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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Alex Hern Technology editor

Mind-reading tech ‘must include neurodivergent people to avoid bias’

Gert-Jan Oskam walking with a stick
Gert-Jan Oskam has been able to walk after electrodes were implanted into his brain. Neurodata is increasingly important in healthcare and the ICO says that for everyone to benefit from it data from a wide range of people should be gathered. Photograph: WEBER Gilles/Handout

Mind-reading technologies pose a “real danger” of discrimination and bias, the Information Commissioner’s Office has warned, as it develops specific guidance for companies working in the sci-fi field of neurodata.

The use of technology to monitor information coming directly from the brain and nervous system “will become widespread over the next decade”, the ICO said, as it moves from a highly regulated medical advancement to a more general purpose technology. It is already being explored for potential applications in personal wellbeing, sport and marketing, and even for workplace monitoring.

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