California Takes Aim at Protecting Your “Neural Data”

In the age of wearable tech and brain-computer interfaces, California has set its sights on safeguarding something new: your neural data. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that extends privacy protections to this emerging category of personal information.

Neural data—information generated by brain-computer devices or neurotechnology—will now be treated with the same level of caution as biometric data like fingerprints, DNA, and facial recognition under the state’s stringent privacy laws. This legislation represents a preemptive strike in the evolving battle to protect privacy in the age of mind-reading gadgets and neurotech innovations.

California, already a trailblazer in consumer privacy, is signaling to tech companies that as devices become more integrated with our minds, they can’t expect to tap into our thoughts without consent. In a world increasingly dominated by data, even your brainwaves are now off-limits to unauthorized prying.