# Privacy

LLMS index: [llms.txt](/dvw/en/llms.txt)

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Anything you do in a virtual world can be logged or snooped. In commercial textual worlds, it probably will be; in graphical worlds, cover is rarely 100% at the moment but will become so eventually.

So, is this an invasion of privacy? No more than is a closed-circuit television system (CCTV) monitoring a shopping mall. Indeed, it’s probably less so, given that log files are only usually looked at when there’s been a complaint whereas CCTV cameras are watched the whole time (in theory, at least).

Well, that’s one point of view.

Here’s another. If I (as a player) issue a string of profanities at someone, impugning their real-life person, will they sue the developer or me? They’ll sue me, because the developer will argue [^15] that they are merely a common carrier with no control over what their players say. That being the case, they should need a wiretap warrant before they can record any of my communications. If they log me otherwise, they’re accepting responsibility for controlling what I say. They can’t claim I consented to be monitored when I signed their terms of service

agreement: That would mean I was consenting to a form of self-incrimination, which is counter to human rights legislation.

Before this drifts too far away from morality toward legality, here’s something else to think about. Suppose in a virtual world you stand around in a reasonably private space chatting to a friend. Both of you are adults, and both of you are okay with using strong language. The moment anyone else appears in the room, you tone down your vocabulary, but when they go you start inserting profanities again. Is this ethical behavior or not? Would it (still) be ethical if you knew that you were being logged, and that an administrator might therefore come across your gynecological language and be profoundly shocked? What if it wasn’t the presence of rude words that was offensive but your unorthodox political views?

Can you ever consider yourself to be in private in a virtual world, or must you always act as if someone is watching?


[^15]: Note that this has yet to be tested in court, as far as I know.