The exposed psyche and the constitutional ambiguities of mind reading

Elon Musk’s Neuralink, revealed in August 2020, signalled the fact that we are on the verge of the wide commercialization of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). The use of such technologies pose numerous, hitherto unresolved ethical and legal challenges. From a legal perspective, concretely, they trigger the question of whether interference with the ‘privacy of the mind’ is permissible.
This contribution provides an overview of human enhancement and human enhancement technologies, the motivation behind their use and their potential impact on individuals and groups/societies. The contribution elaborates on the impacts to rights and freedoms, autonomy and integrity with special attention to the right to privacy, enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. After interpreting the Convention and the relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights from the point of view of human mind as the subject of protection the contribution concludes that 1) there is no immediate need for the development of new human rights, targeting specifically the privacy of the mind; 2) according to the Convention and the Court’s jurisprudence interference with the human mind is permissible but only to a certain extent; and 3) Clarification and legal interpretation of hitherto undefined terms such as enhancement or mind are necessary.

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