The article describes new controversies surrounding the GISAID database, which collects the sequences of influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2 and is crucial for tracking variants and developing vaccines and treatments.[1][3] Conflicts mainly concern the terms of access to the data and what scientists are allowed to do with the database and sequences outside of GISAID's protected interface.[1] Critics of GISAID accuse the leadership of overly "autocratic" decision-making and say some decisions have limited the world's ability to monitor new variants of COVID-19.[1][6] GISAID, on the other hand, states that it remains the "most trusted source" of viral genomic data and that some members have violated the terms of access and misused the shared data.[1] Controversies also escalated in connection with tools that allowed rapid analysis and visualization of a large number of sequences from GISAID data outside the platform itself.[1] One of the conflicts arose after GISAID suddenly stopped sending updates on October 12, 2025 to a team that had developed a search filter, theoretically allowing the reconstruction of the entire genome of SARS-CoV-2, which GISAID considered a circumvention of its safeguards.[1] In the article, several scientists emphasize that pathogen genomes are among the most important data for public health and that a better, sustainable model for sharing this data needs to be found before the next pandemic.[1]