The rapid advance of technology that gathers and applies information directly from the human brain carries a serious risk of bias and discrimination at work and threatens privacy, the UK data regulator has warned.
In a report published on Thursday, the Information Commissioner’s Office called for new regulations over neurotechnology applications in non-medical fields, such as wellbeing and marketing and in workplaces, to prevent ethical breaches.
Brain monitors and implants are already used in medicine to diagnose and treat diseases of the nervous system. Last month, scientists in Switzerland enabled a paraplegic patient to walk again with a neural implant that bypassed a spinal injury.