I saw in your exploration that sites like BetterHelp, which provide a platform for therapy services virtually, share data/Metadata with their parent companies, with Facebook or other social media entities and the like.
As a therapist (in Canada) I am beholden to a certain privacy standard, I know similar laws exist in the US. These standards are strict. I cannot even acknowledge my client is a client of mine seeking services without consent or unless certain criteria are met.
I am the one responsible for the privacy of my clients - the platform is not. I am required to use platforms that have certain security criteria and failing to do so could land me in hot water with my regulatory college should a breach occur. That platforms hand out data on my clients (arguably without informed consent, even with them agreeing to the privacy policy, as we need people like you to spell this out for us - and as you said, it is NOT explicitly stated that they don't sell the data collected) is unethical therapeutically, in the extreme.
I realize many therapists on these platforms probably don't realize this either, but outside of that deception, I am seriously concerned with how they're even recruiting therapists, who are beholden to the same or similar standards of data protection as I am. Do platforms like this not automatically breach such privacy legislation? Do they just pass the liability off onto therapists, who may not be as aware of these things as they should be?
whatahorriblestory25 karma
I saw in your exploration that sites like BetterHelp, which provide a platform for therapy services virtually, share data/Metadata with their parent companies, with Facebook or other social media entities and the like.
As a therapist (in Canada) I am beholden to a certain privacy standard, I know similar laws exist in the US. These standards are strict. I cannot even acknowledge my client is a client of mine seeking services without consent or unless certain criteria are met.
I am the one responsible for the privacy of my clients - the platform is not. I am required to use platforms that have certain security criteria and failing to do so could land me in hot water with my regulatory college should a breach occur. That platforms hand out data on my clients (arguably without informed consent, even with them agreeing to the privacy policy, as we need people like you to spell this out for us - and as you said, it is NOT explicitly stated that they don't sell the data collected) is unethical therapeutically, in the extreme.
I realize many therapists on these platforms probably don't realize this either, but outside of that deception, I am seriously concerned with how they're even recruiting therapists, who are beholden to the same or similar standards of data protection as I am. Do platforms like this not automatically breach such privacy legislation? Do they just pass the liability off onto therapists, who may not be as aware of these things as they should be?
Thank you bringing this to light!
View HistoryShare Link