Neurotechnology already enables the decoding and potential manipulation of neural signals, creating opportunities for communication for people with brain trauma or degenerative disease. Rapid advances raise serious risks to mental privacy, agency, and personal identity as devices collect highly sensitive data. Legal protections focused on neurorights aim to preserve mental privacy and autonomy while ensuring equitable access to beneficial augmentation. Effective regulation requires grounding in international human rights and careful navigation of medical versus consumer privacy regimes. Balancing innovation with robust legal guardrails is necessary to prevent misuse and protect how people perceive and process reality.
The human brain might be the grandest computer of all, but in this episode, we talk to two experts who confirm that the ability for tech to decipher thoughts, and perhaps even manipulate them, isn't just around the corner - it's already here. Rapidly advancing "neurotechnology" could offer new ways for people with brain trauma or degenerative diseases to communicate, as the New York Times reported this month , but it also could open the door to abusing the privacy of the most personal data of all: our thoughts. Worse yet, it could allow manipulating how people perceive and process reality, as well as their responses to it - a Pandora's box of epic proportions.
Neuroscientist Rafael Yuste and human rights lawyer Jared Genser are awestruck by both the possibilities and the dangers of neurotechnology. Together they established The Neurorights Foundation , and now they join EFF's Cindy Cohn and Jason Kelley to discuss how technology is advancing our understanding of what it means to be human, and the solid legal guardrails they're building to protect the privacy of the mind.
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