Conceptual and ethico-legal analysis

The Munich and Hamburg research groups seek to analyze the topics, agency, responsibility, autonomy and legal regulation as they relate to BCIs. This analysis will provide a theoretical foundation for empirical research within the project. In particular, we will identify and analyze the conceptual problems from accounts of the agency that are raised by BCI technology.

We will further address the ethical problems and legal implications regarding BCI-mediated agency. Based on the conceptual analysis we will clarify the relevance of a sense of agency for the ascription of responsibility in BCI context and flesh out how legal liability and negligence should be applied in the context of BCI.

Further, we will explore how informed consent to research and treatment could be sought through BCI and what legal protections toward threats to privacy should be installed. We also seek to identify the proper legal framework for BCI regulation and define the scope that it should cover.

For further inquiries on this topic please contact Orsolya Friedrich of the Munich Research Group and Christoph Bublitz of the Hamburg Research Group who jointly lead this research area.