Mental health apps under fire for sharing personal information of TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat users

HOUSTON – Mental health apps Better help And Cerebral are subject to heavy fines after personal information has been shared with companies such as Tiktok, Facebook (Meta) and Snapchat.

A district therapist in Houston called it predatory, unsafe, and disgusting.

“There are things you say to your therapist and don’t tell anyone,” said licensed professional consultant Dr. Manahil Riaz. “If these online platforms are exploiting these vulnerabilities and selling them to us, that’s very predatory.”

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Better help will be required to pay $7.8 million for defrauding consumers after promising to keep sensitive personal data private.

While the Cerebral app is having problems after its patients admitted they use tracking technologies to share users’ personal data with third parties, Cerebral claims that this unintentionally leaked information.

Riaz said that in a world where we have become indifferent to privacy violations, conversations with her patients are sacred and these companies should be held accountable.

“Ask yourself: Am I comfortable with my information being sold? If the answer is yes, you are comfortable, then continue to use the services, but most people do not like it, and I would advise taking action. This means holding these companies accountable is really important, which could mean writing an email saying, “You hacked my personal information, what are you doing about it and what are my rights?” Riaz said. “The second way to hold them accountable is to talk to a lawyer about my rights. What can I do about it?