Security News > 2023 > March > FTC to ban BetterHelp from sharing mental health data with advertisers
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed to ban the online counseling service BetterHelp from sharing its customers' sensitive mental health data with advertising networks and marketers.
A settlement between the FTC and BetterHelp also requires the company to pay $7.8 million as restitution to its users whose sensitive data has been shared with third parties such as Facebook and Snapchat.
FTC alleges that BetterHelp followed bad practices in handling the data of people who visited its website or used its apps, including those who have not signed up for its counseling services.
In an official complaint submitted by the FTC, the consumer protection organization says that BetterHelp has, despite its promises to the contrary, shared email addresses, IP addresses, and information users filled in a preliminary health questionnaire during signup, with Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest.
BetterHelp responded to FTC's proposal and allegations with an official statement on its site, claiming that the advertising strategy it followed between 2017 and 2022 didn't deviate from industry-standard practices used by all major health providers and healthcare systems in the country.
"We do not share and have never shared with advertisers, publishers, social media platforms, or any other similar third parties, private information such as members' names or clinical data from therapy sessions," states BetterHelp.