What does neurotechnology look like?

In the age of transmission of data wearables have become a staple part of all our lives. Technology formed with safety in mind has come to support most if not all of our everyday movements. Even if you are a technophobe or think you don’t fully understand, you interact with technology on a second-by-second basis. We forget, everything that supports us or elevates us away from a cave with nothing in hand is in fact technology. Meaning, unless it is natural it is in fact technology of the human kind.  

So then, what about wearables?
 

Wearables are anything you can add to your body.  
 

It's sometimes hard to imagine what this can look like. Stop for a moment, think about what you might be wearing, and then think, with the right understating, people, and tools you could turn what you are looking or thinking about into an item that monitors or records activity, this is a wearable
 

In reality, wearables are here in all shapes and sizes with designs as far as the imagination can carry. Such items as; Smart contact lenses, Smart tattoos, and skin patches, micro needle patches, smart textiles. This paper from frontiers, Jan 2025 describes more about what is to come.  
 

Currently on the market and coming on mass are; Glasses, VR headsets, bio sensing wrist bands, rings, earbuds. Some are in the gallery below. People are amazing, and unfortunately unpredictable, cunning, and misinformed. Meaning, we do not know what mistakes or what risks have been overlooked or mitigated.
 

The types of wearables mentioned above currently pose the biggest risk to the general public’s safety and data security. This is due to a number of factors. You can find more information on the website, and from the ICO here. 

Privacy impactions from warbles;
 

Processing of novel, highly sensitive information,

Consent and transparency,

Neurodiscrimination,

Regulatory and technical clarity.

There are 6 lawful bases for processing personal data they are:

 

1. Consent,

2. Contract,

3. Legal obligation,

4. Vital interests,

5. Public task(s),

6. Legitimate interest.

Neurotechnology is and will allow organisations to draw detailed inferences about highly sensitive novel information, brain data. With originations making plans for this information 25 to 50 years out. Meaning moments of; silliness, or that, slip of the finger, or that, it doesn’t matter, or that, I can’t be bothered, or I just don’t understand because of a condition I have, the Dark pattern  that caught you out. Means people will be placed and placing themselves at risk. 

All 6 lawful reasons are in fact there to protect people and organisations. They are supported by legislation such as health and safety Act, but loop holes have, are, and will be unfortunately used because of intended purposes or product creep. Within the UK we have multiple organisations overlooking neurotechnology, and the landscape is currently confusing leaving vulnerabilities but innovation prospects.

There is no explicit definition of neural information under the legislation and unless used for identification or medical purposes, it is not considered special category information. Even when revealing sensitive information, such as workplace performance, neural information is likely to be considered personal information without the additional protections given to special category information.
 

One of the main issues is consent, informed consent, fully understood informed consent. The Nuromovement seeks informed consent for all.  

There are other issues. Like identification and group identification even when pseudoanonymised. Brain data is so unique it could be traced back if the right or in this instant, WRONG individual(s) wants to.  On the other hand, neurodata, even if collected and stored in an anonymous manner, as affirmed by the company Emotiv Inc that lead to the Chilean supreme court ruling, may be converted into personal data if used in connection with other data. Known as data masking and unmasking or quasi identifiers.
 

The consent documentation should have answered several questions stemming from: is it specific, are you informed, and is it unambiguous.

The issue we have is in fact the agreements, privacy policy, terms and conditions are exactly as stated above. They leave gaps for exploitation through not delivering the information, not sharing full details of what exactly they intend to do with the data in full, via semantic cover ups. Additionally, passing information to others via legitimate means however, no one has the time, ability or inclination to understand who, how, what, and why they use, share, buy, and sell unique and novel data. The data is treated the same as your telephone number when it comes to most wearables.

The ICO or any regulatory body does not have the vision to see all of the flaws and lets freewill control the output. The ICO uses such tools as legitimate interest’s assessment (LIA)  and guidance to support understanding, and compliance of the 6 lawful bases processing.

There are 17 questions that should be answered by yourself when it comes to Neurotechnology purchases and use, forged from the Neurorights foundations report:

 

1. In case of sale/mergers/acquisitions, does the company hand over the data to the new company?

2. Can the company sell data to third parties?

3. Can the company share data with law enforcement/governments?

4. Do the companies respond to outreach?

5. Does the company allow deletion of data at the consumer's request?

6. Does the company allow withdrawal of consent to process data?

7. Does the company de-identify data?

8. Does the company encrypt data?

9. Does the company notify consumers if there is a security breach?

10. Can the company share data with third parties?

11. Is there a data retention period defined?

12. Is there explicit mention of neural data in the policy documents?

13. Is there mention of data minimisation in the policy documents?

14. Does the company notify consumers if there are changes to relevant policy documents?

15. Are there other policy documents on the website that relate to the neurotechnology device?

16. Is there a privacy policy on the website?

17. Does the company provide in its policy document(s) a way of contacting them with questions?

The last question is the most important, if you do not know, ask! This can be challenging when you have conditions and or are confused by the information but seek guidance where you can. The term informed consent is exactly that, even though neural data is currently classed as personal data, which this movement will seek to support in changing you have the right to know. This is not your phone number, this is your BRAIN and potentially all of your uniquely highly sensitive information. 

Use this when it comes to wearables. 

Think where are your balls? Meaning, if you can’t find information, ask where it is. Have the courage to ask, it’s yours to juggle if you can find the information.