Uk · The Guardian Technology
Private health records of half a million Britons offered for sale on Chinese website
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The confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been offered for sale on Chinese website Alibaba, the UK government has confirmed.
Key facts
- On Monday 20 April, the UK Biobank charity informed the government that it had identified their data had been advertised for sale by several sellers on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms in China
- The UK Biobank holds the health data of 500,000 volunteers, including genome sequences, brain scans, blood samples and diagnostic records
- In February, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, issued a legal direction that allowed the coded GP data of all volunteers to be shared with UK Biobank for the first time
- UK Biobank has referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office
Summary
The “de-identified” data, belonging to participants in the UK Biobank project, was found for sale on three separate listings last week. The latest breach comes after the Guardian revealed last month that sensitive UK Biobank data has been exposed online dozens of times, raising further questions about whether security has been too lax. “On Monday 20 April, the UK Biobank charity informed the government that it had identified their data had been advertised for sale by several sellers on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms in China,” Murray said. “Biobank told them that three listings that appear to sell … Biobank participation data had been identified.