UK reports leak of medical data to Chinese platforms — Sky News
The UK has reported a leak of citizens' medical data to Chinese online trading platforms. The data in question involves information on approximately half a million UK Biobank participants, which, according to reports, was put up for sale online by Chinese research institutions.
This was announced by Technology Minister Ian Murray during a speech in the UK House of Commons, Sky News reports.
According to him, the government received a report from a charity stating that the datasets had appeared on trading platforms operated by the Chinese company Alibaba Group.
The data in question does not contain direct personal identifiers such as names, addresses, or contact information.
However, the minister acknowledged that it is impossible to completely rule out the possibility of identifying individuals. The data included information on gender, age, month and year of birth, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and biological sample indicators.
The government noted that these datasets were legally uploaded by three research institutions in China, but access to them has since been revoked.
An investigation into the circumstances of the incident is currently underway.
UK Biobank Executive Director Sir Rory Collins emphasized that the organization takes data protection “extremely seriously.” According to him, the listing was quickly removed with the involvement of the British and Chinese governments, and there is no evidence of an actual sale.
Collins called the incident a “clear breach of contract” by the institutions involved.
Access for the researchers involved has been suspended, and the organization itself has temporarily restricted the operation of its research platform.
UK Biobank is one of the world’s largest health databases, used for research on dementia, cancer, and Parkinson’s disease.
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