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Home / Online Therapy guides / How Private Is Online Therapy? What the FTC Cases Changed

How Private Is Online Therapy? What the FTC Cases Changed

HIPAA, the BetterHelp and Cerebral enforcement actions, and the settings to change on any platform.

Written by Team RankingRight
September 5, 2026 · 3 min read

What HIPAA covers

Your sessions and clinical records with a licensed provider. It does not automatically cover an app's sign-up questionnaire, marketing pixels or peer-support chats.

The enforcement record

  • BetterHelp, 2023: FTC order and $7.8 million over sharing emails, IP addresses and questionnaire answers with advertisers (2017–2020).
  • Cerebral, 2024: FTC order and $7 million over similar tracking-pixel disclosures and cancellation practices.

Neither involved session content; both involved the data around it.

What to do on any platform

  1. Decline marketing and analytics cookies at sign-up.
  2. Use a dedicated email address.
  3. Turn off "personalised ads" in the app settings.
  4. Ask whether session transcripts are used for AI training — Talkspace and BetterHelp publish answers.

» See the full rankings: Best Online Therapy Services of 2026, Best Text and Messaging Therapy .