A/76/380 such as microtargeting and advances in behavioural sciences to examine links between emotional responses and decision-making and play on subconscious desires. 148 This concerns some scholars who believe the technique can be used to manipulate thoughts by exploiting predicted thought patterns to incentivize certain behaviour and effectively “silo” groups, preventing them from seeking and exchanging information. 74. One study of 3.7 million people suggests that targeting individuals with “psychologically tailored advertising” could significantly alter their decision -making compared to “traditional” advertising and “covertly exploit” data to persuade them to take action against their own best interests. 149 The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief joins the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights in emphasizing that such power “to influence individual choices”, including through the targeted and tailored repetition of the same message across multiple media platforms, raises serious concerns for freedom of thought. 150 75. Many stakeholders also air concern about reports that political parties and consultancies manipulate electoral voters’ thoughts through the use of microtargeting (including of disinformation), thereby influencing political outcomes. 151 The Constitutional Court of Spain has ruled that the constitutional principle of “ideological freedom” – which scholars interpret as an amalgam of freedom of thought and opinion – was threatened by political microtargeting, 152 implicitly agreeing with Spain’s Ombudsman that microtargeting could “modulate , or even manipulate, political opinions”. 153 In the European Union, parliamentarians and civil society actors are calling for the inclusion of a broader ban on surveillance -based targeted advertising in their Digital Services Act. 154 3. Neurotechnology 76. Previously, scholars considered our minds as “a sanctuary no power can penetrate”. 155 While neurotechnology advances hold tremendous promise for treating certain medical conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, many are concerned about the use of neurotechnology to violate mental privacy. 156 Using non-invasive techniques to record brain activity, brain-computer interfaces could already be used in real-time to deduce certain thoughts, including spatial intentions (e.g., controlling prostheses or video games), 157 imagined speech (speech that is thought about, but not expressed), or handwriting. 158 Neuroimaging technology (e.g., brain scans) is also used to infer thoughts, including abstract thought, with one recent study reporting up to 91 per cent accuracy in identifying __________________ 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 21-14191 A/69/286, para. 29. See https://www.pnas.org/content/114/48/12714. A/69/286, paras. 28 and 32. See https://www.jstor.org/stable/26372808?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3Aca88f5421a7e 0750f146cf1bc6c07b7c&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents. See https://rm.coe.int/t-pd-2020-02rev-political-campaigns-en-2-/1680a0bf4b, pp. 12–13, and fn. 58. See https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12027 -020-00633-7.pdf, p. 597. See https://edri.org/our-work/can-the-eu-digital-services-act-contest-the-power-of-big-techsalgorithms/. See https://oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/oll3/store/titles/861/Constant_0452_ EBk_v6.0.pdf, p. 92. Consultations on technology and on psychology and neuroscienc e; see also https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2018.00082/full . See https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/technology/innovation/video -games-controlled-bythoughts/. See https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03506-2; and https://www.nature.com/articles/ s41593-020-0608-8. 21/28