UK (Washington Insider Magazine)-UK Database Biobank is under fire as concerns emerge over the open access policy.
Rising security concerns have prompted a series of calls between Beijing and the West to review China’s ability to access the biomedical database, which houses over half a million UK citizens.
China currently has permission to access this data because of an open-access policy that is currently under review.
Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that the policy has been abused in any way. Biobank has said that only bonafide researchers had any access to the data, meaning that the data was used specifically for research purposes only. Biobank has also formally stated that there are tight controls over who can access the data, and security checks in place to ensure no misuse.
The UK biobank project, which was launched in 2006, has information on over 500,000 UK citizens.
As tensions between China and the West increase, the policy is being heavily scrutinized by analysts concerned that monitoring data usage will be difficult due to border control and restrictions.
Though analysts are apprehensive over the data sharing, Biobank continues to defend the policy, saying that data usage is intensely monitored.
Researchers from China have been able to access data from similar databases for a price. Several UK officials view the open policies as a positive aspect of the tense geopolitical relationship. However, analysts are concerned that the data could be published in a journal that English researchers can’t understand.
In light of the recent concerns, the UK’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure highlights the security risks of China’s National Intelligence Laws, allowing Chinese intelligence agencies to request data. This presents fears of abuse and misusage. Consequently, they issued guidance to review this aspect of the data-sharing policy to tighten security.
China has reaffirmed that its primary intentions for data usage include genomics and health tech to lessen public and researchers’ concerns over data usage.
However, the US has claimed that China has been collecting the data to create the world’s largest database. Simultaneously, China has tightened its security for access to data.
We will continue to follow the related happenings and consequences following the realization of Biobank’s open access policy.
