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UNESCO adopted the first global ethical framework for neurotechnology in November 2025, establishing guidelines for brain-reading technologies and mental privacy as a human right. However, the framework is non-binding and relies entirely on voluntary national implementation. With the neurotechnology market projected to reach $53 billion by 2034 and consumer devices already widespread, the framework faces significant challenges: regulatory fragmentation across jurisdictions, competitive pressures that discourage strict regulation, lack of enforcement mechanisms, and the rapid convergence of neurotechnology with AI. While countries like Chile have enacted constitutional protections and several US states have passed neural data laws, implementation remains uneven. The framework represents international consensus on principles but lacks the technical standards, monitoring mechanisms, and consequences for non-compliance needed for effective governance of technologies that are already collecting and processing brain data at scale.

Neurotechnology Ethics Framework: Consensus Without Consequences

Exploring the intersections of artificial intelligence, decentralised cognition, posthuman ethics, society and culture.