Neurotechnology is an essential part of #brainhealth given that some brain conditions cannot be treated by sending a molecule towards the target. Recent developments in the field are nothing short of revolutionary. However, to make sure #neurotechnology serves public good, strong #governance is needed. At the heart of it lies the need to protect #brain #data, which is a special category of personal data, due to its highly sensitive and intimate nature. Advent of neurotechnology creates an avalanche of data and inevitably puts pressures on the existing data protection regimes. AI tools make this even more challenging, as they allow for inferences to be made from brain data with respect to people’s observed behavior.
I was delighted to speak at the joint The International Center for Future Generations - ICFG Institute of Neuroethics (IoNx) panel earlier today on “Neurotechnology for Good: Moving Forward Together”, as part of the Neuroscience & Society conference of the UN Science Summit 2024. Our focus was on tensions within #neurotechnology. One of them is the blurred line between medical and non-medical neurotechnology devices. The use of the latter is spreading fast, with different types of headsets offering neurofeedback. The challenge is that they are governed by very different sets of rules. Another tension has to do with the tension between empowerment and vulnerability. When employees wear a neurotechnology device, their abilities can be enhanced but at the expense of risks to privacy and autonomy.
Together with my excellent co-panelists, Karen Rommelfanger Virginia Mahieu Arleen Salles, PhD Darrell Porcello and Lucy Tournas, J.D., we agreed that participatory approaches are key. They involve engaging different stakeholders – researchers, technologists, patients, scientists, clinicians, ethicists and clinical practitioners – in a joint debate that can help incorporate a diverse range of perspectives into the shaping of the rules and norms that will govern the future of neurotechnology.
Thank you to European Brain Council Brain Capital Alliance for hosting us. Stay tuned for a forthcoming ICFG-IoNx report on the issue in the coming weeks.
