by Erdem Büyüksagis
In spite of its potential to improve the quality of life of individuals affected by neurological diseases, enhance work quality while monitoring business operations, help e-commerce in its endeavour of meeting consumers’ individual needs and preferences, various neurotechnological applications - including identification, coding and manipulation - might also cause the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, create risks around privacy, lead to discrimination, infringe the right to self-determination, and harm social cohesion.
In Türkiye, there is not a specific neurorights regime. One of the most pressing questions is therefore whether the existing legal framework is sufficient to protect against the possible negative externalities posed by neurotechnology, or whether there is a need to expand existing rights to protect mental health and privacy. To address this issue, it would be appropriate to define the risks connected to the process of brain decoding, and compare them to the risks already resonating with existing laws which cover a vast area where neurotechnology products or neurotechnology applications enter the picture.