
09/25/2025
What all of these devices share is their collection of large amounts of brain data. Amassing this data is required for the products to work, says Sara Goering, a philosopher and bioethicist at the University of Washington in Seattle. It’s not unlike how Google and Meta gather massive datasets about their sites’ users, says Goering. It’s how they may know we prefer cat photos to cooking tips.
However, Big Tech has gotten into hot water with authorities for misusing and selling this customer data. It makes no sense to assume that, industry promises to the contrary, BCI manufacturers would behave any differently, Goering says.
The potential of brain-computer interfaces ‘could be magical,’ but their collection of large amounts of neural data also raises privacy concerns, warn experts.