Jusletter IT

Participation in virtual online environments has for many people become a central aspect of their lives. As the distinction between digital and off-screen lives becomes increasingly blurred, and gamification introduces gaming aspects into social interactions far away from recreational gaming, questions of personal identity acquire new meaning. But how can we in law make sense of attributes that people acquire in a game environment? Are they potentially sensitive personal information, or are they of no relevance to the outside world? We look at two aspects of online games in particular, in-world religion and in-world political affiliation, to explore this issue.