Talk therapy apps face new questions about data collection from senators

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Demand for talk therapy apps increased at the beginning of the Pandemic. BetterHelp and Talkspace saw their downloads double in the first few months of the lock down. Elizabeth Warren wants to know how these companies protect the privacy of their users.

Warren and two other senators called on the mental health companies to explain how their apps collect and use data from their patients. Lawmakers requested information on the apps' relationships with online advertisers, data brokers, and social media platforms, as well as how those relationships are disclosed to users.

The policies used by your company and similar mental health platforms may allow third-party Big Tech firms and data brokers, who have shown little interest in protecting vulnerable consumers and users, to access and use highly.

In May, the Mozilla Foundation published a report warning consumers that online talk therapy apps could be making money off of their mental health data. While both BetterHelp and Talkspace promise not to sell a user's medical data without their consent, the researchers determined that personal information like a patient's name, phone number, and email could still be sold or accessed by third parties.

Personal information can still give insight into a user's life even though it isn't as sensitive as medical data. BetterHelp shared the contents of messages between a patient and therapist with Facebook according to a report in 2020. The data doesn't include the contents of the messages, but it can alert online marketers to how often a user uses the app.

Even though the data is not public, it can still give third parties important and identifying information.

There is a push to regulate data sales in the United States. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a meeting on Thursday. Over the last few years, a deal has been close. Last week, Warren introduced her own measure that would ban the sale of location and sensitive health data as the Supreme Court prepares to vote on the case.

The Pandemic played a major role in popularizing therapy apps, but the companies paid popular influencers like Philip DeFranco to advertise their apps on social media years before. Fans accused the YouTubers of profiting off of their audience's mental health issues with apps accused of hiring unqualified therapists as reported by The Atlantic.