ICO urges ethical development of neurotechnology to prevent discrimination

According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), new neurotechnologies for monitoring neuro data, or information originating directly from the brain and nervous system, risk discriminating against people if such groups do not support their development.

Neurotechnology is utilised in healthcare to predict, diagnose, and cure disease. Still, its use in other sectors may result in prejudice and erroneous data if not evaluated on a diverse spectrum of individuals, negatively impacting UK communities.

According to Stephen Almond, executive director of regulatory risk, neurotechnology collects confidential personal data, and the consequences can be dangerous if these technologies are developed or misapplied. Organisations must act to avoid the real danger of discrimination.

The ICO is developing guidance and case studies specific to the neurotechnology sector, including the interpretation of legal and technical definitions, links to existing guidance and risks, to highlight good practice by 2025 to ensure the development of neurotechnology in the workplace, in sports, personal health, marketing and video games, according to a new report – ‘ICO tech futures: neurotechnology‘.

Neurotechnology can lead to discrimination and inaccurate assumptions, so testing devices on many people is vital to ensure accuracy and reliability. Special care must be taken to protect neurodivergent persons from discrimination in normative patterns.