Teladoc Health, which runs BetterHelp, settles with the FTC for $7.8M and agrees to stop sharing data with Meta, Snap, and other companies for ad purposes
Wow! — In these kinds of cases consider the incentives to government to allow terrible things to go on long enough for a nice pile of case to accrue, then demand a cut of the take — rather then keeping this sort of horrible stuff from happening in the first place. … Tweets: @ftc : FTC to ban online counseling service BetterHelp from revealing consumers' data, including sensitive mental health information, to Facebook and others for targeted advertising: https://www.ftc.gov/... Elettra Bietti / @elibietti : Important. Pushing the mental health angle further, the @FTC should look into focus and attention management apps. Some of their ownership structures and data sharing practices are particularly 🤬 https://twitter.com/... @nomedabarbarian : I know @MaxFunHQ has advertised them all up and down their podcasts; I'd really love some kind of official statement and repair work. https://twitter.com/... @jayannlopez_ : So; question for Americans, is this when a class lawsuit happens? https://twitter.com/... @iwillleavenow : You know, it goes against my privacy positions, but a part of me really wants penalties for these sorts of horrifying violations to be in kind. Like...publish every horrifying and sensitive and embarrassing secret of the BetterHelp C-Suite on billboards. https://www.politico.com/... Elizabeth Warren / @senwarren : Last year, @SenBooker, @RonWyden and I raised concerns about mental health apps, including @BetterHelp, providing consumers' private info to Big Tech companies. I've long been troubled about misuse of personal data & glad @FTC is taking action to hold these companies accountable. https://twitter.com/... Aram / @aramvartian : I am just shocked that the online mental heath startup that dumped millions into slick podcast advertising is morally bankrupt with a hidden agenda. This is my shocked face 😐 https://twitter.com/... Marshall Steinbaum / @econ_marshall : I always knew those podcast advertisements were a scam. Imagine going into business with “I'll give them ‘mental health counseling’ in exchange for tricking them into revealing their mental health problems, which I can then sell.” https://twitter.com/... Rep. Frank Pallone / @frankpallone : Consumers who provide sensitive health info to a website or app shouldn't have to worry about it being shared with companies like Facebook for targeted marketing. I'm grateful to @FTC for bringing this case & I'm determined to pass comprehensive, federal data privacy legislation. https://twitter.com/... @alexsteed : Hey don't fucking advertise with this company, podcasters. Don't lend them your credibility. This isn't the first time they've shown who they are. https://twitter.com/... Todd / @tmc_night : it was unnerving how practically *every* podcast i listened to in the past couple months had them as an advertiser. makes a bit more sense now https://twitter.com/... Brian Roemmele / @brianroemmele : Your medical data and your DNA structure is openly brought and sold at this point. A) Who owns you? B) What does privacy even mean in 2023? https://twitter.com/... Ron Wyden / @ronwyden : The last thing consumers should be worried about when accessing mental health care is the security of their most sensitive information. I've pushed @FTC to take real action to stop the abuse of @betterhelp data, and I'm glad it has stepped up to protect Americans' privacy. https://twitter.com/... Sara Sirota / @saralsirota : FTC strikes again and is punishing BetterHelp for sharing patient data. “For example, the company used consumers' email addresses and the fact that they had previously been in therapy to instruct Facebook to identify similar consumers and target them with advertisements.” https://twitter.com/... Douglas Farrar / @douglaslfarrar : Sending consumer's mental health data to advertisers is... 😬 Read the press release below or a story by @joshua_sisco and @RuthReader here: https://www.politico.com/... https://twitter.com/... Asm Rebecca Bauer-Kahan / @bauerkahan : Thrilled to see federal regulators take action! This is exactly why I authored #AB2089 last year which stopped all mental health apps from selling data. https://twitter.com/... Lina Khan / @linakhanftc : 3. As noted in the complaint, @BetterHelp exposed people's personal information, including email addresses & medical histories, to third parties like Facebook and Snapchat in order to target them with advertising for BetterHelp's service. https://www.ftc.gov/... Luke Herrine / @ldherrine : Another big marker on where FTC is going on data governance, on “dark patterns” and use of data to target ads. Consistent pattern of enforcement on health data, in particular. Expanding beyond deception and beyond disclosure remedies and toward restrictions. https://twitter.com/... Lina Khan / @linakhanftc : 4. Businesses shouldn't be permitted to covertly and deceptively use people's mental health histories to target them with advertisements. @FTC will continue to use all of its authorities to crack down on companies that unlawfully misuse and expose consumers' sensitive data. Lina Khan / @linakhanftc : 2. In addition to the ban, our proposed order requires @BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million for deceiving consumers after promising to keep their personal data private. That money will be returned to the victims of BetterHelp's deceptive practices. https://www.ftc.gov/... @ftc : As part of proposed order, BetterHelp also will be required to pay $7.8 million to consumers to settle charges that it revealed consumers' sensitive data—including mental health info—with third parties for advertising after promising to keep such data private. Lina Khan / @linakhanftc : 1. Today @FTC took action to ban @BetterHelp from sharing people's data—including sensitive mental health information—with Facebook and other companies for targeted advertising. https://www.ftc.gov/... Shane Dingman / @shanedingman : This is about the grossest thing you could do: turn people seeking mental health therapy into advertising dollars https://www.ftc.gov/... Erin Brodwin / @erinbrodwin : speaking of which...BetterHelp required to pay $7.8m for deceiving consumers after promising to keep sensitive personal data private https://www.ftc.gov/... https://twitter.com/... Rik Renard / @rikrenard : This visual shows the quarterly advertising spend from large D2C mental health players BetterHelp spends 2x what the others are spending and this is exactly why smaller D2C mental health services businesses are struggling: they can't compete with the ad budget of this whale https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
BetterHelp’s settlement follows earlier reporting that therapy apps sent third parties signals about app use and sensitive patient circumstances, including in scrutiny of BetterHelp’s data-sharing practices. It also arrives after reports that BetterHelp, Cerebral, and peers faced growth pressure and care-quality concerns.
The FTC’s action turns that privacy concern into an operating constraint for Teladoc’s BetterHelp: advertising relationships can no longer rely on sharing consumer data with platforms such as Meta and Snap.
First-order effects
- Teladoc will pay $7.8 million and BetterHelp must stop disclosing consumer data to Meta, Snap, and other companies for targeted advertising.
- Meta, Snap, and BetterHelp lose access to the consumer-data flow that supported audience targeting for the counseling service.
Second-order effects
- Digital mental-health providers facing the same growth pressures described in reporting on BetterHelp and Cerebral must reassess whether their advertising and analytics integrations expose sensitive consumer information.
- Ad platforms serving therapy providers have less latitude to treat mental-health engagement data as a targeting input, shifting customer acquisition toward channels that do not require those disclosures.
Third-order effects
- The case strengthens a permission boundary around sensitive health data: consumer-health apps increasingly have to separate care interactions from ad-tech data flows.
- If the FTC applies the same theory across digital health, competitive advantage will tilt toward providers able to acquire users without monetizing or disclosing sensitive engagement data.
The trend: Digital health is moving toward stricter separation between sensitive care data and performance-advertising infrastructure.