Page - 185 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Cyberneuroethics • 185 questions can be asked about the amount of information being gathered by gaming companies about online players. In fact, the concept of privacy may be one of the key ethical challenges sur- rounding advances in new applications of neurotechnology. Indeed, examin- ing the brain and the mind through procedures such as neuroimaging may raise important questions about personal privacy and civil liberties.391 However, these concerns are based more upon speculation at present than hard facts, due to the relatively primitive and early stages of development of many technologies such as neuroimaging techniques. Currently, only general mental states such as basic emotions can be detected, along with more spe- cific conceptual/thought patterns. At most, these patterns can be interpreted to form general conclusions about individuals or tendencies within a popula- tion. But the end results are little different from other physical indicators of mood or mental state.392 With respect to the risks for persons when they increasingly accept to share their personal information, it is worth noting that a significant amount of data relating to many individuals, including children, is already publicly available on the Internet. This is because restrictions are not always present and, if they do exist, a number of individuals may not know how to use them. As a result, persons who have a lot of information about themselves on the Internet may already have lives that are a lot less private. Consequently, they may become easily manipulated or even exploited by the information gather- ers who may use this information against them. The present increased use of information technology is creating real risks of abuse and misuse of personal information, as well as breaches of confidentiality.393 But this privacy problem may not be new, since people knew a lot about each other even in the past, when they lived in small communities such as villages. However, in contrast to living in a neighbourhood, the Internet is a global medium and modern persons are not physically close in cyberspace, which may make the virtual world more isolating. For example, there remains caution and apprehension in the United Kingdom concerning the National Health Service’s Electronic Patient Record. In seeking to address these concerns, part of the solution was to ensure that individuals are appropriately informed about the technology, its uses and applications, and have access to the data that is generated. This means that patients must have given their informed consent to the use of personal and medical data. But it cannot be assumed that, when a patient gives an express consent for his or her data to be accessed by certain health- care professionals and for certain purposes, this consent includes an implied consent for the data to be used by other persons. Nor can it be assumed that it can be used for other purposes that may not be associated with the patient’s care and treatment.394 This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.