On September 24, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Management of Individuals’ Neural Data (“MIND”) Act of 2025, which would require the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to conduct a study and provide a report examining the governance of “neural data” under existing law and identify additional areas for federal regulation. The bill would also require the Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”) to issue guidance regarding federal agencies’ use of certain neurotechnology.
The MIND Act is primarily focused on “neural data,” defined as “information obtained by measuring the activity of an individual’s central or peripheral nervous system through the use of neurotechnology.” “Neurotechnology” in turn is “a device, system, or procedure that accesses, monitors, records, analyzes, predicts, stimulates or alters the nervous system of an individual to understand, influence, restore, or anticipate the structure, activity, or function of the nervous system.” However, a number of requirements in the bill would also apply to “other related data,” which includes information such as “biometric, physiological, or behavioral information . . . that can be processed, analyzed, or combined with other data to infer predict, or reveal cognitive, emotional, or psychological states or neurological conditions” and “may include heart rate variability, eye-tracking patterns, voice analysis, facial expression recognition, sleep patterns, or other signals derived from consumer devices, wearables, or biosensors.”
Under the MIND Act, the FTC’s study would be required to examine how neural and other related data is governed and gaps under existing law related to such data (including, for example, under HIPAA, COPPA, and the FTC Act), examine how the data is handled by the government and companies, identify potential harms and security risks from the misuse of neural data and other related data, highlight best practices in privacy and security, and identify areas for further regulation of neural data and other related data, among others. The bill also anticipates the FTC report making recommendations for incentive structures to promote ethical innovation in neurotechnology, including tying voluntary standards with business incentives, and regulatory sandbox mechanisms to enable early-stage neural data applications to be tested. The FTC would be required to consult representatives from federal agencies, industry, academia, advocacy groups, and others as part of this report.
The bill would also require OSTP, in consultation with the FTC and the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance within 180 days of the FTC report, defining prohibited, permissible, and conditional use cases for neurotechnology in federal operations, safeguards for each use case, and transparency requirements.
The bill would require the FTC to annually update the information in the report and would prohibit federal agencies from utilizing neurotechnology that processes neural data in ways that are “inconsistent” with the FTC’s findings and guidance developed by OSTP.
As part of the bill, the sponsors note that “it is the sense of Congress” that strong protections for neural data “are essential to safeguard privacy, prevent discrimination and exploitation, and ensure that innovation in neurotechnology applications proceeds with accountability and public trust.” The bill sponsors reference Colorado, California, Montana, and Connecticut as states that have already passed laws on neural data and signal this bill’s intent to develop a federal standard to protect this data.