Two seemingly unrelated stories should get your attention today. Microsoft’s planned $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard lays the groundwork for a corporatized, centralized metaverse that will enjoy all the advantages of technical dominance and global brand recognition at birth.
Then, the Financial Times reports that Meta was recently granted a series of patents that show how Facebook plans to collect biometric information, like body poses and pupil movement, and use it to sell virtual ads.
Separately, these stories are interesting. Taken together, they should tell you that there’s a new class of data-gathering about to emerge that will make our current lack of privacy seem quaint. Big tech will have sensors pointing at your retinas. What could possibly go wrong?
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.