Analysis of health records shows emergency hospital admissions in central London decreased by 3% per year after the introduction of the T-charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez), with significant reductions in heart and breathing problem admissions.
A security flaw in Practice by Numbers' patient portal exposed patients' private health records, allowing any logged-in user to access other patients' medical documents, personal information, and photo identification by simply changing document numbers in the URL. The company fixed the vulnerability after TechCrunch alerted them, affecting fewer than 10 patients.
Additional confidential health records of UK Biobank volunteers have appeared on Alibaba since last week's reported breach. The UK government is working with Chinese authorities to remove the listings while acknowledging the growing risk of re-identification from de-identified datasets.
The UK government has confirmed further confidential health records of UK Biobank volunteers have been listed on Alibaba since the breach reported last week. Science minister Patrick Vallance said the government is working with Chinese officials to remove additional postings, warning there will likely be more leaks. The data of 500,000 participants was put up for sale on the Chinese marketplace. While the data is de-identified, experts warn there is a real risk of re-identification through triangulation of large datasets.
Thousands of research papers have been published based on participants’ data, but there are questions over protection of private informationWith the revelation that the confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been put up for sale on a Chinese website, we take a look at what the UK Biobank project has achieved – and why concerns have been raised. Continue reading...
Technology minister tells Commons ‘de-identified’ information from UK Biobank advertised for sale on AlibabaUK politics live – latest updatesThe confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been offered for sale on Chinese website Alibaba, the UK government has confirmed.The data, belonging to participants in the UK Biobank project, was found for sale on three separate listings last week. The records have now been removed and it is not believed any sales were made. Continue reading...
