With the advent of the commercial Internet in the 1990s, organizations were increasingly able to track users’ clicks and searches to gather information about their preferences, interests, and buying habits. Mobile technology has not only added precise location tracking, but has also enabled the integration of smartphones into virtually every activity in life, giving organizations deeper insights into user identities.

The metaverse will take us much further down this path, enabling the tracking of human bodies and even thoughts, particularly as users develop deep relationships with digital avatars. Whether through virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR), collectively known as extended reality (XR), the metaverse will increase in type and volume…