Mind-reading tech 'must include neurodivergent people to avoid bias'

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. The current state-of-the-art in the field is demonstrated by individuals like Gert-Jan Oskam, a 40-year-old Dutch man who was paralysed in a cycling accident 12 years ago. In May, electronic implants in his brain gave him the ability to walk. "To many, the idea of neurotechnology conjures up images of science fiction films, but this technology is real and it is developing rapidly," said Stephen Almond, the ICO's executive director of regulatory risk.