BetterHelp shared users’ sensitive health data, FTC says

By FRANK BAJAK
AP Technology Writer

The online counseling service BetterHelp has agreed to return $7.8 million to customers to settle with the Federal Trade Commission for sharing with companies including Facebook and Snapchat health data it had promised to keep private. The FTC says the data included information about mental health challenges such as depression or suicidal thoughts. The proposed FTC order announced Thursday also limits how the California-based company may share consumer data in the future. BetterHelp says the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing and that the practices of which it was accused are standard in the industry.