Vermont signs first standalone US law on 'neurological rights'
H.814 recognizes mental and neural data privacy and freedom of thought, and limits how neurotechnology can access or alter brain activity.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott has signed H.814, a law on neurological rights and the use of artificial intelligence in health and human services. It is the first US law to create a standalone chapter on neurological rights.
What the law covers
H.814 recognizes:
- a right to mental privacy and privacy of neural data,
- freedom of thought,
- people’s right to make their own decisions about using neurotechnology, and
- protection from unauthorized access to, or manipulation of, a person’s brain activity.
It also sets privacy standards for how neurotechnologies may process neural data.
The bigger picture
Colorado, California, Connecticut and Montana had already added neural data to their privacy laws. Most of those laws treat brain data as one more category of sensitive personal information. Vermont goes further by framing protections as rights, an approach long promoted by neurorights advocates. At the federal level, the proposed MIND Act would ask the FTC to study the issue (read our coverage).
Why it matters
Consumer devices such as EEG headbands and earbuds are collecting more brain data every year. Laws like H.814 shape what companies may do with that data, and other states often copy early models.
Learn more: Neurorights · Neural data · Informed consent in neurotech