I was involved in a controversy back in 2005 where I opposed the view that
it should be possible to perform research without informed consent if the samples and data are anonymized or pseudonymized
Glad to see a new correspondence letter in Nature on March 12
since the 1997 UNESCO Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, there has been a clear duty to obtain informed consent for human genetic research. But we did not conclude that human genetic data collected before 1997 were exempt from the need for informed consent. Rather, without recognized international standards, imposing a duty to retroactively obtain consent documentation from data providers is challenging.