groups and a semi-structured interview method was used to grasp relevant responses. All interviews were transcribed to later assess the participants answers’ and find 4 main themes. In general, participants’ perception on the processing of personal data collection was influenced by the reputation of the company Oculus, the sub-company of Meta. In fact, participants distrusted the company Meta being a company that retains and processes data of billions of users across the world, hence allowing the company to link identities of users across different platforms and retaining a wide range of personal data of users based on practices they conform to online. Moreover, users were skeptical towards Meta due to its history and involvement in previous controversial events of data breaching and user data exploitation. Although user’ data is often collected by companies to create personalized advertisements and induce users into purchasing good, the participants responded positively and suggested personalized advertisements do not negatively affect how they use the VR system. On the other hand, the main issue presented by participants addresses the wide range of data, which is being collected by Oculus which can be used for identification purposes for example. In fact, modern VR Head Mounted Display (HMD), upbring an unprecedent ability to identify users. Hence, the topic of “data transparency” was upbrought suggesting that transparency is an essential component for regulative authorities to comply with, to force companies such as Oculus to be transparent in how user’ data is collected, used and shared. Lastly, participants expressed concerns in regard to the VR cameras incorporated in HMDs due to its intrusiveness and their capability to collect data on users’ personal and private homes and spaces.