Brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, are a rapidly evolving technology. With the use of an external device, generally a computer, BCIs essentially facilitate communication between a person’s brain and that device. The technology is generally used in the health care field, and it doesn’t necessarily take down all of a person’s thoughts — at least yet. Recently, researchers at UC San Francisco helped a paralyzed man control a robotic arm using a BCI that lasted for seven months without needing adjustments. And last year, Alameda-headquartered Science Corporation said its retina implant was able to restore “form vision” in patients who had lost their central visual field, using BCI technology. There’s also Elon Musk‘s Neurolink, which, through a clinical trial, has placed implants in a few people who are unable to move their arms and legs because of spinal cord injuries or ALS. The device can help those people control computers to play games or design software, according to a press release from the company. 

But the largely unregulated technology is also expanding into other consumer spaces, including the entertainment and business sectors as well. And as the technology evolves, Umberg, D-Santa Ana, wants to ensure companies are using the data they collect for the intended purposes.

“At the most extreme, nobody deserves their innermost thoughts and feelings being perverted or manipulated by the likes of Elon Musk who, by his own admission, has odd beliefs on genetics,” said Umberg, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. “On a more likely day-to-day basis, however, those experimenting with and benefitting from this incredible technology should be lauded for their bravery and ingenuity with some basic protections.” In other words, Umberg wants people to keep their thoughts to themselves — as much as possible. SB 44 would require companies to use neural data only for the purpose for which it was collected. And once that purpose for that data has been fulfilled, the data would need to be deleted, according to the new bill’s text. “It’s wonderful that we research it, but I want to make sure that privacy is maintained,” Umberg said of BCI technology. “I don’t think anyone wants all of their inner thoughts collected and possibly revealed.”

Read more in the Orange County Register: https://www.ocregister.com/2025/03/10/sacramento-snapshot-california-bill-seeks-to-keep-thoughts-private-by-regulating-brain-computer-interface-data/