BetterHelp Privacy Harm

BetterHelp Privacy Harm
Short Title	BetterHelp Privacy Harm
Location	BetterHelp: an online mental health service
Date	March 3rd, 2023
Solove Harm	Aggregation, Surveillance
Information	Behavioral, Medical and Health, Some personal info, Public Life
Threat Actors	BetterHelp
Individuals
Affected	Users in need of mental health services
High Risk Groups	Consumers
Tangible Harms	Change of Behavior, Change of feelings or perception, Embarrassment, Loss of Trust

BetterHelp sold user's personal information to advertising companies.

Description

Popular online therapist site, "BetterHelp" had to pay $7.8 million after improperly selling user data to companies such as Facebook and Snapchat. The company prompted users with an unskippable questionnaire regarding personal feelings and behaviors. Their privacy statements claimed the information wouldn't be shared, but the claims were then changed to share the information to advertisers, as well as users' email addresses, so Facebook could link their information to their profiles, even going as far as targeting their Facebook friends list and referring them to the service.

Laws and Regulations

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

Sources

https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/03/ftc online counseling betterhelp