Data issues

Use of data

 What if Lewis starts to feel peckish and glances towards the bakery whilst wearing the headset? What if he sneezes? Would the technology monitor his eye movements and realise that he is hungry and unwell? How will data protection laws deal with the processing of this data (particularly special category data) when it is provided passively by the user?

Advertising

What if the technology began showing Lewis adverts for local restaurants and cold medicine? How will this fit into current direct marketing regulation?

Consent

How will Lewis be able to provide his explicit consent to having his data processed? What about if Lewis’ 8-year-old son used the headset?

Responsibility

 With so many different players involved in the creation of the immersive content, how will the roles of data controllers and data processors be delineated? Who will be responsible for obtaining consent? How will privacy policies be displayed? What about data breaches?

Take a look at our data article for some answers.

Liability issues

Risk to Lewis

What if Lewis becomes distracted by the immersive environment in his headset (or, even worse, what if his view of the real world is obscured by the content in the immersive environment) and he walks into that rather large pothole? If he is injured, could the manufacturer of the headset or developer of the content in the immersive environment be liable?

Risk to others

What about if Lewis accidentally damages one of the cars as a result of an issue with the headset or the content? Would liability rest with the manufacturer, the developer of the content, or Lewis?

Take a look at our liability article for some answers.

IP issues

Copyright

If the camera in the headset captures copyrighted material (like music playing), would this constitute copyright infringement?

Trade marks

If the camera then recorded billboards on the street which showed the logos of some major brands, would this constitute trade mark infringement?

Designs

What about from a developer’s perspective – will their digital works (in the form of the immersive environment itself) be protected? What about jurisdictional challenges developers could face?

Protection of gestures

When Lewis makes a gesture to control the headset, is this protected under IP law?

Protection of avatars

What about Lewis’ avatar which is displayed in the immersive environment – can that be protected?

Take a look at our IP article for some answers.