Brain reading implants could allow companies, politicians or marketeers to access people’s thoughts and moods, the Royal Society has warned, as it called on the government to launch an urgent inquiry into the new technology to protect human rights.

Several companies and labs are developing neural interface software, including Elon Musk who is planning human trials next year to insert electrodes into the brains of people with locked-in syndrome to help them communicate.

Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg has also expressed interest in “telepathic typing” and the social media company wants to create and headset able to transcribe words at a rate of 100-words per minute, just by thinking.

But in a new report the Royal Society has warned that such technology could lead to privacy abuses or enable hackers to read people’s thoughts.

“Access to peoples’ thoughts, moods and motivations could lead to abuse of human rights,” the report warns.

“Companies might ask employees to wear interfaces that reveal their feelings. If thoughts could be accessed, then they might be used by corporations in efforts to market goods and services or by politicians or campaigners seeking recruits to their causes.

“The prospect of being constantly watched may itself alter people’s behaviour and affect their wellbeing. Health insurers might use access to neural data to refuse cover.”