DR. STEPHEN DAMIANOS
From Oxford to the White House: Defending your Right to Think Freely
Critical Cognitive Infrastructure
Executive Director, Neurorights Foundation
Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy, Cornell University; Fellow in Technology and Human Rights, Harvard University's Carr-Ryan Center
Author of "Safeguarding Brain Data," the first-ever analysis of consumer neurotechnology privacy practices
Research briefed at the White House, the National Security Council, and the US State Department; featured on the front page of the New York Times
Rhodes Scholar and Truman Scholar; PhD (DPhil), University of Oxford
Thursday
2:15 PM
From Clinic to Consumer: Neurosecurity Risks in Everyday Life.
Neurotechnology is quickly moving from regulated clinical settings into the unregulated consumer market. In the coming years, brain-monitoring and modulating technologies will become deeply embedded in homes, workplaces, schools, and everyday society. This talk argues that the consumer market, not the clinic or the battlefield, is where neurosecurity risks will first reach the public at scale. Drawing on the Neurorights Foundation's work advising legislators and international bodies, Dr. Damianos examines the widening gap between the pace of consumer neurotech adoption and the state of privacy, security, and rights protections, and what it will take to close it before harms are irreversible.
Stephen Damianos is a scholar and practitioner working at the intersection of public policy, ethics, and technology governance. He is Executive Director of the Neurorights Foundation, where he leads global efforts to harness neurotechnologies for social good and protect against their misuse. His work spans research, policy development, and advocacy, in close collaboration with governments, multilateral institutions, industry leaders, and policymakers around the world. His research has been featured on the front page of the New York Times, and led to briefings at the White House, the National Security Council, and the U.S. State Department.
He is also a Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at Cornell University and a Fellow in Technology and Human Rights at Harvard University's Carr-Ryan Center. In addition to his work in the emerging technology space, Damianos conducts research on borders, migration, and digitalization. He is the author of the forthcoming book, "Asylum Is Unavailable: Absence and Absurdity at the Digital Border," which will be published by University of California Press in 2026. Damianos holds a PhD (DPhil) in International Development from the University of Oxford, an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Truman Scholar and a Rhodes Scholar.