Chilean Neurorights Law
Chile became the first country to enshrine neurorights in national law. In 2021 it amended Article 19 of its Constitution (Law 21.383) to protect brain activity and the information derived from it, and it advanced complementary 'neuroprotection' legislation. The reform treats brain data and mental integrity as objects of constitutional protection rather than leaving them to ordinary privacy law.
The framework gained concrete force in 2023 when Chile's Supreme Court, in a case brought by former senator Guido Girardi against the maker of a consumer EEG headset (Emotiv), ordered the company to delete the complainant's neural data — an early example of neurorights being enforced against a commercial device. The Chilean approach is closely watched as a template, even as critics debate whether constitutional-level, technology-specific rights are the best instrument.
Chile's model is influential but contested; some scholars argue that existing rights, applied rigorously, would suffice and that bespoke constitutional neurorights risk vagueness.