UK Biobank’s main computer storage and that of our main processor, the Clinical Trials Service Unit (CTSU) at the University of Oxford, are located in the UK.
Approved researchers and UK Biobank’s other third party service providers operate around the world. This means that your de-identified data may be processed in these countries.
Approved researcher locations: transfers in reliance on UK adequacy regulations
This list is of countries which have been formally recognised by the UK Government as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data.
Where we transfer de-identified participant personal data to approved researchers in these countries, we rely on the ‘adequacy regulations’, as described on the UK government website.
Last updated: 17 April 2025
| EU member states |
| Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia (Czech Republic) Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland (Republic of) Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden |
| EEA member states |
| Iceland Liechtenstein Norway |
| Other adequate countries, jurisdictions and territories |
| Andorra Argentina Canada (partial) Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Israel Japan (partial) Jersey New Zealand Republic of Korea Switzerland United States (Data Privacy Framework) Uruguay |
Approved researcher locations: transfers in reliance on the UK Addendum
This list is of countries to which we may transfer de-identified participant personal data in reliance on the UK Addendum.
A copy of the UK Addendum in place with our approved researchers can be found in our Material Transfer Agreement.
Last updated: 17 April 2025
| Countries |
| Australia Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Brazil Canada (to the extent the UK Adequacy Regulations do not apply) Chile China Columbia Costa Rica Ecuador Egypt Ethiopia Ghana Hong Kong India Indonesia Iraq Japan (to the extent the UK Adequacy Regulations do not apply) Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait Macao Malawi Malaysia Mauritius Mexico Moldova Montenegro Morocco Nigeria Pakistan Puerto Rico Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Africa Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States of America Vietnam |