Half A Million UK Biobank Health Records Listed For Sale On Chinese Website, Government Admits

The medical data of around 500,000 volunteers has been offered for sale on a Chinese website, according to the government.

Technology Minister Ian Murray told the House of Commons that data linked to the UK Biobank research database was discovered being advertised on Chinese e-commerce platforms operated by Alibaba Group.

UK Biobank is one of the world’s largest health research resources and has been used in studies into conditions such as dementia, cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

Mr Murray said the charity informed the government that the data “had been advertised for sale by several sellers on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms in China”.

While he said the datasets did not contain names, addresses, phone numbers or other direct identifiers, they did include age, gender, date of birth range, lifestyle information and

biological measurements.

He told MPs:

“The government has spoken to the vendor today, and they did not believe that there were any purchases from the three listings before they were taken down.”

However, he cautioned that it could not be ruled out entirely that individuals could be re-identified from the information provided.

UK Biobank said all data shared with researchers is “de-identified” and does not include personal identifiers such as names, NHS numbers or exact dates of birth.

Professor Sir Rory Collins, chief executive of UK Biobank, said the organisation treats participant data security “extremely seriously” and confirmed the listings were removed quickly with support from UK and Chinese authorities.

He added that the breach represented a “clear violation” of agreements, with access for those involved now suspended.