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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Tom Burgis, Hannah Devlin, David Pegg and Jason Wilson

‘Race science’ group say they accessed sensitive UK health data

UK Biobank design composite image
The group claiming to have obtained the data is led by Emil Kirkegaard, a Danish ‘race science’ researcher. Composite: Guardian Design/Bruntwood SciTech/Getty Images/YouTube/UK Biobank/PA/AAP

Fringe researchers advocating “nefarious” theories that intelligence is based on race have obtained data from a trove of sensitive health information donated by half a million British volunteers, according to undercover footage.

Recordings made by the anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate show members of a “race science” network discussing UK Biobank data they claimed to have accessed. Some of the group have been blacklisted by the facility on the grounds they are “not bona fide” academics, but the footage suggests they may have circumvented its controls. It shows them saying they obtained a “large” haul of the data. One of their associates acknowledges they are “not meant to have that”.

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