Implants And Technological Augmentations: New Challenges For Fundamental Human Rights

Abstract

Technological progress in recent decades has marked a significant transition from the simple use of technology as an external tool to its direct integration into the human body. Neural implants, biomechanical augmentations and brain-computer interfaces are no longer mere marginal innovations, but are becoming realities with applicability in medicine, work, the military and even in the entertainment sphere. This evolution generates a series of profound legal challenges regarding the applicability and interpretation of fundamental rights, especially in the constitutional, European and international context.

At the heart of this new technological framework is the dilemma between individual autonomy and systemic control. On the one hand, implants can represent a form of realization of the right to health, to a dignified life and to bodily autonomy. On the other hand, they can become an instrument of surveillance, manipulation or even discrimination, in the absence of solid legal guarantees.