Your health data has a price! And it’s less than $10.
Last year, BetterHelp, an online therapy provider, settled with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the regulator alleged that the company had improperly shared users’ “sensitive health data” with third parties, including the social media companies, Snapchat and Facebook. As part of that settlement, BetterHelp agreed to pay a total of $7.8 million to hundreds of thousands of users, and the payments are starting to roll out to those affected.
The total, for some recipients, is $9.72 per person.
That’s according to a notification email seen by Fast Company and numerous reports on social media. It’s unclear if that small amount will be uniform among all recipients.
While that may not be enough to buy a sandwich these days, it isn’t nothing. Here’s what to know:
When will BetterHelp refund payments arrive?
Those eligible for refunds should start seeing payments sent via PayPal this month, with paper checks hitting the mail in July.
Who is getting a refund payment?
Individuals are eligible for a refund if they signed up and subsequently paid for services through a BetterHelp website (which includes BetterHelp, MyTherapist, Teen Counseling, Faithful Counseling, Pride Counseling, iCounseling, Regain, and Terappeuta) between August 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020.
Why did BetterHelp get in trouble with the FTC?
As for what landed BetterHelp in the crosshairs of the FTC, the regulator 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.”
What has BetterHelp said about this?
Despite those allegations and the settlement, BetterHelp says that it takes users’ privacy seriously, and notes that the settlement “was not an admission of wrongdoing.
“To clarify, we do not share and have never shared with advertisers, publishers, social media platforms, or any other similar third parties, private information such as members’ names or clinical data from therapy sessions. In addition, we do not receive and have never received any payment from any third party for any kind of information about any of our members,” the company said in a response to the FTC settlement.
“We are deeply committed to the privacy of our members and we value the trust people put in us by using our services,” it said. “Now, more than ever, our technology, policies, and procedures are designed to protect and secure our members’ information so it is not used or shared without their approval and consent.”