New American Medical Association policy defines neural data collected by neurotechnologies and supports regulatory efforts to protect privacy and security

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kate Alfano, Director of Communications, Colorado Medical Society
Phone: 720-859-1001

[DENVER, COLORADO, June 2025] — The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates unanimously adopted a new policy at their 2025 Annual Meeting in Chicago on June 11 to protect patients’ neural data.

The resolution was brought forth by Lynn Parry, MD, MSc., a private practice neurologist in Littleton, Colo., and member of the Colorado Delegation to the AMA. The resolution is based on a first-in-the-nation law passed in Colorado in 2024 that was championed by Sean Pauzauskie, MD, a hospital-based neurologist with UCHealth in Fort Collins, and then-Rep. Cathy Kipp.

Resolution 503, “Safeguarding Neural Data Collected by Neurotechnologies,” codifies physicians’ strong support for legislative and regulatory efforts to protect neurotechnology users from potential harm.

Additionally, it formalizes a specific definition of neural data as “information obtained by measuring the activity of a person’s central or peripheral nervous system through the use of neurotechnologies,” not including “data inferred from nonneural information.”

The AMA is the largest national association of physicians in the United States. Its elected House of Delegates comprises approximately 700 members, representing 120 national medical specialty societies, more than 50 state and territorial medical societies, and additional constituent and interest group sections. The Colorado Medical Society (CMS) is the largest physician organization in the state, and one of the 50 state medical societies in the AMA Federation. CMS sends an elected delegation of 12 Colorado physicians to represent our state in the AMA House of Delegates.

Reflecting on the effort to pass the historic policy, Dr. Parry stated: “It was due to the extraordinary efforts of Dr. Sean Pauzauskie and the Neurorights Foundation that the Colorado Medical Society not only had a policy on defining and protecting personal neural data but also succeeded in advocating for the state of Colorado to become the first in the nation to extend its state consumer data privacy law, the Colorado Privacy Act, to protect neural data. It was, therefore, a great privilege for the Colorado Delegation to the AMA House of Delegates to drive the adoption of this critical resolution that, with the support of the American Academy of Neurology, has now become a new policy of the American Medical Association.”

Dr. Pauzauskie, who also serves as medical director of the Neurorights Foundation, said: “The AMA’s new policy represents a defining moment for the protection of patient and consumer neural data – in addition to its clear language on what does and does not constitute neural data, paving the way for further state and federal efforts, it also opens the next frontiers of fair access to and freedom from bias from neurotechnologies. We applaud the AMA’s leadership in so clearly focusing global attention on these critical questions.”

Neurotechnologies refer to devices that can record or alter the activity of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. Neurotechnology devices can be either invasive (implantable) or non-invasive (wearable). While these devices have existed within clinical (medical) and research settings for decades, they are increasingly being developed and deployed outside health care settings for the consumer market.

Awareness of the potential abuses of for-profit companies with neural data spurred the Colorado General Assembly to pass the first-in-the-nation law (HB24-1058) to extend state consumer privacy protections to cover neural data. It took effect in August 2024. As stated above, Dr. Pauzauskie was instrumental in the bill’s passage. After the bill’s signing, he wrote an op-ed for Colorado Medicine and stated: “HB24-1058 provides a simple, reasonable, balanced approach towards the protection of patients, and clear standards to promote and incentivize innovation in the coming age of neurotechnology for Colorado. Colorado takes care of its own and as a member of the Colorado physician community, I felt that I needed to help protect the data that makes us us.”

He continued: “Physicians in Colorado are responsible for initiating the first law in the nation for the protection of privately collected biological and neural data, a real win for patients and trust in the era of medical-grade consumer neurotechnology. I feel a deep sense of honor knowing I worked to create this change for my patients.”

The adoption of the new AMA policy is especially important because it brings the issue to the nation’s physicians with a precise definition of neural data and emphasis that the urgent focus of new regulation needs to be protecting such data.

Citing rapid advances in neurotechnologies that outpace existing regulatory frameworks, Resolution 503 establishes a new policy for the AMA. It explains:

The AMA will “support legislative and regulatory efforts to protect the privacy and security of individual’s neurological data as well as protection from discrimination and inequality that may be caused by the use of neurotechnologies.”
The AMA “recognizes that neural data is information obtained by measuring the activity of a person’s central or peripheral nervous system through the use of neurotechnologies, but neural data does not include data inferred from nonneural information.”

The AMA will “oppose any efforts to broaden the consensus medical definition of neural data to include data inferred from nonneural information gathered by biosensors (including biometric devices), as this is a distinct category of data with its own independent qualities and regulatory needs.”
 
The Colorado Medical Society champions health care issues that improve patient care; promotes physician professional satisfaction; serves as a place of inclusion and belonging for all Colorado physicians, residents and medical students; and creates healthier communities in Colorado.