Neurorights: the brain is the new frontier – 03/03/2024 – Ronaldo Lemos

In recent weeks, the company Neuralink announced success in implanting the first functional chip in a person’s brain. The patient can now control an on-screen cursor directly with their brain. Although the credit goes to Elon Musk, it is important to remember that this type of research is pioneered by Brazilian scientist Miguel Nicolelis, who, together with his colleagues, should be more remembered when talking about this topic.

Neuralink’s technology is far from the only one advancing brain colonization. There is a real gold rush in this sense. There are several technologies that do not require surgery or physical interventions. Apple is developing a future version of its Airpods headphones that can read brain signals through the ear.

It is possible today to buy a bandana that performs an electroencephalogram in real time. The product costs around R$1,500 and is used for meditation purposes. While meditating, the user receives a sound signal indicating their level of relaxation according to their brain waves. It’s like a meditation guide that gives feedback based on direct brain reading.

And, of course, the arrival of artificial intelligence is leading to the development of sensors that translate thoughts directly into text. The University of Austin has been a protagonist on this topic. Although there is still no specific product, the result of the research was published in the journal Nature with the pompous title of “semantic reconstruction of continuous language from non-invasive recordings of the brain”.

In short, we are not far from the moment when our devices will be able to interpret what is going on in our heads directly. In this scenario, what to do?

The response has occurred mainly in the field of law. And, it is worth noting, our Latin America has been a pioneer in advancing so-called neurorights, a set of rights and obligations that seek to protect each person against the different possibilities of brain manipulation.

The pioneer in this new type of rights was Chile. In 2021, the country approved an amendment modifying its Constitution to protect brain activity and information related to it. Interestingly, the country’s Supreme Court decided the first case on the subject last year. In it, a Chilean citizen sued the company Insight, which sold portable brain monitoring devices in the country. The decision determined that the company did not adequately protect users’ privacy and, in practice, enshrined the importance of neurorights.

It is worth noting that in Brazil there is a 2023 constitutional amendment project that wants to place the “right to mental integrity” in the Constitution. Additionally, there is a 2022 bill to amend data protection law defining the concept of “neural data”, creating a series of protections. Argentina and Mexico are also addressing the issue. In the US, Colorado has already approved a law on the topic, with broad bipartisan support. Others are following the same path. This subject is here to stay. We are going to hear more and more about neurorights. Fortunately.

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