How Will Meta Accounts Switch Up VR Privacy?

Meta Platforms announced on Thursday it will offer Meta-exclusive accounts for virtual reality (VR) users in a bid to provide a united platform for the Metaverse, it was announced on Thursday.

The new Meta account setup will allow users to log into their devices rather than manage social media accounts currently under Facebook logins. The move aims to represent a user’s “social presence in VR and other surfaces where you use your meta Horizon profile, like the web,” the company explained.

You asked, we listened. pic.twitter.com/dSKRB0oFBw

— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) July 7, 2022

Meta Horizon profiles will serve as a hub for customising avatars, usernames, and storing key data, as well as linking to Facebook or Instagram when needed. Current Oculus accounts will remain active until the beginning of January next year, requiring a shift to Meta accounts immediately after.

Doing so will facilitate “connected experiences” such as integrating Instagram, Messenger, or Facebook for gaming. The platform’s Account Centre allows users to manage all accounts and connected experiences for Meta devices, accessible via the Oculus Mobile App, headsets, and the main website.

Meta account holders can also use a personal or business email address across all platforms via the Accounts Centre hub, which will include data such as email address, phone, name, payment and data of birth to verify users are aged 13 or older.

The plans come after receiving feedback from Quest users, leading to the structural change. Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s Vice-President of AR/VR, announced last year following the Connect Event in October his firm would change its login policy “sometime next year” based on user feedback.

The Menlo Park-based tech giant also unified its Horizon Worlds and Venues platforms in May to streamline its collaborative services. Meta deployed its latest metaverse services last month.

It also added parental controls aimed at boosting security for users, namely after the company was hit with a massive scandal following the death of a young woman and a subsequent metaverse incident where an executive beta tester was virtually assaulted by anonymous users, triggering security changes.