Health data of 500,000 UK volunteers listed for sale in China
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Health data of 500,000 UK volunteers listed for sale in China")
Health data of 500,000 UK volunteers listed for sale in China Photograph: (Credit: Pexels/Representative image)
The UK government has launched an investigation into the "unacceptable abuse" of the UK Biobank database after medical records of 500,000 participants were listed for sale on Alibaba.
The UK government has launched an urgent investigation after confidential medical data belonging to 500,000 volunteers was found listed for sale on a Chinese e-commerce platform. The breach, described by ministers as an "unacceptable abuse of trust," has forced UK Biobank, which is the world’s most comprehensive health research database to temporarily suspend all global access to its platform.
Data Minister Ian Murray informed Parliament on Thursday (Apr 23) that the information had been found on a consumer website owned by Alibaba. Critically, the government clarified that this was not a traditional "hack." Instead, the data was legitimately downloaded by three accredited research institutions in China that had passed the UK’s vetting process.
Once downloaded, however, the "de-identified" datasets were illicitly listed for sale by several vendors. Murray confirmed that at least one of these listings appeared to contain the full records of all 500,000 Biobank participants.
UK Biobank Chief Executive Professor Sir Rory Collins issued a message of reassurance to participants, stating that the listings were "swiftly removed" before any sales were finalised.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
Collins added that the data did not include personally identifying information. While identities were masked, Minister Murray admitted he could not give a "complete guarantee" against re-identification, given the granular nature of the health records.
The three Chinese research institutions identified have had their access suspended. "We are still working with Biobank to ascertain from them the specific details of what has happened," Murray said.
