UK Biobank to relaunch after data leak

The UK Biobank platform is scheduled to go back online soon following a major data leak that involved the listing of 500,000 volunteers' data for sale on Alibaba. The organization is currently waiting for approval from health data controllers and central government before relaunching. More than 20,000 researchers use the cloud-based platform, which provides access to around 30 petabytes of genomic data collected from 40-to-69-year-olds between 2006 and 2010.

Professor Sir Rory Collins, CEO at UKB, stated that the organization has completed work to ensure the platform is secure. An independent cybersecurity company checked the progress and recommended reopening the platform. The charity will begin a phased re-introduction of researchers after receiving necessary approvals. Initially, researchers will not be able to download any results files. A manual output checking system where human reviewers inspect files is being piloted before an automated process rolls out next year.

Researchers are restricted from building public apps and sharing tools with external colleagues until the manual checking system is fully up and running. They are warned they cannot refresh or dispense data, only work with pre-existing data. Automatic logout occurs after 15 minutes of inactivity, with two-factor authentication required upon re-authentication. Those caught exposing participant data in their code will be forced to move analyses to UKB-RAP, delete downloaded data, and undergo additional training. The UK Biobank initially told researchers to expect a relaunch by September 2026, but an update confirmed the need to wait for an independent assessment to be completed.