Biomedical Data Protection proposed in Singapore

The Singapore Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) is reviewing the need to protect the privacy of personal data of individuals involved in biomedical research. The key proposal is to remove or protect all the personal information that links an individual to the biomed information so that there will not be any tracing back to the individual.

It was also proposed that biomed researchers are to specifically request consent from the research participants after explaining the research project, and any possible risks. Further, the research participants should have the right to withdraw consent at any time without explanation or prejudice.

It is also incumbent on the researchers to prevent breaches of privacy by employing safeguards against loss, unauthorised access, or copying of data.