The Neurodata Divide

With the sinister impact of wrongful use of neurotechnology ever present, there is a real and ongoing need for innovators to think carefully about data protection, patient privacy and other ethical considerations.

Such is the multifaceted issue touched upon in this fast-read from Neurotech Reports editor, James Cavuoto, who writes that the potential misuse of neurotech could have “insidious wide-ranging impacts on society”, particularly if collected data is used to “make inferences about society as a whole that marginalizes under-represented segments”.

“Let us also not forget that the government’s proscriptions against certain mental states was based largely on normative standards from people whose drug of choice was alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine and not marijuana, cocaine, or amphetamines,” contends Cavuoto.

“Given these past abuses, it’s not too hard to imagine a scenario where EEG data collected from a skewed sampling of citizens creates a disadvantage for some segment of society that holds a particular ideology that is not dominant in the sampled population.”

The solution, he posits, is in ensuring restrictions are in place for the organisations using and driving the data collection.

Check out the full piece via Neurotech Reports.