A new Position Statement has been issued by the eSafety Commissioner on the impact that ‘virtual reality’ may have on members of the community as its popularity rises.
The Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant describes virtual reality as the technology that enables users to experience three-dimension interaction with digital content that looks, sounds, and feels almost real. This also describes ‘immersive technologies’.
“This technology provides a range of opportunities – in education, entertainment and for people with disability, among others,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“However, it also poses safety, privacy and security challenges for individuals, businesses and Governments,” she said.
“While eSafety has not – as yet – received any reports of mishaps with haptics, or other misuses of these technologies, we anticipate that as they become more widely used these immersive technologies will give rise to a range of online safety issues.”
Ms Inman Grant said issues could include grooming by sexual predators, online child sexual abuse and creation and sharing of child sexual abuse material in virtual environments, as well as cyberbullying of children and cyber abuse of adults.
The Commissioner said that as virtual reality became nearly indistinguishable from actual life, new harms may emerge, such as physical or sexual abuse occurring within a virtual environment.
She said the misuse of location and biometric information (physical characteristics such as fingerprints that identified an individual) collected by augmented and virtual technologies may pose security risks such as identity theft, stalking and extortion.
“We know that online harms disproportionately impact at-risk groups and communities and will work to understand and address how immersive technologies impact these groups,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“In practical advice – when parents and carers are deciding if their child should play an immersive technology game, they should think about whether it’s something they would want their child to experience in real life,” she said.
Ms Inman Grant said the eSafety Commission would work to address potential issues by raising awareness about how immersive technologies could facilitate online abuse and options to address abuse; supporting victims through its investigative techniques and reporting systems; and supporting industry with its Safety by Design initiative.
The eSafety Commissioner’s four-page Position Statement can be accessed at this PS News link.
