"One dataset found by the Guardian contained millions of hospital diagnoses and associated dates for more than 400,000 participants. With the consent of a Biobank volunteer, the Guardian was able to pinpoint what appeared to be extensive hospital diagnosis records for the volunteer, using only their month and year of birth and details of a major surgery they had undergone."
"One data expert said the scale and persistence of the problem was shocking at a time when AI and social media were making it ever easier to cross-reference information online."
"Prof Sir Rory Collins, the chief executive of UK Biobank, said: We have never seen any evidence of any UK Biobank participant being re-identified by others."
UK Biobank, a major medical research repository holding records of 500,000 British volunteers, has experienced multiple data security breaches. Scientists approved to access the sensitive health information have inadvertently posted files online containing millions of hospital diagnoses and associated dates. While the exposed data lacks names and addresses, privacy concerns remain significant because individuals can potentially be re-identified using limited information such as birth dates and surgical history. Data experts warn that the scale and persistence of these incidents is alarming given advances in AI and data cross-referencing capabilities. UK Biobank leadership disputes the severity of concerns, stating no evidence exists of participant re-identification.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]