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Title: Unesco Adopts Global Standards On 'Wild West' Field of Neurotechnology

Link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/11/08/0...

Unesco has adopted the first global ethical standards for neurotechnology,
defining "neural data" and outlining more than 100 recommendations aimed at
safeguarding mental privacy. "There is no control," said Unesco's chief of
bioethics, Dafna Feinholz. "We have to inform the people about the risks, the
potential benefits, the alternatives, so that people have the possibility to
say 'I accept, or I don't accept.'" The Guardian reports: She said the new
standards were driven by two recent developments in neurotechnology:
artificial intelligence (AI), which offers vast possibilities in decoding
brain data, and the proliferation of consumer-grade neurotech devices such as
earbuds that claim to read brain activity and glasses that track eye
movements. The standards define a new category of data, "neural data," and
suggest guidelines governing its protection. A list of more than 100
recommendations ranges from rights-based concerns to addressing scenarios
that are -- at least for now -- science fiction, such as companies using
neurotechnology to subliminally market to people during their dreams.
"Neurotechnology has the potential to define the next frontier of human
progress, but it is not without risks," said Unesco's director general,
Audrey Azoulay. The new standards would "enshrine the inviolability of the
human mind," she said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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