Post-Covid-19 Metaverse Cybersecurity and Data Privacy: Present and Future Challenges

In a post-pandemic society setting, this research looks at a sample of real-world applications, cases, legal frameworks, management systems, and emerging technologies to ascertain future challenges and solutions (i.e., Internet and Metaverse) across subjects such as cybersecurity, data privacy, public health, digital economy, and information bias. This includes insights into the EU Digital Services Act (effective from Jan 1 2024), UK Online Safety Bill (draft bill to proceed from Spring 2023), also to contribute to the awareness and protections of the EU General Data Protection Regulations 2016/679, with the promotion of disruptive technologies such as Blockchain augmented by Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Smart Contracts. From findings and recommendations, factors and metrics are presented to enhance the development and implementation of a conceptual architectural framework, to bolster user rights and freedoms in respect to demonstrating and verifying overall data pipeline traffic (i.e., incl Metaverse), and intermediary security and privacy governance, provenance, and ultimately audit compliance.