Reference

Cognitive liberty glossary.

Concise definitions for the terms used throughout this site.

Cognitive liberty
The principle that a person should retain meaningful freedom over thought, attention, memory, identity, mental privacy, and cognitive self-direction.
Mental privacy
The ability to keep thoughts, mental states, and sensitive cognitive inferences from unwanted observation, profiling, or use.
Cognitive autonomy
The practical ability to direct one’s own thinking and decision processes rather than being covertly steered by another actor or system.
Personal agency
A person’s capacity to make and act on choices, including the practical ability to refuse, change course, or choose alternatives.
Persuasive technology
Technology intentionally designed to influence attitudes or behavior. Cognitive-liberty concerns increase when influence is hidden, difficult to escape, or based on intimate profiling.
AI memory
Persistent information used by an AI system to influence later interactions, including stored facts, preferences, summaries, or other context.
Provenance
Information about where a record came from, what changed it, and which source or process has authority over its current form.
Neurotechnology
Technology that measures, interacts with, or influences nervous-system activity, including brain-computer interfaces and neural sensing.