The FTC reached a settlement with BetterHelp over allegations it shared customers’ sensitive health data with third parties for advertising purposes. The online therapy company company agreed to pay $7.8M and change a variety of business practices.
The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with online therapy company BetterHelp over allegations it shared customers’ sensitive health data with third parties for advertising purposes, according to documents from the agency’s in-house court filed this morning and reviewed by POLITICO.
Under the settlement, which still has to be finalized by a judge, BetterHelp is barred from sharing health data, including sensitive information about its customers mental health struggles, with Meta and others for advertising purposes. It will use the $7.8 million to provide affected BetterHelp customers with partial refunds.
In addition to the fine and a ban on sharing health data to advertise, the FTC requires BetterHelp to get express consent from consumers to share their data for any additional purposes and to implement a privacy program as well as limits on how long they store personal data. The company will also have to ensure that any third parties will delete data they had received from the company it sent data to previously.
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