Abstract:

Neurotechnologies represented by brain-computer interfaces are challenging the traditional assumption that the interior of the human skull is an untouchable domain. The existing system of fundamental rights reveals an institutional vacuum in areas such as thought-reading and mental manipulation. Neurorights, centered on protecting human cerebral dignity and mental autonomy, form an emerging composite category of fundamental rights encompassing the right to personal identity, the right to mental integrity, cognitive liberty, and mental privacy. In China, a multilayered and localized normative framework for the protection of citizens’ neurorights can be gradually developed by recognizing the constitutional value of mental integrity and mental privacy, incorporating neural data into the category of sensitive personal information, strictly prohibiting the implementation of mandatory neural interventions, and supplementing these measures with ethics review mechanisms for neurotechnologies and product market-access systems.

Key words: neurorights, cognitive liberty, mental privacy, personal identity