NEURORIGHTS AND MENTAL PRIVACY: ETHICAL AND LEGAL CHALLENGES OF EMERGING NEUROTECHNOLOGIES

• Grant number: 25/05408-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Private Law
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Tomasevicius Filho
• Grantee: Aline Souza Batista
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Direito (FD). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The concept of "neurorights" is widely used to designate an emerging category of human rights that has arisen from the advancement of devices capable of interacting with the brain, emulating information, accessing neural data, and monitoring it-neurotechnologies. This evolution, while beneficial in some aspects, brings ethical and legal challenges, particularly concerning mental privacy, autonomy, and cognitive freedom, which require attention due to the potential misuse of these technologies. In this context, neuro-rights emerge as a guarantee of protection for mental data against manipulative or economic use without an individual's consent.This project aims to investigate the impact of neurotechnologies on the brain and its privacy, analyzing the historical evolution of neuroscience, its advancements in creating devices capable of collecting neural information, and the legal challenges in addressing this issue in Brazil to regulate this new reality. Additionally, a case study will be conducted on the use of these technologies, raising relevant ethical and legal questions based on interviews with experts and scholars.Finally, the project seeks to propose improvements for the Brazilian context through a comparative study of international legislation and public policies. In this way, it aims to contribute to introducing this topic in Brazil and to developing a regulatory model that effectively protects brain activity privacy from external violations. (AU)