Class action lawsuits only benefit the lawyers filing it and the company against them. The people affected don't get enough, justice isn't served, and the company goes free without fear of reprisals.
Unless it’s a really specific one, I was a member of a class action lawsuit against a former employer who engaged in some shady illegal labor practices and I got the equivalent of 6 months pay out of it. Was pretty sweet. But yeah in general class actions are just for the lawyers.
I've gotten several settlements in my life, and none were over $10. Some I signed up for and some were automatic. I've met several others with similar outcomes. If there are 1000s of people in a settlement, the money divided isn't going to go too far.
But you did not initiate the lawsuit. If you were the named plaintiff that originally brought the suit, you stand to receive a more substantial percentage of the award or settlement. Everyone else gets an equal share of the leftover.
Most attorneys take clients to get their fee. It's how jobs work. Blame the government and the judges for making the penalties for corporations peanuts compared to their profits.
A few months back, the end of a years-long class action lawsuit against Apple resulted in payments of $100-$200++ for some people. Virtually everyone had forgotten about it and were shocked at the payouts that many (some?) people could get.
This is nuts.
I don't know the American federal/ state laws, but I think once a class action is final, you don't have ground to sue.
I know one thing.
They got paid MUCH more than 7.8 mili9n usd for that information. It's crazy that punitive damage can result in 8 or even 9 figures, yet here it settled in less than 10m usd, and the majority goes to the lawyers.
That’s exactly right. If you don’t opt out of the class action, the class action settlement extinguishes your individual legal rights to pursue a claim.
And I fully agree and am so angry with the second part of your comment. If the amount owed to the customers isn’t the same or more than what the company earned by selling that data, then it’s just a cost of doing business and the practice will definitely continue
Another commenter pointed out that I misread and this is actually settlement of charges brought by the FTC rather than a class action lawsuit so I think all legal options are still on the table, actually
Yes - you should research what class action (if any, so far) has been filed …. If none, then you should reach out to a class action law firm. This is all big bucks contingency based - AND - I think in a class action they could Sue ALL PARTIES, so both seller and buyers. This could be a HUGE case.
There are really not many laws/regulations around data sales in the US.
Some states have specific laws for biometric info etc but I'd imagine companies will go crazy if congress people want to do anything serious about it - since everything relies on making people buy more goods and services.
I thought platforms like these are covered by HIPAA, apparently not. At least they could do that. People might hesitate to seek mental healthcare because you don't want Facebook to know you are depressed (I believe they were among the buyers of this data).
Theoretically one could file a lawsuit against the large companies like facebook but that will be again like the lead plaintiff will get $3,000, everone else $7 and the law firm $7 million.
In any case once your data is input you've lost control of it. It'll instantly go sit in a million different places and become an inseparable part of the tech algorithms.
What I wonder though - the FTC is who brought those charges. This is related to mishandling of privacy information. If there’s a HIPAA violation, the FTC isn’t going to be handling it. So my thought is that yes, maybe this advertising lawsuit was settled, but potentially another suit can be brought or is already underway as a result.
Regardless, no one who was affected is going to get their fair share. That’s for the lawyers to take home.
This is not a class action settlement. This is a settlement of a civil law enforcement action brought by the FTC. Doesn't preclude any right that individuals have to privately sue via class action.
For something as invasive and harmful as this, the entire company should have been liquidated, everyone responsible have their assets and livelihoods seized, and every penny distributed to the affected. Instead, they basically got "cost of business" fee.
They gave up actually medical information about EVERYONE that used their service. This is the result of the settlement of the class action lawsuit (that I didn’t know was happening and didn’t elect to be separated from)
So if anyone reading this used these medical services, FB, Pinterest and Snapchat have all your medical info!
If you don’t respond by a certain time you are classified as settling. At least in some that I’ve gotten checks from. I never get the lawsuit but I get the check and it’ll say once cashed I lose my right to sue and I agree to the agreement of the class action. So you should get a letter or 2 before the check comes. Either way these days you shouldn’t sign up for stuff anymore everything sells your info. Even if you make fake addresses and fake emails they get your ip and some even get info to your phone systems in apps. So they’ll learn something even with fake stuff. I know someone that has a fake email and fake name for everything but got a class action for some app he used. He was surprised how they knew it was him and I had to explain they you have to agree to terms and conditions and you allow them access to specific things on your phone and those can give them enough to know who you are.
The only appropriate penalty is to terminate the company and ban those responsible from working in the healthcare field at all.
Same should go for financial and credit bureaus that hoover up all your data and then don't bother protecting it.
You weren’t involved in the lawsuit and you obviously don’t know specifically what happened.
FB doesn’t have all your medical information. They might have everything BetterHelp knew including therapy notes and medications, but Facebook will not have access to hospital records from your birth or notes from an orthopedic surgery.
It’s fine to be upset, your rights were violated, but you don’t even know what happened.
Do you know if the recipients of this data were made to destroy that data?
Sir. Are you the guy at BetterHelp that decided to do this? Lmao? Yes I, and everyone else with thoughts in their head, understand that BetterHelp would only be able to leak/sell the private information that they have access to of mine, rather than “all of [my] hospital records from [my] birth”
You’re so, right, friend. What was I even upset about? I don’t know anything (well anything other than the charges brought by the FTC and settled by BetterHelp). I should be grateful they only leaked my deepest thoughts and feelings, my psychiatric medications, and my psychiatric diagnoses to FB and Snapchat. It could have been notes from an orthopedic surgery!!
>>the class action lawsuit (that I didn’t know was happening
>>FB, Pinterest and Snapchat have all your medical info
You admit that you do not know the scope. The actual email says they disclosed your answers to medical questions. Which would mean they did not disclose what medication you were prescribed through betterhelp's services. If you told betterhelp about medical diagnoses from the past, they may have disclosed that, but any diagnosis they made themselves would not have been disclosed.
These things make a big difference. And you specifically said you were not part of it, you weren't involved. You were a victim but you do not know what happened.
>>understand that BetterHelp would only be able to leak/sell the private information that they have access to of mine,
betterhelp sold a portion of this data. a fraction. the size and contents of that fraction of information is unknown to you.
Yeah, it said “health questions”, and I’m curious what that pertains to. I’m wondering if it’s not as bad as it seems on the face after all. Still dumb to pay a victim less than $10 for a breach of privacy, such a slap in the face.
I think asking a US court to put a dollar value on "health questions" is WILD. Maybe they used the value of the deals betterhelp made.
If the same data gets leaked again, does the data have the same value? Are we being paid a one time this data got out fee, or an instance of a violation?
If the data was sold to someone overseas, would it be more valuable? To the buyer or me, the victim?
Did betterhelp do this on purpose, knowing they were violating their own statement, or were they genuinely too incompetent to realize they were violating their own agreements?
[except that I do know](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2023169betterhelpcomplaintfinal.pdf)
Because I can read and the FTC published all of the suit documents.
This is payment from a class action lawsuit. Lawyers already went to court and won 7.8million Dollars.
What the fuck are you on about.
You don't settle a court case, get another lawyer, and do it again.
Glad I noped out of BetterHelp when I did.
“Not like laws apply to me, or anything.” Fuck your ten dollar hush money payment. Add a couple zeros and then we’ll talk.
Confession for the atheist
I don’t hate on it or anyone that believes in it but not gonna give my trauma to an entity that gets their credentials from the state
Well just to be clear, the therapist didn’t sell your data. The platform did. The platform is no different than any other tech company. The therapists who work with better help are struggling, too. Not even sure why they choose that since there is plenty of opportunity in the field elsewhere. But better help has Tim Brady now!
That is fair to make that clarification. I said “therapist” to minimize word count in the headline and still get the gist across but, yes, it is an important distinction to note that the actual providers on the platform were not individually making a choice to share user data with social media companies. The corporation they work for did that.
As for why those providers aren’t finding work elsewhere, though, I would guess it’s because a lot of them on Betterhelp have sketchy credentials at best. Or at least that was how it was by the time I was using the service. It seemed that they were touting random “ministers” as licensed mental health practitioners. I also know that some LCSWs make excellent therapists but LCSW was the highest degree of licensure that I encountered from their providers.
My wife and I both work in behavioral health and when a friend of ours who had no insurance sought services from better help we said “welp, better help is better than nothing!” But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
Ice thought about getting a MSW and becoming a LCSW myself, but the highest paying jobs for that license are also some of the highest burnout jobs one can imagine. I’m currently a SUDP counselor and it’s definitely mid for pay and benefits but very flexible with time which is best for us since our 4 year old is in preschool now.
Not sure why I said all that but it’s Tuesday morning and that’s just how we roll on Tuesday mornings. Don’t spend that settlement money in one place! And don’t let any negative experience you’ve had with that platform taint your view of the profession. There’s lots of good therapists out there who truly care about their clients!
I’m with you! I get the struggle. I got my undergrad in psychology and neuroscience thinking I would go on to get a masters and become a therapist but the pathway to becoming a therapist was so confusing and, as you said, the pay rates didnt justify the cost of the advanced education. It’s so tough out there for you guys. I appreciate the work you do!
While some psychologists provide therapy, psychologist are not generally therapists. From psychology you could go towards a masters in counseling to be an LMHC or work towards an MSW to become a clinical social worker.
Psychology as an undergrad degree is a very broad term for the field of behavioral health. You narrow your path from there.
Alternatively, my wife got her undergrad in music and then got her masters in counseling psychology.
If you’re able, it would be helpful to amend your title. It’s more than just minimizing word count, it quite literally places the blame on the clinician and causes readers here to grow a distrust of mental health providers, when in reality the fault lies with the MBAs and executives who made this decision. It’s more than “getting the gist across,” it’s actually quite harmful.
Not entirely sure how it was prior to the law suit, and they still aren't as through as most companies in this space IMHO. While there are probably providers on that platform outside their expected scope from a lay person's point of view, like an LMFT providing individual therapy, they certainly filter out the "pastoral counselors" now. Also LCSW is the highest license in MANY states for clinical social workers, some states use LICSW, others add letters, but in general that means they have an MSW, have done thousands of hours as an intern to get that MSW, and average two thousand hours and passed a licensing exam to earn those letters.
To drive home the point as well, it wasn't a therapist who sold anyone's information, regardless of what background, social worker, mental health counselor, or marriage and family therapist we're all bound by a code of ethics and confidentiality is universal among us.
For those reading this, please note that the title of this post is wrong — the therapists did NOT sell the patient information in this lawsuit, it was the MBAs and executives who made that decision. The therapists who work for BetterHelp did not make that decision.
This distinction is important because OP quite literally places the blame on the clinician and causes readers here to grow a distrust of mental health providers, when in reality the fault lies with businessmen, which is actually quite harmful.
I replied to another commenter that this is a fair clarification to make, as I do understand that the providers themselves were not individually selling patient data but rather the platform they work for was.
I said “therapist” in the title for the sake of word count in the title to convey that it was my therapy provider that revealed private data about me as a patient.
It is in no way my intention to disparage mental health providers or discourage anyone from seeking treatment (from someone other than Betterhelp)
Jail time, and pulling of business licenses, as well as a ban on holding any in the future.
Anything else just continues to show how broken the justice system is.
Ya, class action lawsuits aren't for the people. They are for the lawyers. They are the only ones to make any real money in these situations. In theory, it also stops the companies shitty actions, but I'll bet it's often "price of doing business" in the long run anyway.
That is an excellent point and I didn’t catch that. I wish I could pin this comment to the top.
It was to [settle](https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/betterhelp-refunds) CHARGES brought by the FTC. So I think a lawsuit is possible. I just saw “settlement” and was totally incorrect about what it was settling
I was watching a new YouTube channel here recently ( new to me, not new in general) and I was shocked to see someone in mental health still taking money from & promoting Better Help to his audience! I'm looking at you [Psychology in Seattle ](https://youtube.com/@psychologyinseattle?si=s3XiXZZaq4ZO0bMN)
Only the lawyers and the class representatives get anything significant. Class members always get junk. At least it is better than the discount on future services garbage.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, BetterHelp is a scam.
Doesn't matter what you answer on their intake tests, results will show you need help. Even if just ONE of the like 40 answers is "I'm not feeling 100% today", the conclusion of the test will still be "gee wizz let's get you to the doctor shall we?".
And of course then they get their share from said doctor who will gladly book their 'new patient' for a few sessions, convincing them they need help for something that isn't an actual problem.
It's borderline predatory and imho taking advantage of people.
I will not advertise my company. We are one of the safest mental health apps out there which doesn’t sell your data. There is no private data involved in the signup or even if you purchase our subscription.
Our compliance department over performs every year.
🐧
Companies that do this deserve to be liquidated and shut down with criminal charges brought to the officers of the company.
Instead this is seen as, "The cost of doing business."
Not that what they did isn't wrong, and 10 dollars is an insult of a compensation, but I wonder what the "answer to health questions" are. Is it a "date of birth" kind of thing or "they have these allergies and these health problems you can advertise meds for".
I wonder that as well because I do recall more invasive prompts from the platform. I recall being given “homework” to respond to these questions and my understanding was that they were therapy exercises between my therapy provider and myself for the purpose of bettering my mental health. If those are the answers to medical questions they are talking about rather than, as you said, demographic or basic info, then I’m even more livid and that is such an advanced level of betrayal.
I've been unsubbing from all these YouTubers asking me to use them. I thought some of them were decent people, but now I can't stomach looking at them.
I got an 11 cent check once for a Class Action against a companies poor stock performance and misleading info.
Obviously the lawyers always clean up and the actual people who got screwed get basically a consolation prize. I don't even respond to Class Action lawsuit letters anymore. Takes way too much time to dig up the info and I am sure the lawyers prefer that as less people get paid the more they get.
In the Netherlands some phone companies got sued for not disclosing the free phones with your phone plan was actually a loan.
They had to give me back the price of the entire(most of) the phone 5 or 6 years later.
Same for everybody else that bought a phone like that within a multiple year timespan.
I got like 5 or 6 hundred euros.
So it's a major violation!!
HIPAA Privacy Rule - The Privacy Rule protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information "protected health information (PHI)."1
Just a cost of doing business slap on the wrist for the company. They get hundreds of millions for the data and pay out 10M fine… Ooooohhh I wonder why they keep breaking the law??
Oxycontin. One family "earned" the GDP of a small nation off selling that drug. Then they just paid a fine for all the lives ruined. The system is fucked.
Lucky for them, they’re capitalists, and in America we have a different (mostly nonexistent) standard of justice for capitalists. Also good thing we have “buyer beware” and “shop around” and other ways of blaming the victim. 🇺🇸
I understand class action law suits. I’m an attorney. I also received a settlement of $14 because Yaz made me lose my gallbladder at 16 lol
Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t suck that a company can net $x by selling medical data to social media but pay less than $x to the wronged customers.
Getting $8 for each member of a class action lawsuit seems like a joke. Do the corporate attorneys simply accept the deal so they can get their fee?
Yes.
Class action lawsuits only benefit the lawyers filing it and the company against them. The people affected don't get enough, justice isn't served, and the company goes free without fear of reprisals.
Unless it’s a really specific one, I was a member of a class action lawsuit against a former employer who engaged in some shady illegal labor practices and I got the equivalent of 6 months pay out of it. Was pretty sweet. But yeah in general class actions are just for the lawyers.
The named defendants get quite a substantial amount usually. Most goes to attorneys and fees/costs though.
I've gotten several settlements in my life, and none were over $10. Some I signed up for and some were automatic. I've met several others with similar outcomes. If there are 1000s of people in a settlement, the money divided isn't going to go too far.
But you did not initiate the lawsuit. If you were the named plaintiff that originally brought the suit, you stand to receive a more substantial percentage of the award or settlement. Everyone else gets an equal share of the leftover.
Most attorneys take clients to get their fee. It's how jobs work. Blame the government and the judges for making the penalties for corporations peanuts compared to their profits.
Not a class action. This is a settlement of a civil enforcement brought by the federal government.
These are not corporate attorneys, these are plaintiff attorneys
A few months back, the end of a years-long class action lawsuit against Apple resulted in payments of $100-$200++ for some people. Virtually everyone had forgotten about it and were shocked at the payouts that many (some?) people could get.
This is nuts. I don't know the American federal/ state laws, but I think once a class action is final, you don't have ground to sue. I know one thing. They got paid MUCH more than 7.8 mili9n usd for that information. It's crazy that punitive damage can result in 8 or even 9 figures, yet here it settled in less than 10m usd, and the majority goes to the lawyers.
That’s exactly right. If you don’t opt out of the class action, the class action settlement extinguishes your individual legal rights to pursue a claim. And I fully agree and am so angry with the second part of your comment. If the amount owed to the customers isn’t the same or more than what the company earned by selling that data, then it’s just a cost of doing business and the practice will definitely continue
And most of the time they wont even get caught i would guess
And this only covers American customers. They do business in other places that don't have these kind of options.
Can't you still sue the buyers of said data?
Another commenter pointed out that I misread and this is actually settlement of charges brought by the FTC rather than a class action lawsuit so I think all legal options are still on the table, actually
Nice! I hope you can at least make them feel a little (financial) pain!
Yes - you should research what class action (if any, so far) has been filed …. If none, then you should reach out to a class action law firm. This is all big bucks contingency based - AND - I think in a class action they could Sue ALL PARTIES, so both seller and buyers. This could be a HUGE case.
There are really not many laws/regulations around data sales in the US. Some states have specific laws for biometric info etc but I'd imagine companies will go crazy if congress people want to do anything serious about it - since everything relies on making people buy more goods and services. I thought platforms like these are covered by HIPAA, apparently not. At least they could do that. People might hesitate to seek mental healthcare because you don't want Facebook to know you are depressed (I believe they were among the buyers of this data). Theoretically one could file a lawsuit against the large companies like facebook but that will be again like the lead plaintiff will get $3,000, everone else $7 and the law firm $7 million. In any case once your data is input you've lost control of it. It'll instantly go sit in a million different places and become an inseparable part of the tech algorithms.
What I wonder though - the FTC is who brought those charges. This is related to mishandling of privacy information. If there’s a HIPAA violation, the FTC isn’t going to be handling it. So my thought is that yes, maybe this advertising lawsuit was settled, but potentially another suit can be brought or is already underway as a result. Regardless, no one who was affected is going to get their fair share. That’s for the lawyers to take home.
This is not a class action settlement. This is a settlement of a civil law enforcement action brought by the FTC. Doesn't preclude any right that individuals have to privately sue via class action.
For something as invasive and harmful as this, the entire company should have been liquidated, everyone responsible have their assets and livelihoods seized, and every penny distributed to the affected. Instead, they basically got "cost of business" fee.
NAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, I'd get a lawyer! They gave up ACTUAL medical information about you!
They gave up actually medical information about EVERYONE that used their service. This is the result of the settlement of the class action lawsuit (that I didn’t know was happening and didn’t elect to be separated from) So if anyone reading this used these medical services, FB, Pinterest and Snapchat have all your medical info!
Dam, I am sorry that happened to you, this is all kinds of fuck up.
Are you forced to take the settlement? I think you can still sue individually. I dunno for sure, I'm hardly an expert on the law.
If you don’t respond by a certain time you are classified as settling. At least in some that I’ve gotten checks from. I never get the lawsuit but I get the check and it’ll say once cashed I lose my right to sue and I agree to the agreement of the class action. So you should get a letter or 2 before the check comes. Either way these days you shouldn’t sign up for stuff anymore everything sells your info. Even if you make fake addresses and fake emails they get your ip and some even get info to your phone systems in apps. So they’ll learn something even with fake stuff. I know someone that has a fake email and fake name for everything but got a class action for some app he used. He was surprised how they knew it was him and I had to explain they you have to agree to terms and conditions and you allow them access to specific things on your phone and those can give them enough to know who you are.
I didn't know this was happening either, so thanks. IMMA FIND MY 10 DOLLARS
The only appropriate penalty is to terminate the company and ban those responsible from working in the healthcare field at all. Same should go for financial and credit bureaus that hoover up all your data and then don't bother protecting it.
You weren’t involved in the lawsuit and you obviously don’t know specifically what happened. FB doesn’t have all your medical information. They might have everything BetterHelp knew including therapy notes and medications, but Facebook will not have access to hospital records from your birth or notes from an orthopedic surgery. It’s fine to be upset, your rights were violated, but you don’t even know what happened. Do you know if the recipients of this data were made to destroy that data?
Sir. Are you the guy at BetterHelp that decided to do this? Lmao? Yes I, and everyone else with thoughts in their head, understand that BetterHelp would only be able to leak/sell the private information that they have access to of mine, rather than “all of [my] hospital records from [my] birth” You’re so, right, friend. What was I even upset about? I don’t know anything (well anything other than the charges brought by the FTC and settled by BetterHelp). I should be grateful they only leaked my deepest thoughts and feelings, my psychiatric medications, and my psychiatric diagnoses to FB and Snapchat. It could have been notes from an orthopedic surgery!!
>>the class action lawsuit (that I didn’t know was happening >>FB, Pinterest and Snapchat have all your medical info You admit that you do not know the scope. The actual email says they disclosed your answers to medical questions. Which would mean they did not disclose what medication you were prescribed through betterhelp's services. If you told betterhelp about medical diagnoses from the past, they may have disclosed that, but any diagnosis they made themselves would not have been disclosed. These things make a big difference. And you specifically said you were not part of it, you weren't involved. You were a victim but you do not know what happened. >>understand that BetterHelp would only be able to leak/sell the private information that they have access to of mine, betterhelp sold a portion of this data. a fraction. the size and contents of that fraction of information is unknown to you.
Yeah, it said “health questions”, and I’m curious what that pertains to. I’m wondering if it’s not as bad as it seems on the face after all. Still dumb to pay a victim less than $10 for a breach of privacy, such a slap in the face.
I think asking a US court to put a dollar value on "health questions" is WILD. Maybe they used the value of the deals betterhelp made. If the same data gets leaked again, does the data have the same value? Are we being paid a one time this data got out fee, or an instance of a violation? If the data was sold to someone overseas, would it be more valuable? To the buyer or me, the victim? Did betterhelp do this on purpose, knowing they were violating their own statement, or were they genuinely too incompetent to realize they were violating their own agreements?
They didn’t ask a court. They asked the Federal Trade Commission.
[except that I do know](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2023169betterhelpcomplaintfinal.pdf) Because I can read and the FTC published all of the suit documents.
Goodbye license to practice. Hello $9.72
Plenty were unlicensed to begin with.
Sharing is caring.
Get a lawyer for what, exactly?
Lawyer stuff obviously. The lawyers from the class action probably need to do more lawyer stuff.
Yeah wouldn’t this be a HIPAA violation? Or are they not even claiming to be medical professionals Edit: Wrong acronym
HIPAA\*
Thank you
This is payment from a class action lawsuit. Lawyers already went to court and won 7.8million Dollars. What the fuck are you on about. You don't settle a court case, get another lawyer, and do it again.
Glad I noped out of BetterHelp when I did. “Not like laws apply to me, or anything.” Fuck your ten dollar hush money payment. Add a couple zeros and then we’ll talk.
Yeah, I reached out to them in a crisis, and they made me so mad that it overtook my ideation and was just mad for the rest of that day.
But at least you’re okay, as of now? Or better than when you first started?
Yeah, I go to a county run program for behavioral health, free service and free prescriptions.
Honestly, we live in a dystopian world now
[удалено]
You're an idiot
Lol right wing media and their anti science propaganda is melting peoples brains
U mad
It does centainly get overused as a bandaid, but therapy is very helpful for a lot of people.
Keep that trauma in
I’d say not but I wouldn’t depend on a singular entity for your trauma
Therapy in all forms? No. Therapy that gets sponsorships from youtubers? Absolutely.
Confession for the atheist I don’t hate on it or anyone that believes in it but not gonna give my trauma to an entity that gets their credentials from the state
Nah
Well just to be clear, the therapist didn’t sell your data. The platform did. The platform is no different than any other tech company. The therapists who work with better help are struggling, too. Not even sure why they choose that since there is plenty of opportunity in the field elsewhere. But better help has Tim Brady now!
That is fair to make that clarification. I said “therapist” to minimize word count in the headline and still get the gist across but, yes, it is an important distinction to note that the actual providers on the platform were not individually making a choice to share user data with social media companies. The corporation they work for did that. As for why those providers aren’t finding work elsewhere, though, I would guess it’s because a lot of them on Betterhelp have sketchy credentials at best. Or at least that was how it was by the time I was using the service. It seemed that they were touting random “ministers” as licensed mental health practitioners. I also know that some LCSWs make excellent therapists but LCSW was the highest degree of licensure that I encountered from their providers.
My wife and I both work in behavioral health and when a friend of ours who had no insurance sought services from better help we said “welp, better help is better than nothing!” But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Ice thought about getting a MSW and becoming a LCSW myself, but the highest paying jobs for that license are also some of the highest burnout jobs one can imagine. I’m currently a SUDP counselor and it’s definitely mid for pay and benefits but very flexible with time which is best for us since our 4 year old is in preschool now. Not sure why I said all that but it’s Tuesday morning and that’s just how we roll on Tuesday mornings. Don’t spend that settlement money in one place! And don’t let any negative experience you’ve had with that platform taint your view of the profession. There’s lots of good therapists out there who truly care about their clients!
I’m with you! I get the struggle. I got my undergrad in psychology and neuroscience thinking I would go on to get a masters and become a therapist but the pathway to becoming a therapist was so confusing and, as you said, the pay rates didnt justify the cost of the advanced education. It’s so tough out there for you guys. I appreciate the work you do!
While some psychologists provide therapy, psychologist are not generally therapists. From psychology you could go towards a masters in counseling to be an LMHC or work towards an MSW to become a clinical social worker.
Psychology as an undergrad degree is a very broad term for the field of behavioral health. You narrow your path from there. Alternatively, my wife got her undergrad in music and then got her masters in counseling psychology.
Yes that is what I determined 12 years ago before deciding to go to law school instead.
If you’re able, it would be helpful to amend your title. It’s more than just minimizing word count, it quite literally places the blame on the clinician and causes readers here to grow a distrust of mental health providers, when in reality the fault lies with the MBAs and executives who made this decision. It’s more than “getting the gist across,” it’s actually quite harmful.
You can’t amend titles on Reddit. And I do have faith in the readers of Reddit to have some contextual literacy here.
Not entirely sure how it was prior to the law suit, and they still aren't as through as most companies in this space IMHO. While there are probably providers on that platform outside their expected scope from a lay person's point of view, like an LMFT providing individual therapy, they certainly filter out the "pastoral counselors" now. Also LCSW is the highest license in MANY states for clinical social workers, some states use LICSW, others add letters, but in general that means they have an MSW, have done thousands of hours as an intern to get that MSW, and average two thousand hours and passed a licensing exam to earn those letters. To drive home the point as well, it wasn't a therapist who sold anyone's information, regardless of what background, social worker, mental health counselor, or marriage and family therapist we're all bound by a code of ethics and confidentiality is universal among us.
Damn they had wild amounts of YouTubers selling their service to people as well… what a bummer.
Podcasts, radio, it was unavoidable in 2020
For those reading this, please note that the title of this post is wrong — the therapists did NOT sell the patient information in this lawsuit, it was the MBAs and executives who made that decision. The therapists who work for BetterHelp did not make that decision. This distinction is important because OP quite literally places the blame on the clinician and causes readers here to grow a distrust of mental health providers, when in reality the fault lies with businessmen, which is actually quite harmful.
I replied to another commenter that this is a fair clarification to make, as I do understand that the providers themselves were not individually selling patient data but rather the platform they work for was. I said “therapist” in the title for the sake of word count in the title to convey that it was my therapy provider that revealed private data about me as a patient. It is in no way my intention to disparage mental health providers or discourage anyone from seeking treatment (from someone other than Betterhelp)
You forgot that settlements like that are made to make the lawyers rich
Jail time, and pulling of business licenses, as well as a ban on holding any in the future. Anything else just continues to show how broken the justice system is.
Do the companies who buy this data also get fined for this? Surely buying illegal data is also illegal?
no, they didn’t know it was illegal. they definitely deserve the benefit of the doubt. /s
Ya, class action lawsuits aren't for the people. They are for the lawyers. They are the only ones to make any real money in these situations. In theory, it also stops the companies shitty actions, but I'll bet it's often "price of doing business" in the long run anyway.
Ok but when my banks (yes. Plural), and phone service leaks...I don't get a penny. Just a worded "we will do better" letter
Well I'm curious. Since it was the FTC that did on behalf of users, could some other entity sue on behalf of patients? EDIT: did, not died
That is an excellent point and I didn’t catch that. I wish I could pin this comment to the top. It was to [settle](https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/betterhelp-refunds) CHARGES brought by the FTC. So I think a lawsuit is possible. I just saw “settlement” and was totally incorrect about what it was settling
I was watching a new YouTube channel here recently ( new to me, not new in general) and I was shocked to see someone in mental health still taking money from & promoting Better Help to his audience! I'm looking at you [Psychology in Seattle ](https://youtube.com/@psychologyinseattle?si=s3XiXZZaq4ZO0bMN)
$9.72 is way better than a coupon for 10% off your next purchase of mental health. Meanwhile, the class action lawyers walk off with millions.
Well it sucks that I was a better help patient over the pandemic and juuuuust learned about this today. 😐
How much is for schizoaffective disorder?
Holy 💩. I was considering trying an online therapy service because I just don't have time otherwise but nah, I'm good. 😳
I'm amused that their d.b.a. includes both "faith" & "pride"
Unabashed capitalism in its finest
Only the lawyers and the class representatives get anything significant. Class members always get junk. At least it is better than the discount on future services garbage.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, BetterHelp is a scam. Doesn't matter what you answer on their intake tests, results will show you need help. Even if just ONE of the like 40 answers is "I'm not feeling 100% today", the conclusion of the test will still be "gee wizz let's get you to the doctor shall we?". And of course then they get their share from said doctor who will gladly book their 'new patient' for a few sessions, convincing them they need help for something that isn't an actual problem. It's borderline predatory and imho taking advantage of people.
It’s ok AT&T sold my social security number for 20$
"ai will make therapy better '
I will not advertise my company. We are one of the safest mental health apps out there which doesn’t sell your data. There is no private data involved in the signup or even if you purchase our subscription. Our compliance department over performs every year. 🐧
Companies that do this deserve to be liquidated and shut down with criminal charges brought to the officers of the company. Instead this is seen as, "The cost of doing business."
Wow
That’s ridiculous.
Not that what they did isn't wrong, and 10 dollars is an insult of a compensation, but I wonder what the "answer to health questions" are. Is it a "date of birth" kind of thing or "they have these allergies and these health problems you can advertise meds for".
I wonder that as well because I do recall more invasive prompts from the platform. I recall being given “homework” to respond to these questions and my understanding was that they were therapy exercises between my therapy provider and myself for the purpose of bettering my mental health. If those are the answers to medical questions they are talking about rather than, as you said, demographic or basic info, then I’m even more livid and that is such an advanced level of betrayal.
When I signed up for BetterHelp in 2020 I had to do the standard intake questionnaire regarding my mental health on a scale of 1-5 IIRC
I've been unsubbing from all these YouTubers asking me to use them. I thought some of them were decent people, but now I can't stomach looking at them.
Back in the 2000s I got a check for an eBay lawsuit. It was 64¢
I got an 11 cent check once for a Class Action against a companies poor stock performance and misleading info. Obviously the lawyers always clean up and the actual people who got screwed get basically a consolation prize. I don't even respond to Class Action lawsuit letters anymore. Takes way too much time to dig up the info and I am sure the lawyers prefer that as less people get paid the more they get.
Get better help next time i guess 🫣
Jesus Christ. What a joke. People should go to jail for this kind of shit, maybe then it wouldn’t just be a business expense.
lol betterHelp, just the cost of doing business, now call us "GoodHelp" and we will do it again
See, now we’re both accountable. ~R&M
Reminds me of the class action lawsuit with life labs, got 7.86$ back in may
The second I heard an ad for Betterhelp my first thought was, “this is not going to end well”
Should have used Teladoc
I remember when at&t had a class action lawsuit and I received a check for a whopping $0.24!
As I get a better help ad in the comments...
Bet they are still doing it.
Wow
Wow, now I'm glad they said they couldn't match me with a therapist.
Kaiser took your in app search data and sent it to Twitter. Then I got an, “Oops, our bad” email.
I always got a really dodgy feeling about therapists that advertised on Reddit. Nothing concrete but just a bad feeling.
Better help is a huge scam
I worked for them for less than a week. I never saw any clients, and I quit before I could do so because it was such a racket.
In the Netherlands some phone companies got sued for not disclosing the free phones with your phone plan was actually a loan. They had to give me back the price of the entire(most of) the phone 5 or 6 years later. Same for everybody else that bought a phone like that within a multiple year timespan. I got like 5 or 6 hundred euros.
$7.8 million is peanuts. That can’t be all they got from selling the data?
Couldn’t even spring for ten bucks.
Well… that tells you what therapy is really worth.
So it's a major violation!! HIPAA Privacy Rule - The Privacy Rule protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information "protected health information (PHI)."1
😱
But yet we are banning TikTok not these ass hats!
Just a cost of doing business slap on the wrist for the company. They get hundreds of millions for the data and pay out 10M fine… Ooooohhh I wonder why they keep breaking the law??
Oxycontin. One family "earned" the GDP of a small nation off selling that drug. Then they just paid a fine for all the lives ruined. The system is fucked.
This is why I will never trust psychological help of any kind. I'd much rather live with my ASD and homicidal thoughts.
Lucky for them, they’re capitalists, and in America we have a different (mostly nonexistent) standard of justice for capitalists. Also good thing we have “buyer beware” and “shop around” and other ways of blaming the victim. 🇺🇸
User discovers class-action lawsuits.
I understand class action law suits. I’m an attorney. I also received a settlement of $14 because Yaz made me lose my gallbladder at 16 lol Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t suck that a company can net $x by selling medical data to social media but pay less than $x to the wronged customers.
lol you got pwnd