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technologyHealthcare · 2023
BetterHelp Inc.
BetterHelp, an online mental health counselling platform, was fined $7.8 million for sharing customers' sensitive mental health information — including intake questionnaire responses about depression, anxiety, and therapy history — with Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest for targeted advertising, directly contradicting explicit privacy promises that mental health data would never be used for advertising. The FTC found BetterHelp uploaded therapy users' email addresses and Facebook IDs to create Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences for new customer acquisition. The $7.8M settlement was used to provide refunds to affected consumers.
Fine Imposed€7.2M
Authority
FTC-US
Regulation
FTC Act Section 5 — Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices
Max fine$51,744 per violation per day for post-order violations; initial enforcement via consent orders without direct fines
Statusactive
Key Takeaways
- Mental health platforms face the highest regulatory scrutiny for advertising pixel practices — sharing any therapy-related data with advertising networks violates FTC Act Section 5 when privacy policies explicitly promise confidentiality.