Announcement of Virtual Event to Launch Major Publication
NEURORIGHTS FOUNDATION TO PUBLISH FIRST COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND NEUROTECHNOLOGY
WHAT: Public Event
WHEN: FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022, 9:00-10:00 AM EST
WHERE: Zoom Videoconference
WHO: Dr. Rafael Yuste, Chair, Neurorights Foundation; Professor of Biological
Sciences, Columbia University; Report Co-Author Jared Genser,General Counsel, Neurorights Foundation; Managing
Director, Perseus Strategies, LLC; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown
University Law Center; Report Co-Author Stephanie Herrmann,Staff Attorney at both Perseus Strategies, LLC
and Neurorights Foundation; Report Co-Author Jamie Daves, Treasurer, Neurorights Foundation; Co-Founder and
Managing Partner at Everyone, Inc.
DIAL-IN: A link to the Zoom call will be provided on Friday by 7:00 am EST to all those who have RSVP’d by filling out this form. Only those who RSVP’d and join the Zoom waiting room with their name or phone number as registered will be admitted to the Zoom call.
FURTHER BACKGROUND:
As the world moves on, so does the law. When the United Nations (UN) adopted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948, it could not have foreseen how innovations in emerging technologies would both play a transformative role in advancing the human experience but also pose serious risks to fundamental human rights. It is therefore time to review the existing human rights framework with respect to novel transformative technologies. We focus on neurotechnology, defined as methods to record or alter brain activity, which is an emerging source of scientific and medical advancements and consumer demand that could profoundly alter what it means to be human. Yet, there is enormous potential for the misuse or abuse of neurotechnology to infringe upon human rights by states, companies, and other non-state actors.
On May 6, 2022, the Neurorights Foundation, a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, will publish International Human Rights Protection Gaps in the Age of Neurotechnology, the first comprehensive review of international human rights law as applied to neurotechnology. This report analyzes how seven international human rights treaties are ill prepared to protect citizens from present and conceivable misuses or abuses of neurotechnology. The Neurorights Foundation advocates for the adoption and advancement of five new human rights (“Neurorights”) including: (1) the right to mental identity (sense of self), (2) the right to mental agency (free will), (3) the right to mental privacy (protection of private thoughts against disclosure), (4) the right to fair access to mental augmentation, and (5) protection from algorithmic bias, such as when neurotechnology is combined with AI. Our belief is that those are fundamental tenets of the human condition and should be adequately protected by human rights treaties.
The Neurorights Foundation promotes research, outreach and advocacy of such neurorights. We promote innovation within a human rights framework, to ensure the ethical development of neurotechnology. We collaborate with both international organizations like the UN, OAS, and UNESCO, and also with individual governments (like Chile, Spain and the US), while incorporating the voice of the industrial entrepreneurs. The Neurorights Foundation is heavily engaged in research, consumer advocacy, academia, and media – including the publication of op-eds and expository pieces, and interviews.
