Neurodata governance: Evidence from innovators for public policy

Neurotechnologies are rapidly expanding across clinical, research, and consumer domains, creating unprecedented opportunities for improving medical care, overcoming disabilities, and transforming everyday life. Their operation depends on neurodata, a diverse set of signals and information derived from processing, which can be generated across complex digital, clinical, and business environments and may be highly sensitive for the individuals concerned. A growing number of policy frameworks address the data governance aspects of neurotechnology globally. While indispensable, their overlap also makes compliance challenging, triggers concerns of uneven oversight and hindrance to innovation, while potentially overlooking high-risk uses. To inform coherent and proportionate approaches to neurodata governance, this paper analyses the current policy landscape and company practices, mapping how such data are collected, transformed, and used throughout the data lifecycle. The findings highlight the importance of a responsive, human-centric, and evidence-based policy approach that is adaptable to technological developments and aligned with innovation, growth, and public benefit.