NEUROTECHNOLOGIES AND THE RIGHT TO MENTAL PRIVACY

Abstract

The article examines the legal problems arising from the development of neurotechnologies and their impact on the right to mental privacy as a component of the right to respect for private life. The concepts of neurotechnologies and neurorights are analyzed through the prism of contemporary scientific research in the field of neurosciences and neuroethics, and the main categories of neurorights proposed in the scientific literature are identified: cognitive liberty, mental privacy, mental integrity and psychological continuity. The provisions of Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of November 4, 1950, and Article 32 of the Constitution of Ukraine regarding guarantees of the right to non-interference in private life in the context of neurotechnological reading and influence on human cognitive processes are examined. The experience of Chile as the first state in the world to enshrine neurorights at the constitutional level through amendments to the Constitution and the adoption of a special Neurorights Law in October 2021 is considered, and the OECD Council Recommendation on Responsible Innovation in Neurotechnology of 2019 is analyzed. The problems of legal regulation of brain-computer interfaces in the context of personal data protection are identified, and the insufficiency of existing legal mechanisms, including the Law of Ukraine "On Personal Data Protection" and EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR), for adequate protection of neural data as a special category of sensitive data is analyzed. The necessity of forming a regulatory framework that will ensure the protection of mental privacy in the conditions of rapid neurotechnological development and the definition of neural data as a separate legal category requiring an enhanced protection regime is substantiated.