BetterHelp shared users’ sensitive health data, FTC says
The on-line counseling service BetterHelp has agreed to return US$7.8 million to prospects to settle with the Federal Trade Commission for sharing well being knowledge it had promised to maintain personal — together with details about psychological well being challenges — with corporations together with Facebook and Snapchat. The proposed FTC order introduced Thursday additionally limits how the California-based firm could share shopper knowledge sooner or later.
BetterHelp stated the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing and that the habits for which it was sanctioned is normal for the business.
Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, nevertheless, stated BetterHelp betrayed shoppers’ most private well being info for revenue.
“When a person struggling with mental health issues reaches out for help, they do so in a moment of vulnerability and with an expectation that professional counseling services will protect their privacy,” Levine stated in an announcement. Levine referred to as the proposed order “a stout reminder that the FTC will prioritize defending Americans’ sensitive data from illegal exploitation.”
The enforcement motion follows the same one on Feb. 1 through which telehealth and prescription drug low cost supplier GoodRx Holdings was assessed a US$1.7 million penalty for sharing customers’ private well being knowledge with Facebook, Google and different third events with out their consent.
The FTC has made it away from its intent to crack down on the trafficking in delicate well being knowledge by companies not strictly labeled as well being care suppliers and thus not coated by HIPAA, the federal privateness guidelines that govern the well being care business.
BetterHelp offers on-line counseling, together with providers geared towards Christians, teenagers and the LGBTQ group. Customers involved in its providers fill out questionnaires that ask for delicate psychological well being info equivalent to whether or not they have skilled suicidal ideas and if they’re on treatment. They are then matched with counselors.
During the signup course of, prospects had been promised BetterHelp wouldn’t use or disclose their private well being knowledge aside from restricted functions equivalent to to offer counseling, the FTC stated.
The firm however revealed knowledge together with e mail and IP addresses and questionnaire info to Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest for promoting functions, the FTC stated in its criticism. It additionally accused BetterHelp of deceptive prospects and the general public in 2020 by falsely denying news experiences that it had revealed prospects’ private knowledge to 3rd events.
Under the proposed order, BetterHelp will present partial refunds for purchasers who used the service from Aug. 1, 2017 till the top of 2020, the FTC stated.
BetterHelp referred to as the data-sharing practices for which it was sanctioned “industry-standard practice” that’s “routinely used by some of the largest health providers, health systems, and healthcare brands.”
“Nonetheless, we understand the FTC’s desire to set new precedents around consumer marketing, and we are happy to settle this matter with the agency,” it added in an announcement on its web site.
