4 states. 0 federal laws.
As of 2026-04-18, 4 states have added neural data to the categories of personal information that require consent before collection. 9 bills in 6 states were introduced in the first six weeks of 2026 alone. There is no federal law covering neural data.
Enacted state laws
| State | Bill | Enacted | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | HB 24-1058 | April 17, 2024 | Adds neural data to the definition of sensitive data under the Colorado Privacy Act, requiring consent before collection. |
| California | SB 1223 | September 28, 2024 | Adds neural data to the definition of sensitive personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act. |
| Montana | SB 163 | May 2025 | Extends the Genetic Information Privacy Act to neurotechnology data. |
| Connecticut | SB 1295 | June 2025 | Adds neural data to sensitive data under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act. |
Source: Future of Privacy Forum, State neural data privacy legislation tracker. Bill numbers are checked against the enrolled text before each data update.
What the courts have said so far
In Carpenter v. United States (2018), the United States Supreme Court held that the government's acquisition of historical cell-site location records from a carrier is a search under the Fourth Amendment, rejecting the argument that a person gives up all privacy in data merely because a company holds it.
In August 2023, the Supreme Court of Chile ruled in Girardi v. Emotiv Inc. that a consumer EEG headset maker had to delete a user's brain data, the first ruling of its kind by a national supreme court. EMOTIV is a Brain Shield recipient.
Why a written refusal matters now
Each of the 4 state laws turns on consent. A company that collects neural data from a resident of those states without consent has a compliance problem. A written refusal, delivered to the company's registered agent and signed for before any collection, is the clearest record of non-consent a person can create. In the 46 states without such a law, the same document fixes the date on which the company knew.
None of this is legal advice, and none of it predicts how a court would treat a notice. It is the state of the law as published, with sources. Ediflo.AI, LLC is not a law firm.