Neurorights Foundation

Perseus Strategies serves as outside legal counsel to The Neurorights Foundation (NRF), a nonprofit focused on protecting human rights while promoting innovation and the ethical development of neurotechnology. The organization was co-founded by Dr. Rafael Yuste, Professor and Director of the Neurotechnology Center at Columbia University, Jared Genser, Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, and Jamie Daves, managing partner of Everyone, Inc.

The term “neurotechnologies” refers to devices capable of recording or altering the activity of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and the peripheral nerves. Neurotechnology devices can be either invasive (implantable) or non-invasive (wearable). Long used in medical and research settings, neurotechnology devices are increasingly marketed to consumers in the form of wearable direct-to-consumer products.

This brings promising opportunities for product innovation, but it also brings enormous risks given that consumer neurotechnologies are almost entirely unregulated. This is concerning from a human rights and consumer protection standpoint because neural data is capable of revealing highly sensitive information, including information about mental health, physical health, and cognitive processing. With the help of generative artificial intelligence (AI), neural data can be decoded with high (and fast-growing) levels of accuracy from both implantable and wearable devices. AI algorithms can increasingly decode human thought from neural data, enabling forms of thought-to-text translation. This presents serious concerns for mental privacy, agency, identity, non-discrimination, and fair access to mental augmentation.

NRF Co-Founder Dr. Yuste with filmmaker Werner Herzog for a segment of Theater of Thought

NRF leads targeted global advocacy to ensure the ethical development of consumer neurotechnologies. Activities involve rigorous research publications, conferences, media engagement, international advocacy, and expert consultations.

NRF engages with the United Nations on several levels, including with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Advisory Committee to the Human Rights Council. It also engages U.S. Federal and state actors in regulation and policymaking matters.

Recent successes include

Co-sponsoring the strongest neurorights bill in the world and securing its adoption and signature into law in the State of California, expanding the protections of the California Consumer Privacy Act to neural data.
Securing the first hard law protections for neural data in the United States (Colorado HB24-1058).
Publishing the first report analyzing data practices and user rights in the consumer neurotechnology sphere. The report analyzes the privacy policies and user agreements of 30 neurotechnology companies, benchmarking data practices against global data protection instruments to compare the handling of neural data with established global standards for handling other types of sensitive and personally identifiable data.
Publishing the first-ever comprehensive review of international human rights law applied to neurotechnology. The report explores how existing international treaties fail to address novel privacy risks in the age of neurotechnology, analyzing protection gaps and articulating a path forward for a cross-UN approach to lead global efforts to protect the rights of neurotechnology users.

Leading a draft resolution on neurotechnology at the UN Human Rights Council: following high-level advocacy by NRF, resolution A/HRC/51/L.3 was adopted unanimously.
Raising the profile of neurotechnology as a human rights issue in publications such as Vox, Undark Magazine, The Atlantic, and NPR.
Following NRF’s advocacy, Chile’s Senate unanimously approved a bill providing protection for mental privacy, individual identity, and individual agency, and guaranteeing fair access to neuroenhancing technologies. In addition, Chile unanimously approved a constitutional amendment to protect mental privacy.
In collaboration with NRF, the Brazilian State of Rio Grande Do Sul officially incorporated neurorights into its constitution.
With the support of NRF, Mexico introduced a constitutional amendment to enshrine neurorights and adopted the Mexican Charter of Digital Rights (which incorporates neurorights).