Headbands measuring fatigue. Earbuds tracking focus. Brain computer interfaces translating thoughts into digital commands.
As the emerging world of neurotechnology rapidly moves from science fiction to reality, lawmakers are already trying to get ahead of its potential adoption by US employers.
“The space is growing fast, and we’re likely going to see neural tech making its way into the workplaces in the US in the not so distant future,” said Kristen Mathews, a Cooley LLP partner who advises companies on data privacy.
The neurotech industry is worth an estimated $17.3 billion, according to Precedence Research, a figure that is predicted to nearly double by 2031. Neuralink, Elon Musk’s company selling a device fully implantable into the brain, is estimated to bring in at least $1 billion in revenue that year.
But researchers and scholars say unchecked use of tech that can monitor, analyze, and influence the body’s nervous system carries a host of risks, from privacy violations to possible discrimination.
That type of data collection may lead to “particular profiles, categorizations, and classifications” that employers could then use to decide how to treat employees, said James Giordano, professor emeritus of neuroscience and biochemistry at Georgetown University.
“Anything that monitors individuals’ physiological states that can be used in a way that may be stigmatizing,” he said, “needs to at least have oversight.”
State lawmakers are paying attention.
In California,...
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