BetterHelp

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BetterHelp

Basic information
Founded	2013
Legal Structure	Subsidiary
Industry	Medical, Mental Health, Teletherapy
Also known as
Official website	https://www.betterhelp.com/

BetterHelp is a mental health platform that provides direct online counseling and therapy services via web or phone text communication.

Consumer impact summary

• (User privacy) On 02 March 2023, it was revealed that BetterHelp had shared data and private info on users with third parties in order to dish out targeted/personalized ads to said users, despite claiming that they don't share data with other companies/advertisers.

• (Business model) BetterHelp prides themselves on their accessibility and scalability and operates using subscriptions in order to generate weekly revenue.

• (Market control) While users may pay around £40 - £70 a week, a counselor named Andrew Flynn, was being paid around £18 per session, meaning that he would have to work well over the 20 hour weekly limit to make a proper living.

Incidents

Private data sharing

BetterHelp's Privacy Policy explicitly states that any private information shared with therapists will remain confidential. Specifically, it clarifies that such information will not be shared with third-party advertisers:

To be clear, we don’t share any data or information you share with your therapist with any Third-Party advertisers. Even if you opt-in to targeting cookies and web beacons, we still don’t share information with Third-Party advertisers like member names, email addresses, phone numbers, clinician diagnosis, questionnaires answers, sessions data, journal entries, messages, worksheets, or any other type of private communication you have with your therapist on the Platform.

On 02 March 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) raised a complaint against BetterHelp. BetterHelp gave third parties (including Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Criteo) consumer information for the purpose of serving targeted ads "bringing in tens of thousands of new paying users, and millions of dollars in revenue, as a result." Third parties also used the data for personal research and development.

Four months later, on 14 July 2023, the FTC ordered BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million in the form of partial refunds to its' customers between 01 August 2017 and 31 December 2020. Emails started being sent out to around 800,000 eligible customers on 06 May 2024.

Unethical pay structure

Andrew Flynn, a counsellor who joined BetterHelp in September 2022, stated that in the United Kingdom, a BetterHelp subscription costs between £40 and £70 per week, while he was paid approximately £18 per session. To achieve a reasonable annual salary, therapists would need to exceed the 20-hour weekly limit for therapy sessions recommended by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

70% of respondents in a survey had a negative experience with BetterHelp In the UK, therapists don't need accreditation to practice unlike in the U.S., nevertheless there are bodies which accredit therapists, BetterHelp therapists may not be accredited in UK.