Who Owns Our Second Lives: Virtual Clones and the Right to Your Identity

This paper discusses different aspects and issues that arise when this identity corresponds to and overlaps with the identity of actual humans.

Overview

Authors: Thommy Eriksson

Publication Date: 1 November 2021

Link: https://standards.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/import/governance/iccom/who-owns-our-second-lives-virtual-Clones-Identity.pdf

Keywords: Identity in VR, digital identity, ethics in XR, AR, digital rights, bodyright, user consent, digital avatars, immersive technology and ethics, data sovereignty

Type: Peer-Reviewed Journals/White Papers

Summary

This paper discusses different aspects and issues that arise when this identity corresponds to and overlaps with the identity of actual humans. These actual humans can be alive, or they can be deceased, and both represent challenging ethical issues.

The arguments will mostly concern identities in VR since that is where researchers and developers have the most experience and empirical data. However, most of the argument should be applicable to augmented reality applications as well.

The paper suggests a few means of handling the ethical concerns, most importantly a “bodyright”. If this is implemented it can work in a similar way to copyright, but controlling how others can use a user’s identity, both mental and physical.