Neurorights Protection in Pakistan: Lessons from Chile and the United States

Abstract

Neurotechnology is rapidly transforming the way humans interact with science, medicine, and digital systems by enabling direct communication between the brain and external devices. While these advancements offer significant benefits in treating neurological disorders, but they also raise serious legal and ethical concerns, particularly regarding mental privacy, cognitive liberty, and human autonomy. This research examines the emerging field of neurorights as a legal response to the challenges posed by neurotechnology. It explores how neurodevices, and neurodata processing technologies are reshaping traditional understandings of privacy and human rights. The study traces the conceptual evolution of neurotechnology from early EEG developments to modern AI-integrated neural systems and highlights the growing commercial and military applications of brain-based technologies. A key focus of the research is the comparative legal analysis of global developments. Chile is examined as the pioneering country that constitutionally recognized neurorights to protect mental integrity and neurodata. The study further analyzes approaches adopted in the United States, and international organizations such as the United Nations and others. In last, the work comparatively evaluates the legal framework of Pakistan, identifying a significant regulatory gap in addressing neurotechnology and neurodata protection. This work recommends new legislation as the existing constitutional provisions, while partially relevant, are insufficient to deal with emerging cognitive risks.