# UK Biobank back online soon, months after someone tried to sell 500k people’s data on Alibaba

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/uk-biobank-back-online-soon-months-after-someone-tried-to-sell-500k-peoples-data-on-alibaba/
- Published: 2026-10-26T12:38:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-26T12:49:13+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/10/26/uk-biobank-back-online-soon-months-after-someone-tried-to-sell-500k-peoples-data-on-alibaba/5305363
- Topics: UK, World

## Key points

- UK Biobank says its research platform is now secure.
- Access will resume in stages after official approval.
- Manual checks will initially restrict researchers’ downloads.

## Summary

UK Biobank says its research platform is secure after completing security improvements following an April data breach. Researchers will regain access in phases once health data controllers and the UK government approve its return, restoring a major resource for studies of health and disease.

The breach led to data from all 500,000 volunteers being listed for sale on Alibaba, and the platform has been unavailable to more than 20,000 researchers since April. At first, researchers will not be able to download results: a manual review system will check requested files, with automated checks expected next year. Access will also require two-factor authentication, and researchers with de-identified participant data in their code repositories must remove it before being readmitted.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.