The Interplay Between Policy and Technology in Metaverses: Towards Seamless Avatar Interoperability Using Self-Sovereign Identity

This paper explores the interplay betweenpublic policy in areas related to digital privacy and se-curity and the development of new metaverse technolo-gies that need to be compliant-by-design. Such inter-dependency is illustrated here through the proposalof a solution to implement seamless cross-metaversesavatar interoperability that preserves data privacy andportability. The new proposed scheme is based on theSelf-Sovereign Identity (SSI) concept and architectures,along with off-line governance agreements, in orderto ensure that avatars can travel between metaverseswhile keeping whatever attributes they posses and thatare compatible in the crossed metaverses. Many newand exciting avenues for technological research arisefrom such an interdisciplinary perspective.