Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
nixCraft 🐧

Privacy is dead, and all of your data, including medical information, is constantly being sold to the highest bidder. This is a terrible situation, and there should be strict regulations for those who are breaking the law. Source threads.net/@thebrianpenny/pos

@thebrianpenny writes: “Go to therapy,” they said. So I did, and they sold that data to advertisers. The news article reads and is attached to the post as follows: Because of a settlement between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and BetterHelp, you are entitled to a refund. BetterHelp agreed to pay $7.8 million to settle charges brought by the FTC. BetterHelp offers online counseling through several websites, including: BetterHelp, MyTherapist, Teen Counseling, Faithful Counseling, Pride Counseling, Regain, Terappeuta etc.  The FTC says that BetterHelp promised to keep users' information private but revealed data to Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Criteo for advertising purposes. This data included email addresses, IP addresses, and personal answers to health questions. Our records show that you paid for services from a BetterHelp website and are entitled to a refund
15 comments
Rynn Professional Cyberwitch :ms_pentacle: :flag_transgender:

@nixCraft Part of my continued screaming series on "stop using services that heavily advertise on Youtube and Twitch."

:copyleft: Kiri :tux:

@admin
For real... This should mean life in prison for all te executives at least
@nixCraft

udo m. rader ☕ 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 🐧

@nixCraft Maybe I'm too old for that, but the very idea of doing online mental health counseling is baffling to me. And trusting a purely commercial company with my most private thoughts and feelings would never occur to me.

Of course, times are changing, along with personal risk assessments, but I wonder where people's personal responsibility comes in.

Charlie

@riaschissl @nixCraft hmmm, well given they explicitly said they wouldn’t do this. - nowhere? Also ignoring the fact “personal responsibility” is largely a concept used by those with power to deflect blame onto those without. So most of the time it’s just victim blaming.

Never Getting a Sabbatical

@riaschissl @nixCraft telehealth *can* be very effective for many mental health conditions (research on this), but I don't think the big companies doing this are investing in the kinds of interventions and professionals who can make those gains happen in large numbers.

Instead, they are selling their client data after promising they wouldn't...

MntyFrsh (James Mincey)

@nixCraft This is exactly what gives me pause on trying out Zocdoc (which sponsors a ton of podcasts I listen to).

Never Getting a Sabbatical

@nixCraft Fucking hell.

I'm guessing there's some slippery loophole that says they didn't violate HIPAA 100 million times.

DELETED

@nixCraft WoW so I can't trust teen counseling either.

ToddZ

@nixCraft

Betterhelp paid $7.8 million dollars to settle FTC charges.

Betterhelp profits in 2023 alone were over $135 million.

Affected users will get $10.00 each.

Ten. Dollars. Each.

This behavior won’t be discouraged until penalties for selling sensitive personal data are staggeringly punitive. Like, a class-action suit for $100k in damages per user.

Jay

@toddz @nixCraft I think if a lawsuit is taken up by a governmental agency, settling should not be an option. A win would be a total dismantling of the company and selling off its assets to pay for legal fees and those hurt.

Exzedo

@nixCraft Referencing Threads aside, stricter regulations won't necessarily change their mind.

Enforcing near-bankruptcy-inducing penalties for violating said regulations, however, might. Perhaps adding an extra couple zeroes and threatening their corporate ability to exist next year would encourage them to stop selling PHI.

Brandon Mitchell

@nixCraft therapist: why do you say you have trust issues?

aphenglow

@nixCraft this is insane. These people should be in jail.

Go Up