Consumer Apps · Health/Fitness · Regulatory action + Private litigation
GoodRx / BetterHelp / Premom (health app category)
Headline
BetterHelp asks new users to answer intake questions about anxiety, depression, medication history, and emotional struggles — the exact vulnerable disclosures someone makes while reaching out for help for the first time.
BetterHelp asks new users to answer intake questions about anxiety, depression, medication history, and emotional struggles — the exact vulnerable disclosures someone makes while reaching out for help for the first time. The FTC alleged BetterHelp then transmitted those specific answers, plus your email and IP address, to Facebook and Snapchat through an embedded tracking pixel, to fuel targeted ADVERTISING, while its own site promised that information would only be used to provide counseling. About 800,000 people are eligible for refunds from the resulting $7.8 million settlement. BetterHelp's own public statement insists it never shared 'clinical data from therapy sessions' — the FTC's findings were specifically about the intake questionnaire answers, a distinction that may be cold comfort to anyone who filled one out.
- Severity
- Evidence tierUnassigned
- Claims confirmed
- Last verified2026-08-04
Primary source. www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/03/ftc-ban-betterhelp-revealing-consumers-data-including-sensitive-mental-health-information-facebook — Verified - primary source confirmed.
Terms
Arbitration
Not independently confirmed this pass.
Data sharing
COMPLETED FTC ENFORCEMENT WAVE (2023, still highly relevant precedent as of 2026): the FTC brought cases against GoodRx ($1.5 MILLION civil penalty), BetterHelp ($7.8 MILLION for consumer refunds), Premom and Vitagene over sharing sensitive health data (including PRESCRIPTION and MENTAL HEALTH information) with advertisers, violating the Health Breach Notification Rule, deceiving users about sharing practices, and retroactively changing privacy policies after the fact. A SEPARATE class action against GoodRx (N.D. Cal.) was resolved by a $25 MILLION settlement agreed in Dec 2024, subject to court approval, over allegedly disclosing personal health information via tracking technologies without consent.
Fees and billing
Not itemized this pass.
Contacts
Privacy contact. Not recorded.
Legal notice. Not verified this pass. If publicly traded: SEC Form 10-K cover page gives the official corporate address; the Secretary of State business-entity search in the state of incorporation gives the registered agent, which must accept service. If private: the state registered agent is usually the only reliable route.
Mailing address. Not recorded.
Evidence
| Claim | Kind | Support | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. BetterHelp asks new users intake questions about anxiety, depression, medication history and emotional struggles. | fact | unknown | none recorded |
| 2. These are the exact vulnerable disclosures someone makes while reaching out for help for the first time. | characterization | n/a | none recorded |
| 3. BetterHelp transmitted intake answers, plus email and IP address, to Facebook and Snapchat for targeted advertising. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 4. The FTC found that BetterHelp did this. | fact | contradicted | 1 (0 confirmed) |
| 5. The data was transmitted through an embedded tracking pixel. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 6. BetterHelp's site promised the information would only be used to provide counseling. | fact | unknown | none recorded |
| 7. About 800,000 people are eligible for refunds. | fact | unsupported | 1 (1 confirmed) |
| 8. The resulting settlement is $7.8 million. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 9. BetterHelp's public statement says it never shared 'clinical data from therapy sessions.' | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 10. The FTC's case concerned the intake questionnaire answers rather than therapy-session data. | fact | unknown | 1 (0 confirmed) |
| 11. A distinction that may be cold comfort to anyone who filled one out. | characterization | n/a | none recorded |
1 of 11 claims have a confirmed source of their own.
Sources
| Source | Claim | Tier | Status | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| regulator · 2024-05-06 www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/05/betterhelp-customers-will-begin-receiving-notices-about-refunds-related-2023-privacy-settlement-ftc | Claim 4 | Unassigned | corrected | “The FTC alleged that BetterHelp shared this information with Facebook, Snapchat, and others for advertising” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| regulator · 2024-05-06 www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/05/betterhelp-customers-will-begin-receiving-notices-about-refunds-related-2023-privacy-settlement-ftc | Claim 7 | Unassigned | confirmed | “About 800,000 people will begin receiving notices today that they are eligible for refunds” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| regulator · 2024-05-06 www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/05/betterhelp-customers-will-begin-receiving-notices-about-refunds-related-2023-privacy-settlement-ftc | Claim 10 | Unassigned | corrected | “specifically email addresses, IP addresses, and answers to personal health questions” Quote basis: not recorded. |
Source vault
Link status: Candidate - not yet fetched
| Document | Last fetch | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy policy goodrx.com/privacy-policy ; betterhelp.com/privacy-policy | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Terms of service goodrx.com/terms-of-use ; betterhelp.com/terms-of-service ; premom.com (individual company terms not all individually captured this pass) | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Website No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | — |
| Primary source https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/03/ftc-ban-betterhelp-revealing-consumers-data-including-sensitive-mental-health-information-facebook Verification: Verified - primary source confirmed | Not fetched yet | — |
Enforcement
No enforcement actions are linked to this row.
State statute
No HQ state on file, so no state statute applies by headquarters.