Trend Rising collection of human biological data creating misuse risk

Summary

The acquisition and use of human biological data, such as genetic information, biometrics and personal health and fitness data, is growing quickly. The report sees these data as bringing major benefits for healthcare, wellbeing and personalised services, but also as carrying a risk of deliberate misuse. Misuse could infringe individual privacy rights and could be exploited by threat actors for strategic advantage. As genome sequencing costs have plunged, private firms have begun offering consumers access to their own biological data, and the split between public and private ownership creates challenges for access, diversity and oversight. The report lists biometric surveillance, targeting people by genomic profile and insurer access to data as ethical concerns, and it describes biological data as increasingly treated as a strategic resource by businesses and states.