Interpol Urges Law Enforcement: Embrace VR Technology

One company's commitment to the metaverse, who calls thevirtual world home and sees it as a sci-fi dream come true, is to fightterrorism and child exploitation, with help from various international agencies like Interpol and Europol.

Many people may think that the metaverse is just a fad. Butin the real world, law enforcement agencies are already beginning to explorehow to police virtual reality.

Interpol, a worldwide organization designed to facilitatecooperation between various police department around the world, is alreadylooking for ways to embrace the metaverse. Thursday, it launched "thefirst ever metaverse specifically designed for law enforcement".

Thanks to virtual reality, international police officers cannow take a virtual tour of Interpol's headquarters in France. They'll also beable to interact with each other through avatars and take courses onaccomplished law enforcement tasks, like forensic investigation or dealing withborder control.

Overseas, Interpol has created an "Expert Group on themetaverse" in order to address concerns about the technology law enforcement.In New Delhi, India, the organization showcased the project during a summit whereInterpol also announced it had created another "Expert Group on fake news."

With the advent of virtual reality, Interpol is worriedcriminals will also migrate to these worlds. They worry that there will beheightened levels of crime, including those targeting minors and sexual assaultand harassment.

"We can't underestimate the risk of internetcrime," says Madan Oberoi. As Interpol's executive director of technologyand innovation, he is on a mission to create governance frameworks necessary tocut off future criminal markets before they form.

"But in order to fight crime in the virtual world, wemust experience it," Oberoi added.

Friday, Europol released a document about what lawenforcement needs to know about VR and 3D technology. The document highlightsthe potential for cybercriminals to hijack or replicate a user's 3D avatars,which could become especially problematic if those avatars becomephotorealistic.

"This information would allow criminals to be moreconvincing with their impersonation. Moreover, the information may be used tomanipulate users in a more nuanced way than is possible on the Internettoday." --Europol

Though there are concerns about the misuse of suchtechnology, the agency has also expressed excitement about some of the innovationsthat VR could bring. "The metaverse will be an enormously exciting opportunityto engage in cross-cultural, social and family activities," Europol said.

Europol is advising police agencies to monitor thedevelopment of AR technology and practice law enforcement in early iterationsof the metaverse. For example, one way to prepare for the increase in crimewould be for officers to build experience policing in games such as Fortnite,which feature a multiplayer shooter, or to learn about game streaming andsocial media platforms. "It is essential for law enforcement to be accuratelyinformed to meaningfully engage with companies, civil society andlawmakers," the document adds.