The metaverse promises unprecedented immersive digital experiences but also raises critical privacy concerns as vast amounts of personal and behavioral data are collected. As immersive technologies blur the boundaries between physical and virtual realms, established privacy standards are being challenged. However, little is known about how the experts of these technologies such as requirement analysts, designers, developers, and architects perceive and address privacy issues in the creation of metaverse platforms. This research aims to fill that gap by investigating privacy considerations in metaverse development from the experts perspective. We conducted in depth, semi structured interviews with metaverse platform and application experts to explore their views on privacy challenges and practices. The findings offer new empirical insights by extending information systems privacy research into the metaverse context, highlighting the interplay between technological design, user behavior, and regulatory structures. Practically, this work provides guidance for developers, and policymakers on implementing privacy by design principles, educating and empowering users, and proactively addressing novel privacy threats in metaverses.

翻译：元宇宙有望提供前所未有的沉浸式数字体验，但随着海量个人与行为数据的收集，也引发了严峻的隐私隐忧。沉浸式技术模糊了物理与虚拟世界的界限，使得既有的隐私标准面临挑战。然而，对于需求分析师、设计师、开发者和架构师等技术专家如何在元宇宙平台构建中认知与应对隐私问题，目前仍缺乏深入研究。本研究旨在通过专家视角探究元宇宙开发中的隐私考量以填补这一空白。我们通过对元宇宙平台及应用专家进行深度半结构化访谈，探讨其对隐私挑战与实践的见解。研究发现通过将信息系统隐私研究延伸至元宇宙语境，揭示了技术设计、用户行为与监管框架之间的相互作用，提供了新的实证洞察。在实践层面，本研究为开发者与政策制定者提供了实施隐私设计原则、用户教育赋权以及主动应对元宇宙新型隐私威胁的指导框架。