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Neurological conditions are the leading global cause of disability, affecting more than three billion people worldwide. Combined with mental health conditions and substance use disorders, they could cost the global economy up to $16 trillion by 2030. Against this backdrop, neurotechnology represents an extraordinary promise. It ranges from clinical applications – such as brain and spinal implants that restore mobility or early-detection systems for Alzheimer’s disease – to consumer devices that support a healthy lifestyle and cognitive performance.
At the same time, the very innovations that hold transformative potential also pose risks to privacy, identity and autonomy, because they can access — and potentially could influence — the most personal layer of human existence: our minds.
What do we need to protect?
Concerns about privacy and, in particular, mental privacy arose significantly with neurotechnologies, given their direct access to neural data and the assumption that meaningful information about an individual’s mental state could be derived from that data. In reality, however, equally sensitive mental state or health status inferences can also be derived from other forms of biometric and physiological data, though with varying degrees of accuracy and specificity, for example:
- Heart-rate variability can indicate stress and emotional states.
- Eye-tracking reveals attention and cognitive load and can be correlated with personality traits.
- Electromyography (EMG) sensors can expose subtle gestures or intentions for simple movements.
Major technology companies are already converging multiple sensors into powerful platforms. Meta’s AI glasses with neural band use EMG; Apple’s Vision Pro integrates eye-tracking with biometric sensors; and Apple has patented electroencephalography (EEG)-enabled AirPods. Powered by AI, these technologies increasingly blur the line between neural and non-neural data, while mapping our mental and health states.
