A quick change up from the usual fare.
Trolling about, I saw this ExtremeTech article written by Sebastian Anthony:
Researchers at Brown University have succeeded in creating the first wireless, implantable, rechargeable, long-term brain-computer interface. The wireless BCIs have been implanted in pigs and monkeys for over 13 months without issue, and human subjects are next.
A while back I wrote on the concept of brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs (here too). I’m really fascinated with this technology because it could bring a revolution that changes the human condition while testing the very limits of every legal doctrine we’ve developed. That may sound dramatic, but I believe it to be true. In effect, if we get to the point where we have successfully integrated computers with the human mind, we’re going to have to take every issue we’ve failed to address in cybersecurity (privacy, security, anonymity, IP, substantive criminal law, criminal procedure) and magnify it times 100. That’s not even considering the massive ethical issues.
Again, I don’t know if people reading this blog–or NatSec types in general–think this idea is too speculative, too out there. Hacking into the brain? Really? We can’t even figure out how to protect our IP or electrical grids, and we’re talking about this? I admit this technology hasn’t fully developed, so we’re probably many years away from confronting this issue. I also admit that the human mind is an incredibly complicated thing, so there’s no way we could fully understand or predict what impact this technology will have.
Having said that, the National Intelligence Council thought BCI technology was worth discussing in its Global Trends 2030 report. DARPA is going ham on this stuff. As you can see from the ExtremeTech article above, the technology is already here (although not fully developed).
I recently found this interesting ABA The SciTech Lawyer article from Stephen S. Wu & Marc Goodman. Unfortunately, you need ABA membership to read the full article, but if you have Westlaw, you can find it at 8 No. 3 ABA SciTech Law. 12. It summarizes many of the legal issues we may face with BCI technologies. A quick snippet:
Though it is not widely known, brain implants and other neural devices have been successfully used for several years to treat neurological disease and brain injuries. In the future, these devices hold the promise of enhancing our quality of life and ultimately expanding the functionality of our minds . . . At the same time, humans seem to have no limitations when it comes to finding ways to attack the computerized devices that others have invented. Attackers have successfully compromised computers, mobile phones, ATMs, telephone networks, and even networked power grids. If neural devices fulfill the promise of treatment, and enhance our quality of lives and functionality—which appears likely, given the preliminary clinical success demonstrated from neuroprosthetics—their use and adoption will likely grow in the future. When this happens, inevitably, a wide variety of legal, security, and public policy concerns will follow.
I’d also like to refer you back to this Blogs of War guest post by Chloe Diggins & Clint Arizmedi, and this Wired article by the same authors on how the mind may become the sixth domain of warfare. This passage from the Wired article haunts me:
This new battlespace is not just about influencing hearts and minds with people seeking information. It’s about involuntarily penetrating, shaping, and coercing the mind in the ultimate realization of Clausewitz’s definition of war: compelling an adversary to submit to one’s will. And the most powerful tool in this war is brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies, which connect the human brain to devices.
Klint Finley of The Wired UK wrote on the news of Brown’s wireless BCI (you can find the researcher’s paper here, by the way). Finley quotes one of the researchers:
At the current state of neuroscientific research, simply interpreting the data we collect is an enormous challenge and is being tackled by neuroscientists around the world . . . However, one day our understanding of the brain will be much greater, and privacy will play an increasingly large role in technological development. Without a doubt, at that time security and privacy measures will need to be implemented, just like we do now with personal data.
I’ll say it again, the time is coming when we stop talking about cybersecurity and start talking about neurosecurity.
Leave a Reply