Smoke Screens Mental Health Apps Under Scrutiny

As experts worry over privacy issues, effectiveness and even harm, the UK is looking at how to regulate the plethora of smartphone-based mental health tools

- David Cox

What if I told you one of the strongest choices you could make was the choice to ask for 'W help?" says a young, twentysomething woman in a red sweater, before recommending that viewers seek out counselling. This advert, promoted on Instagram and other social media platforms, is just one of many campaigns created by the California-based company BetterHelp, which offers to connect users with online therapists.

The need for digital alternatives to face-to-face therapy has been well established in recent years. If we go by the latest data for NHS talking therapy services, 1.76 million people were referred for treatment in 2022-23, while 1.22 million actually started working with a therapist in person.

While companies like BetterHelp are hoping to address some of the barriers that prevent people from seeking therapy, such as a dearth of trained practitioners in their area, there is a concerning side to many of these platforms. Namely, what happens to the deeply sensitive data they gather?

Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission handed BetterHelp a $7.8m fine after the agency found that it had deceived consumers and shared sensitive data with third parties for advertising purposes, despite promising to keep such information private. BetterHelp representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Instead of being an isolated exception, research suggests that such privacy violations are too common within the vast industry of mental health apps, which includes virtual therapy services, mood trackers, mental fitness coaches, digitised forms of cognitive behavioural therapy and chatbots.