The Federal Trade Commission has fined digital mental healthcare provider BetterHelp\u00a0$7.8 million for sharing the personal health information of millions of consumers with advertisers like Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo and Pinterest during a seven-year period.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed order, which the company agreed to, BetterHelp\u00a0also would be banned from sharing consumers’ health data for advertising purposes.<\/p>\n

It is the second digital health company to be targeted this year by the FTC for its use of consumers’ health information and the first whose fine will be used to pay affected consumers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The agency alleges BetterHelp provided consumers\u2019 email addresses, IP addresses and health questionnaire information and the company\u00a0uploaded lists containing more than 7 million email addresses to Facebook between 2017 and 2018. More than half of the emails were matched with Facebook user IDs, the agency alleges.<\/p>\n

BetterHelp, which was acquired by Teladoc in 2015, did not admit wrongdoing. In a statement, BetterHelp said its data practices echoed many of its peers. The company said it has never accepted payment from third-parties for user or customer data.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis industry-standard practice is routinely used by some of the largest health providers, health systems, and healthcare brands,\u201d the company said. \u201cWe understand the FTC\u2019s desire to set new precedents around consumer marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FTC also alleges the company used HIPAA certification seals on its website but no government agency or third party reviewed BetterHelp\u2019s information practices for HIPAA compliance.<\/p>\n

In its statement, BetterHelp said it has not previously, nor does it currently share\u00a0private information or clinical data from therapy sessions.<\/p>\n

Criteo said it had not been contacted regarding the allegations in the FTC complaint and would not comment further. SnapChat,\u00a0Facebook parent company Meta and Pinterest did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The action follows the FTC\u2019s enforcement action last month alleging\u00a0GoodRx\u00a0shared consumers\u2019 personal health information to Facebook, Google and other third parties. The Justice Department,\u00a0on behalf of the FTC, filed a complaint and proposed order for permanent injunction against the company. Under the order,\u00a0GoodRx\u00a0agreed to a $1.5 million fine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Experts said the FTC\u2019s recent enforcement actions likely serve as a warning shot to digital health companies.<\/p>\n

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