Confidential UK medical data lands on China’s Alibaba website

The government said it is taking the incident extremely seriously and will soon issue new guidance on the control of data from research studies.

Professor Sir Rory Collins, CEO and Principal Investigator of UK Biobank, said the listings were removed before any sales and reassured participants that the data are de-identified and do not contain personally identifying information. He noted that UK Biobank has temporarily blocked access to the globally accessible research platform while further steps are taken to prevent future breaches.

Murray stated that UK Biobank has paused further access to its data until a technical solution is in place to prevent data from the current platform being downloaded again. The charity has referred itself to the Information Commissioner's Office and is investigating how the data landed online for sale.

In a House of Commons briefing, Technology Minister Ian Murray said the Alibaba listings related to around 500,000 participants were removed with help from the Chinese government and Alibaba. He said UK Biobank had revoked access to the research institutions identified as the source of the data and that there were no indications of names, addresses, contact details, or phone numbers in the data, with no confirmed purchases from the listings before removal. He thanked the Chinese government for rapid action and noted ongoing efforts to remove any further listings.

On Monday, April 20, 2026, reports indicated that information relating to around 500,000 UK Biobank volunteer participants was listed for sale on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform in China. It was noted that three listings involving participant data had been identified and were removed soon after the alert.