On January 28th, 2026, in celebration of Data Privacy Day, the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law hosted the one-day symposium “Neurotech on Trial: Hacking for Healing and Guarding Privacy.” Although having to move to a virtual format, the event examined the intersection of emerging neurotechnology and human rights in an increasingly connected world. As brain-computer interfaces, wearable health devices, and neural interventions advance rapidly, they present both unprecedented opportunities for healthcare innovation while raising significant challenges to privacy, autonomy, and human dignity.  

Bringing together policy leaders from Meta, Stanford, and the UN Human Rights Council, alongside scholars from Geneva, Bogotá, and across the United States, speakers included Alex Joel, Jennifer Jin, Diego Borbón, Brittan Heller, Milena Costas Trascasas, Roberto Andorno, Jared Genser, David Lehr, and Koy Miller. Panels explored questions at the intersection of privacy, autonomy, freedom of thought, data protection, and democratic accountability—asking how the law must evolve to respond to technologies capable of accessing, interpreting, and potentially influencing the human brain.