Half a million UK GP records to be accessed by Chinese researchers
15 April 2025, 13:29 | Updated: 15 April 2025, 23:30
Half a million UK GP records are to be granted access to by Chinese researchers sparking concern from western intelligence agencies.
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The Guardian reports preparations have started to transfer the records to a research hub that holds medical information donated by 500,000 volunteers.
UK Biobank is one of the world’s largest troves of health data, the facility makes its information available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies.
An analysis by the newspaper shows one in five successful applications for access come from China.
Health officials had been assessing over the past year whether additional safeguards were needed for patient records when added to the genomes, tissue samples and questionnaire responses held by the hub.
Personal details such as names and dates of birth are removed from the data before it is shared - however there are fears that individuals can still be identified in some cases.
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MI5 has warned Chinese organisations and individuals granted access to the data can be ordered by Chinese intelligence agencies “to carry out work on their behalf”.
But UK Biobank told the Guardian that the NHS unit responsible for health data had in recent weeks cleared it to grant Chinese researchers access to GP records.
UK-Chinese relations have taken a turn for the worse following the takeover of the British Steel site from its Chinese owners.
Ministers have taken control of the firm to ensure supplies such as coking coal and iron ore reach the site after talks with Jingye, broke down.
A Government spokesperson said: “National security is one of the key foundations of this government.
“Security and privacy considerations are always taken into account when UK health data is used to drive forward our understanding of diseases and advance scientific research.
"Health data is always anonymised, removing details that allow people to be identified, and only shared with legitimate researchers.”
