2. Neurorights

Precedent

The concept of neurorights stems from a benign transhumanist philosophy, advocated by the Neurorights Foundation, which aims to protect the public’s neural data and neural well being when it comes to commercial actors peddling neurotechnology. They have successfully advocated various governments into implementing neurorights into their constitutions, laws and penal codes. At the time of writing, this mostly works as a bona fide extension of the European GDPR to include privacy protections for neural data. The Neurorights foundation transhumanist philosophies envision further protections and accessibility guarantees; but some may fall outside of the game industry’s purview, such as the theoretical right to Equal Access, which comes in conflict with the gaming industry’s business model.

These proposed safeguards and rights are usually conceived to protect users from abuse by medical, governmental and social media establishments. However, not only are neurorights relevant to the mainstream market, but also neurorights should also be applied into the commercial neurogaming market. One should strive to update neurogaming safeguard policies as neurorights philosophies continue to develop into best practices and law.

Thus, foreseeing a time when the game industry may need to comply with legal requirements regarding neurorights for the global market, the following Neurorights Policies are proposed.

Policy Proposal: Neurorights applied to Neurogames

• We should not store neural or biological activity server-side, but exclusively client-side. This data should only be used for game mechanics. For online multiplayer modes, we should strive to only cache a minimal amount of derived data for gameplay purposes.
• We should implement a button in the settings to allow for any stored data to be erased. Users should be advised that doing so will delete any cognitive models that make the game responsive to their mental commands.
• We should never allow any current, or potential, sponsors/funders to access user data or derive any models from users’ data.
• We should consider encrypting any stored user data and gameplay models to protect against meddling third parties (hackers, governments, jealous partners, etc).
• Our games should show in an easily accessible manner a list of types of neural/biological data being used and how it is used. No need to divulge industry secrets, just a birds-eye view would suffice.

Thus, the following Neurorights Notice is proposed:

Practical Proposal : Neurorights Notice

[ MY COMPANY ] does not store any neural data, biological data or any derived cognitive models on its servers. The aforementioned data is only stored locally in the users’ gaming device for the use of the videogame’s core functions. This data is automatically deleted once the game is uninstalled. Users may otherwise delete their stored data from their own devices in the game’s settings, at the loss of any benefits to the game’s core functions. Any data cached during gameplay is deleted at the closing of the game.

To the best of [ MY COMPANY ] ’s knowledge, the partners providing neurotech devices and their SDKs do not surreptitiously store and send user data outside users’ network. [ MY COMPANY ] makes its best efforts to safeguard users’ neurorights and trusts its partners to adhere to the highest possible standards regarding users’ privacy and wellbeing.

In order to safeguard users’ neurorights, [ MY COMPANY ] is committed to transparency regarding the neural and biological data used and how it is used. Each neurogame published by [ MY COMPANY ] lists the kind of neurological and/or biological data that it gets from users and how it is used. Consult the game’s documentation for more information.

For questions or more information on our Neuroright Notice, please contact:
[ INSERT NEURORIGHTS / PR OFFICER HERE ].

For all other privacy concerns beyond users’ neurological and/or biological data, consult [ MY COMPANY ] ’s Privacy Notice.

Example : Neurotech Transparency Disclosure

This game only caches EEG data once per frame to calculate users’ state of mind, as well as derived artifacts which are used exclusively to inform the game’s mechanics.

No neural data, biological data, or derived cognitive models are stored long-term by this game. Neither locally, nor in the cloud.

The Muse 2 headset, to the best of our knowledge, does not store neural or biological data long-term. Neither locally, nor in the cloud.

No direct or derived user data of any kind (neurological, biological, behavioral, commercial or otherwise) is shared with any third parties.

• Data obtained:

  • Neural:

    • Prefrontal Cortex Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity.
    • Temporal Cortices Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity.
    • Absolute, Relative and Derived Brainwaves from aforementioned EEG activity.

  • Biological:

    • Photoplethysmography (PPG).
    • Gyroscopy and Accelerometry.

• Data derived:

  • Cognitive:

    • Focus.
    • Flow.
    • Calmness.

  • Biometric:

    • Blinking.
    • Jaw Clenching.
    • User’s head tilt.