Push Back on Mental Health Apps

We published our position paper on mental health apps and technology and launched our Push Back on Apps campaign. We asked our members to contact businesses that accept advertising from "therapy" apps, and we hope that these businesses will reconsider their advertising policies, especially during this time of high demand for quality mental healthcare.

UPDATE MARCH 2023: The FTC is calling for a ban on BetterHelp from sharing customer data for advertising purposes, especially after BetterHelp had promised to keep such data private. And they'd require BetterHelp to reimburse customers $7.8 M.

"When a person struggling with mental health issues reaches out for help, they do so in a moment of vulnerability and with an expectation that professional counseling services will protect their privacy,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Instead, BetterHelp betrayed consumers’ most personal health information for profit. Let this proposed order be a stout reminder that the FTC will prioritize defending Americans’ sensitive data from illegal exploitation."  Read the full press release here.

October 2022