Washington: The National Counter inter intelligence and Security Center (NCSC) has warned that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to obtain US health data.
Media reports said that these efforts had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Chinese biotech group BGI offering COVID-19 testing kits to the majority of countries and establishing 18 testing labs over the past six months. This is a part of an effort to obtain health data.
The NCSC wrote that US health data was an attractive target for the Chinese government due to the diversity of the population and because of the nation’s comparably lax safeguards for personal data.
The NCSC warned that the Chinese government was using the health data to outpace the US biotech industry. They also expressed concerns on Chinese hackers targeting US health data and research.
The US agency also expressed concerns that China used the pandemic to “aggressively” market its COVID-19 testing kits across the world and open labs in many countries.
