In the year of our Lord 2023, BetterHelp was finally investigated and penalised by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive practices, and is now being sued, after years of exploiting client/ consumer trust. I am using the word “client” on purpose, as BetterHelp pretends to offer mental health services. Aside from the FTC settlement, there are three class action lawsuits against this company. Long overdue.

It’s been 5 years since BetterHelp’s unethical practices first became the focus of public attention. The issues, at first, revolved around false advertising, the company’s TOS and complaints of poor service. Soon enough, the interest was perceived as another social media frenzy and cast aside; claims of the company’s misuse of sensitive customer data were labelled conspiracy theories. The discourse was clouded by attempts to remain neutral, classing BetterHelp’s tactics as somewhat shady, to avoid the word fraudulent.

Two years later, in February of 2020, Jezebel published the outcome of their journalistic investigation into BetterHelp’s misuse of customer data, which according to them, was being sent to a number of social media platforms in real time, presumably for advertising purposes. Very few influencers took notice at the time and the impact was almost null.

You’d be forgiven for not knowing what occurred this year, as unless you search specifically for the lawsuits and FTC complaint, you are unlikely to come across this information, as an average internet user.

Although the legal issues were revealed in March, to this day, the internet is replete with adverts and praise for BetterHelp, hogging the top search results. The company is, in essence, acting like nothing is happening, still spamming people to subscribe. Its army of paid promoters is unwilling to relinquish the dirty money. Therefore, although at face value it looks like sh*t has already hit the proverbial fan, it has not, in terms of public perception.

From the article on Holland & Knight:

Moreover, the company’s website displayed the HIPAA logo, which stands for Health Information Privacy and Portability Act, leading people to think they were compliant with regulations around the health information of their subscribers. The FTC made them remove it.

As per their settlement with the FTC, they also had to send an email to subscribers and former subscribers, detailing their prior misuse of private information. However, when interacting with people on review sites, representatives still try to mislead them, even after said mass communication was sent out.

“We do not receive and have never received any payment from any third party for any kind of information about any of our members.“

This excuse appears repeatedly in replies to negative reviews on TrustPilot. It may, of course, be completely false – it may also be “legalese” stating no payments were made to BetterHelp specifically for this data. That does not mean there were no broader arrangements for BetterHelp to provide the data to both their benefit and that of social media companies. As per the FTC’s findings, they did provide it and they did benefit from doing so. Whether they sold the data itself is not relevant.

Also, not providing people’s names is irrelevant. They provided email addresses, which Meta could decrypt and match with their user base, targeting unsuspecting users with ads. Those responding to reviews are trained to constantly lie; such is the following excuse, given to people for years:

“The situation you have described doesn’t sound like a typical experience“

It’s dumbfounding that they have been using this reply for years, to the same type of reviews/complaints, as if each were posted individually, in a vacuum. People have eyes. They read similar reviews, on the same website, when posting their own. They also read the responses. They can also go years back and see that their grievances had been a problem the entire time, with the company doing absolutely nothing to address them and claiming this did not sound like a typical experience.

Is the “legalese” enough to help people make an informed choice…? NO

Here’s what happens nowadays if you end up on the BetterHelp website: you find a sharing consent banner.

If you click on “sharing settings”, you see this:

This is not nearly enough to make things clear to subscribers, as 99,9% of people are used to clicking through these on a daily basis, multiple times, whenever they visit a new website. They are seen as cookie banners. Most people don’t understand the legalese. Most people don’t even read it.

There is no plain English “your health information and identifying details will be shared with social media platforms to target you with ads”. The language is tangential, but not that explicit.

Whereas the mass email seems to have put some people on guard, the banner is unlikely to be very efficient in the present and future. That’s the sad reality.

Money talks; bullshit… still advertises BetterHelp

One would think that, akin to what happened in 2018, when the claims were mild compared to this year, influencers would be quick to distance themselves. Not so. The CareDash scandal, last year, involving the creation of non-authorised therapist profiles which redirected to BetterHelp, had more traction than their greatest scandal ever, namely what happened in 2023.

It might seem a bit like playing the violin on the Titanic, as it sank, were it not for the fact that people are still getting scammed and mentally damaged in real time, for these assholes to get a commission, before things implode.

Greed is the first motive, of course. For some, who have been shilling it for years, there might be a feeling of impending shame, should the public at large find out they had been peddling a scam. They may well see this as a minor legal problem, and not a major moral issue with what they’ve been profiting from.

Using SEO to manipulate online search results (again)

This method, although not innovative, was not known to be used by them before. They were, of course, known to appropriate the profiles of non-affiliated therapists and create pages directing potential clients to BetterHelp, or use such profiles on their platform directly, misleading clients into signing up.

Last week, YouTube channel DrCamille posted a video showing how BetterHelp had used the channel name of a detractor (Memology101) to direct people to their website instead. As these rank higher than other results, when the average person searches for Memology101’s critical videos on BetterHelp, they will click on these and be directed to “start therapy today”. Quite something.

This method is most famously used by Scientology, as the cult purchases dozens of domains containing the name of each notable detractor, to mislead the public. When searching for a detractor’s name, the first results will be Scientology-owned slander sites.

Here’s what happens when clicking on some of the first results on Google for the aforementioned:

As the creator explains, these are fraudulent links known as “doorways”, in contravention of Google’s TOS; nonetheless, three such links are present among the first 5 search results, completely undetected. Again, quite something. It’s worth noting it’s unclear whether the company itself is doing this, or third parties on its behalf, to perhaps get a commission.

Profiting from tragedies and atrocities of war

This company will stop at nothing to promote its false image – including profiting from the trauma of those affected by tragedy.

When the stampede occurred at Travis Scott’s concert, killing and injuring many, BetterHelp immediately stepped in, offering free counselling for victims (if I remember correctly, for a month). This was generally seen as in poor taste on social media.

Their latest publicity stunt capitalises on the current war between Israel and Palestine, which has left so many, on both sides, dead, missing or displaced thus far. The level of suffering is incomprehensible.

In comes this capitalist shark, attempting to promote and why not, rebuild its image, in the wake of so many scandals this year, by claiming the following:

Psychology channels on YouTube, sponsored by BetterHelp, pretend nothing is happening

While some names were known in that regard, such as Kati Morton, others, such as Dr. Les Carter, were less conspicuous. Indeed, some of these channels are focused on narcissism, a lucrative topic nowadays, thus discussing ethical violations and the lack of empathy, while promoting this unscrupulous business.

Akin to Kati Morton, Dr. Carter’s channel censors any negative feedback regarding BetterHelp. The following comment was made invisible shortly after being posted (made visible only to the user posting it, which I verified the next day).

One has to wonder how these people can be so brazen and detached. Do they think the final fallout won’t affect them? Do they think perhaps the company will settle the lawsuits and no further damning information will come out in court? This is, of course, a possibility.

BetterHelp, through its spider-like grip on internet platforms and search engines, seems untouchable image-wise. For the time being.

Remember Theranos?

This year, Elizabeth Holmes started her prison sentence. The comparison might seem like a stretch; however, the fake-it-till-you-make-it Silicon Valley method, attempting to revolutionise healthcare, applies to BetterHelp as well. The same disregard for the health of unsuspecting people applies.

While in terms of legalities these cases are vastly different, one thing is consistent: megalomania. And greed. And the belief that unknown, voiceless, powerless individuals can be trampled on in service of a vision designed to make these megalomaniacs both wealthy and famous.

In terms of protecting its image, BetterHelp is as litigious as the likes of Landmark and Scientology. Content creators with a large platform receive cease and desist letters.

One sunny day, someone, somehow, will start disclosing the inner workings of this unscrupulous business, preying on the mentally vulnerable.