THE police, courts and security services should be banned from using brain-imaging technology, lest they exploit its potential to reveal our innermost thoughts and desires.
That was one of 37 recommendations about the future of the brain sciences that came out of the “Meeting of Minds European Citizens’ Deliberation”, the biggest ever public science consultation exercise, which reported to the European Parliament on Monday (New Scientist, 21 January, p 11).
The technology is developing so fast that it poses a threat to our privacy, says the report, and people should have to give informed consent before undergoing scans for…
