On 12 November 2025, UNESCO's General Conference did something unprecedented: it adopted the first global ethical framework for neurotechnology. The Recommendation on the Ethics of Neurotechnology, years in the making and drawing on more than 8,000 contributions from civil society, academia, and industry, establishes guidelines for technologies that can read, write, and modulate the human brain. It sounds like a victory for human rights in the digital age. Look closer, and the picture grows considerably more complicated. The framework arrives at a peculiar moment. Investment in neurotechnology companies surged 700 per cent between 2014 and 2021, totalling 33.2 billion dollars according to UNESCO's own data. Brain-computer interfaces have moved from science fiction to clinical trials. Consumer devices capable of reading neural signals are sold openly online for a few hundred dollars.…