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Medical data of half a million Britons listed for sale on Chinese website, government says
Officials say 500,000 member records were offered for sale, but the data did not include names or contact details.
- On Thursday, Technology Minister Ian Murray confirmed that data from 500,000 UK Biobank volunteers appeared in three listings for sale on Alibaba's e-commerce platforms after the charity notified the government on Monday.
- UK Biobank, a research charity, holds de-identified health information from 500,000 participants aged 40 to 69, data that has supported more than 18,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers on cancer, dementia, and Parkinson's.
- Authorities and UK Biobank worked with the vendor to remove the listings, confirming no purchases occurred, and revoked access for three research institutions identified as the data source.
- Chief Executive Professor Sir Rory Collins apologized to participants, confirming the stolen data lacked names, addresses, or NHS numbers, stating, "We understand that the existence of these listings, even temporarily, will be concerning to you."
- Liberal Democrats technology spokeswoman Victoria Collins branded the incident a "profound betrayal," while Richard Tice noted taxpayers funded "£200 million approximately," prompting Murray to criticize the "tenor" of his questions.
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The Toronto Star+5 Reposted by 5 other sources
Health data of 500,000 members of a UK project offered for sale online in China
LONDON (AP) — DNA and other confidential health data from 500,000 people who volunteered for a massive U.K. health study were offered for sale online in China following a data breach this week, the British government said Thursday.
·Toronto, Canada
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UK investigates after big health dataset listed for sale on China's Alibaba
Britain is investigating how data from a health charity came to be advertised for sale on China's Alibaba , a government minister said on Thursday, including one dataset that appeared to contain information from 500,000 people.
·United Kingdom
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Total News Sources22
Leaning Left10Leaning Right1Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
50% Left
L 50%
C 45%
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