Colorado Leads The Way: Protecting Neurodata Privacy In The Digital Age

While it sounds like the plot of a science-fiction movie, a new hot topic in both technology and law is mind reading. Yes, there are devices out there that can actually read what’s known as neurodata with or without consent.

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However, Colorado is the first state in the country to add this neurodata to already-established privacy laws and it appears that more states plan to follow suit.

What Exactly is Colorado Trying to Protect?

Neurodata is generally defined as the following:

Information generated by a person's brain, spinal cord, or nervous system that is collected and interpreted by a device.

The devices in question fall under the umbrella of Neurotechnology and include wearable equipment such as wristbands to not only gather and interpret neural data, but can purportedly affect the wearer with the potential to cause seizures, hallucinations, and affect states of consciousness.

By collecting neurodata, one can plainly see the subject’s biases, intentions, thoughts, and overall identity. This type of technology was originally introduced to the medical field to interpret the thoughts of non-verbal patients, paralyzed patients, or patients in, say, a coma, but now that multiple versions of these devices are available to the general public, lawyers, lawmakers, and neuroscientists are teaming up to regulate the potentially dangerous technology.

What Has Colorado Done to Protect Neurodata?

On April 17, 2024, Colorado Governor Polis signed H.B. 24-1058 into law which effectively added neurodata to the list of sensitive information protected by the Colorado Privacy Act which also includes data from things like fingerprints and facial recognition technology.

While Colorado is the first and only state to address protections regarding neurodata, both California and Minnesota appear to be in the process of following suit while some National lawmakers reportedly have the topic on their minds as well.