A Chinese company has been accused of illegally acquiring brain data from top athletes, including Ferrari race winner Charles Leclerc, to support military research. This allegation was brought forward by the Hunterbrook portal and investigative journalist Pablo Torre, raising significant concerns about the misuse of private neurological information.
BrainCo Responds to Allegations of Data Misuse
BrainCo, a neurotechnology firm founded at Harvard in 2015 and employing scientists from MIT and Harvard, has been identified as the entity involved. According to Torre, BrainCo has connections to Chinese government-linked organizations and reportedly uses data gathered from elite athletes to enhance training programs for future soldiers. The affected athletes include Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, tennis player Jannik Sinner who holds the World No. 2 ranking, members of the Italian Olympic team, players from Manchester City, and participants from the USA Olympic teams.
These athletes use the FocusCalm electronic headband, which functions like headphones to help improve focus and concentration by collecting brain wave data. Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli of Formula Medicine, a prominent BrainCo client, explained that this brain data is stored on the cloud after collection.
Despite these claims, a BrainCo spokesperson denied wrongdoing, stating that the data is
purged from the application at the conclusion of each use
.
Concerns over Chinese University Links and Military Associations
While BrainCo dismisses the accusations, suspicions remain because the company is allegedly tied to three of the “Seven Sons of National Defense,” a group of Chinese universities whose students have been prohibited from entering U.S. graduate programs due to military affiliations. This connection intensifies worries over how seemingly innocuous brainwave data could be exploited for defense purposes.
Duke University professor Nita Farahany emphasized the evolving nature of data analysis, warning,
“What people had labeled as noise can now be part of the signal.”
Implications for Athletes and Data Privacy Moving Forward
This controversy highlights the potential risks faced by elite athletes using brain-monitoring technologies, especially when such data might be harnessed without full consent for military aims. The involvement of high-profile sports personalities like Charles Leclerc underscores the broader consequences for data privacy and national security. It remains unclear how regulators or the sports community will address these concerns, but ongoing scrutiny is expected as this issue develops.
