PRIVETDIS

Project Description

The PRIVETDIS collaborative project is part of the BMFTR funding measure „Guidelines for Funding Multinational Research Projects on Ethical, Legal, and Social Aspects of Neuroscience within the Framework of ERA-NET NEURON.“ This measure aims to identify questions of ethical, philosophical, legal, and socio-cultural aspects related to neuroscientific research, lay the scientific foundations for informed social and scientific discourse, assess opportunities and risks arising from technological and methodological advances, and expand the general state of knowledge.

The concept of mental privacy is gaining importance in research on neurotechnologies and AI-based methods for analyzing brain data. The concept is discussed from the perspective of both ethical and legal issues. The project examines the concept of mental privacy in depth in relation to other concepts of privacy, such as informational privacy. The researchers pay particular attention to the views and rights of people with disabilities. In order to explore the expectations, needs, concerns, and challenges of neurotechnologies for mental privacy from the perspective of people with disabilities, this interest group will be actively involved in the project. Legal analyses will compare how mental privacy is protected in different countries and identify possible improvements to German regulations. This project aims to evaluate the ethical, legal, and social implications of neurotechnologies with regard to human rights aspects of information privacy for people with disabilities and to develop proposals for regulation.

The project consists of five interconnected work packages:

• Interdisciplinary conceptual and ethical analysis & community-led participatory stakeholder research on mental privacy in disability (Lead: University of Mannheim)
• Perspectives of patients and research participants on mental privacy (Lead: SESCAM Toledo)
• Ethical and international human rights perspectives on mental privacy (Lead: University of Zurich, UC3 Madrid)
• Legal challenges at the interface of mental privacy, brain data protection and governance (Lead: University of Heidelberg)
• Knowledge integration, outreach, and public engagement (Lead: University of Mannheim)

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Team Members & Cooperation partners

• Prof. Dr. Philipp Kellmeyer, University of Mannheim
• Carolin Heizmann, University of Mannheim
• Prof. Dr. iur. Roberto Andorno, University of Zurich
• Dr. Felicitas Holzer, University of Zurich
• Prof. Dr. Carlos Lema Añón, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 
• Dr. Francisco J Bariffi, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
• Prof. Dr. Marta Sosa Navarro, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
• Prof. Dr. Antonio Oliviero, SESCAM Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos Toledo
• Eva Díez Rodríguez-Gamazo, SESCAM Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos Toledo
• Prof. Dr. Dr. Orsolya Friedrich, University of Cologne
• Dr. des. Samuel Pedziwiatr, FernUniversität in Hagen
• Prof. Dr. iur. Fruzsina Molnár-Gábor, Heidelberg University
• Dr. (Jan) Christoph Bublitz, University of Hamburg

KIT-ITAS: Forschungsgruppe „Gesundheit und Technisierung des Lebens“ (Christopher Coenen, Nora Weinberger, Dirk Hommrich, Jérémy Lefint)

Scientific Advisory Board

• Prof. Dr. Salvador Dura-Bernal, SUNY Downstate Health and Sciences
• Prof. Dr. Sara Goering, University of Washington
• Prof. Dr. Ashley Shew, Virginia Tech
• Prof. Dr. Rua M. Williams, Purdue Polytechnic
• Prof. Dr. Gregor Wolbring, University of Calgary

Selected Publications

• Sosa Navarro, M., Holzer, F. (2026). Mapping a right to mental privacy within European and international human rights law, in lceonline (www.lceonline.eu) I/Saggi e contributi, p. 69 ss. https://www.lceonline.eu/mapping-a-right-to-mental-privacy-within-european-and-international-human-rights-law/
• Bariffi, F. (2026). Mind, machine, and the law: Reimagining neurotechnology governance through disability rights. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 13(1), lsag011. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsag011
• Bublitz, C., Chandler, J. A., Molnár-Gábor, F., Navarro, M. S., Kellmeyer, P., & Soekadar, S. R. (2025). A Moratorium on Implantable Non-Medical Neurotech Until Effects on the Mind are Properly Understood. Neuroethics, 18(3), 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-025-09612-6
• Bublitz, C., Bariffi, F., Sosa Navarro, M. et al. (2025). UNESCO’s Recommendation on Neurotechnology: realizing the rights of people with mental disabilities. Nat. Mental Health.
  https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00454-y
• Bublitz, J. C., Kellmeyer, P., & Molnár‐Gábor, F. (2025). Brain Stimulation May Be a Subliminal Technique Under the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act. European Journal of Neuroscience, 61(8), e70115. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.70115
• Heizmann, C., Gleim, P. & Kellmeyer, P. (2025). Partizipative Ansätze in der Entwicklung von KI-Anwendungen in der Medizin: Chancen und Herausforderungen. Bundesgesundheitsbl 68, 924–931. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-025-04095-5
• Holzer, F. (2024). Umkämpfte Gehirne – Brauchen wir Neurorechte. Philosophie Magazin Deutschland. https://www.philomag.de/artikel/umkaempfte-gehirne-brauchen-wir-neurorechte
• Sosa Navarro, M. (2025). The Role of Soft Law in the Regulation and Governance of Human Rights Challenges Posed by Neurotechnologies. Giappichelli, Torino. ISBN/EAN 979-12-211-1233-7
  https://boa.unimib.it/handle/10281/542101
• Bublitz, C., Molnár-Gábor, F., & Soekadar, S. R. (2024). Implications of the novel EU AI Act for neurotechnologies. Neuron, 112(18), 3013–3016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.08.011
• Bublitz, C., & Ligthart, S. (2024). The new regulation of non-medical neurotechnologies in the European Union: Overview and reflection. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 11(2), lsae021. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsae021
• Bublitz, C. (2024). Banning biometric mind reading: The case for criminalising mind probing. Law, Innovation and Technology, 16(2), 432–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2024.2392934