Ex-MI6 chief says Chinese entry to UK well being information and different ‘strategic information’ is ‘considerably regarding’ after British Steel and Huawei fiascos
A former MI6 spymaster has raised ‘significant concerns’ about China being able to access NHS medical records.
Sir Richard Dearlove questioned why Britain is allowing the GP records of half a million UK patients to be shared with Chinese researchers, warning that the hostile state is being given a window into ‘strategic aspects of the nation’s life’.
In a wide-ranging interview, he called for Britain’s dealings with China to be based on the grounds of ‘reciprocity’, saying: ‘There’s no way that the Chinese would let us into their country to conduct this sort of business.’
Sir Richard spoke out a day after it was revealed that anonymised patient information is being uploaded to the central database of the UK Biobank, a research hub that makes data available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies.
Analysis suggests one in five successful applications for access come from China.
He told LBC Radio: ‘I think we should be significantly concerned. Why on earth do we allow this strategic data into the hands of a Chinese company?
‘We’ve been around this track before. Go back to the debate about 5G with Huawei.
‘We were told at the beginning that this was manageable, it wasn’t a security issue, and within a year, the policy was changed completely.’
Former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove warned that the hostile state is being given a window into ‘strategic aspects of the nation’s life’.
UK Biobank, which holds genomes, tissue samples and questionnaire responses from 500,000 people who have agreed for their GP data to be added to the database
The UK Biobank already holds genomes, tissue samples and questionnaire responses from 500,000 people, who have now agreed for their GP data to be added to the database, building up a broader picture of patients and their medical histories.
Personal details such as names and dates of birth are stripped from the data before it is shared, but experts say that in some cases individuals could still be identified and this could be used for espionage by hostile states.
Experts believe access to health data could be part of China’s broader, long-term strategy to develop biological capabilities that transcend traditional military or economic geopolitical tactics.
Sir Richard, who led MI6 from 1999 to 2004, warned: ‘China wishes to be in a dominant position and impose its values on the West…. They are a major long-term threat to our security and we need to be very careful.’
He added: ‘What I don’t understand is why we get ourselves again and again into this situation by allowing Chinese companies into, you know, strategic aspects of the nation’s life. Why on earth do we do it?’
Sir Richard told LBC’s Nick Ferrari that China wants to ‘place itself strategically in the life of nations’ seeking dominance through investments in various industries such as British Steel.
Blast furnaces at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, which the Government had to seize control of
‘We need those blast furnaces. And they should never have in the first place been in Chinese hands,’ he said, referring to ministers having to seize control of Scunthorpe’s steelworks.
‘We should treat China on grounds of reciprocity.
‘Would the Chinese allow us into their economy in this way? It’s a very simple issue, be reciprocal.
‘There’s no way that the Chinese would let us into their country to conduct this sort of business, to sign these sorts of contracts.
‘There’s plenty of other business which is not commercially sensitive that we can do with China.
‘I’m not saying separate the economies, but what I’m saying is let’s have a strategic oversight, multi-party policy, which says there are certain areas which must be very, very carefully and sensitively handled to protect ourselves.’
Rimesh Patel, former chair of the Central London Network for the Institution of Engineering and Technology said: ‘The UK public should be provided with assurances by the Government that all data sharing treaties are enhanced to automatically cater for national interests as part of the vetting processes used by research companies, whilst not limiting the advancement of scientific research.
‘Like all countries, the UK’s national interests in this data sharing exercise should consider what data is being shared and how it can affect any current or future national interests.
‘Health officials should add safety measures for patient records and if these records are considered “high value” for research, such as genome sequencing, provide an approved gateway method that assures national interests against state-actors, so that research for legitimate reasons can flourish.
‘Projects like these are clearly important for humanity.
‘In this digital globalised world, the Government and health officials have to think about implications beyond technical assurances before allowing data to be shared.
‘The UK should now focus on balancing and optimising important aspects of data sharing outside the UK, especially if instances of data abuse are further identified that affect national interests.’
A government spokesperson said: ‘Protecting national security is the foundation of everything we do.
‘We have strict security procedures in place to ensure all sensitive UK health data information is protected.
‘UK Biobank data sharing has been in use for over a decade and is always de-identified, removing the direct and indirect details that allow people to be identified.
‘There is an extremely high bar and data is only shared with legitimate researchers for specific research purposes.
‘It can only be accessed within a secure digital environment and it is not possible to download copies of the GP data outside of that secure digital space.’
Professor Sir Rory Collins, UK Biobank’s chief executive, said: ‘All our volunteers have given explicit consent for researchers to study their de-identified health data, and many have emphasised the importance of their GP data being analysed.’
