Towards Privacy-Preserving Mixed Reality: Legal and Technical Implications

Current and, above all, future mixed reality services and systems collect a large amount of different personal and environmental data of the users and other involved persons. Current legal regulations on data protection and governance do not appear to adequately meet these challenges. This paper looks at data collection in Mixed Reality systems in order to create a greater awareness for its far-reaching privacy-related implications. We present a straightforward scenario where a user named Melanie interacts with both her environment and another user. It is stipulated that Melanie is not a first-time user, and all interactions and environmental factors are predetermined by an existing data profile. This paper examines the technical design of the scenario, the types of data collected, and their legal implications. To address the far-reaching privacy implications and shortcomings in the current legal framework, we propose technical solutions for less privacy-encroaching data uses and recommend the implementation of better legal instruments and safeguards in the future. In conclusion we suggest that better legal instruments and safeguards are needed in future.