For Release
FTC Sends Nearly $2.4 Million to Raging Bull Customers After the Company Agrees to Settle Charges of Bogus Earnings Claims
March 6, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Tags:
- Consumer Protection
- Bureau of Consumer Protection
- Investment
- deceptive/misleading conduct
- consumer refunds
- Finance
- Advertising and Marketing
- Online Advertising and Marketing
- Advertising and Marketing Basics
The Federal Trade Commission is sending payments totaling nearly $2.4 million to consumers who paid subscription fees to the online stock trading site RagingBull.com, a company the FTC says used bogus earnings claims to trick consumers.
The FTC has begun sending 9,862 Paypal payments to consumers who were affected. Recipients should accept their payment within 30 days. Recipients who have questions about their payment should call the refund administrator, JND Legal Administration, at 877-415-0647, or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about the refund process. The Commission never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a refund.
The FTC sued Raging Bull and its owners in December 2020 as part of Operation Income Illusion, a nationwide law enforcement effort targeting deceptive income claims. The FTC charged that the company used bogus earnings claims to trick people into paying for investment strategies and recommendations, and then trapped them into hard-to-cancel subscription plans with costly fees. The FTC’s complaint noted that consumers who purchased the site’s services lost millions of dollars in their investments.
In March 2022, Raging Bull and its owners agreed to a settlement with the FTC that required them to pay $2.425 million, end their earnings deception, get affirmative approval from consumers for subscription sign ups, and provide them with a simple method to cancel recurring charges.
The Commission’s interactive dashboards for refund data
provide a state-by-state breakdown of refunds in FTC cases. In 2022, Commission actions led to more than $392 million in refunds to consumers across the country.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
Press Release Reference
Contact Information
Contact for Consumers
JND Legal Administration
Refund Administrator
Media Contact
Office of Public Affairs
______________________________________________________________-
Consumer Alert
What to know about the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey
By
Gema de las Heras
Consumer Education Specialist
March 7, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Image
Getting a call, letter, or a visit about the American Community Survey (ACS) — when so many scammers are trying to trick you into sharing personal information — might make you think twice. And it’s good to think twice. But the ACS is a legitimate survey to collect information used to make decisions about how federal funding is spent in your community. Want to know more? Read on.
Annually, the U.S. Census Bureau — which is part of the Department of Commerce — randomly selects 3.5 million households around the country to participate in the ACS. Many federal, state, tribal, and local leaders use the answers to update their statistics.
If you got a survey and want to verify it’s legit, call your Census Bureau regional office. Here’s what else to expect:
- You’ll get a letter first. The Census Bureau first sends a letter saying your address was selected for the ACS. It’ll tell you how to complete the survey online.
- Reminders will follow. If you don’t complete the survey online, a paper questionnaire will follow in about three weeks. Or you’ll get an email reminder if you gave an email address.
- Survey participants may get a call. If you did the survey online or on paper, and if the Census Bureau needs to clarify information, they might call. But no one will ever ask for your bank or credit card information. That’s a scam.
- In-person interviewers must show ID. A Census Bureau representative may visit you at home after normal business hours, when it’s more likely you’ll be home, to complete the process in person. Interviewers must show a photo ID with the U.S. Department of Commerce seal and an expiration date.
To learn more, visit the U.S. Census Bureau’s ACS page and read more about Identity Theft and Online Securityto help you protect your personal information.
Topics
Identity Theft and Online Security
Scams
________________________________________________________
Consumer Alert
This NCPW, let’s talk about impersonation scams
By
Samuel Levine
Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection
March 6, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Image
It’s National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) 2023 and it couldn’t come at a better time. The FTC’s recently released top frauds of 2022 have impersonation scams at #1 again. So, this NCPW, let’s talk with friends, family, and neighbors about spotting and avoiding these impersonation scams.
These scams are designed to be hard to spot: it looks like an email from your bank, logo and all. But logos are easily faked. That call has the right caller ID. But technology makes phone numbers easy to fake. Here are some ways to know what’s real and what’s fake:
- What did they ask you for?Your bank has your account (and Social Security) number — it will not call or email you to get that information. And nobody legitimate will ever get in touch to demand access to your computer. No matter who they say they are, anyone who demands information or access like this is a scammer.
- Did they tell you to pay? The government doesn’t demand money by email, text, phone call, or message on social media. Honest businesses don’t, either. If someone does, you know it’s a scam.
- How did they tell you to pay? Nobody legitimate — really: nobody — will ever demand that you pay with cryptocurrency, by wiring money through a company like MoneyGram or Western Union, or by putting money on a gift card. Who will? Scammers.
- Did they threaten you? Honest businesses won’t say you’ll be arrested, deported, or lose your license unless you pay. Neither will the government. If someone does, you know it’s a scammer.
Both research and experience say that talking about scams is one of the best ways to avoid them. So, this NCPW, ask yourself these questions when you get that out-of-the-blue message. Then tell someone about the scam you just spotted. And then tell the FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Looking for other ways to get involved in NCPW? Check out the week’s events at ftc.gov/NCPW.
_______________________________________________________________
Consumer Alert
doTERRA distributors charged with making unfounded COVID-19 cure claims
By
Gema de las Heras
Consumer Education Specialist
March 3, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Image
Essential oils and supplements to prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19? If it smells fishy to you, the FTC agrees. According to the FTC, three high-level distributors for Utah-based multi-level marketing company doTERRA International, LLC, broke the law because they didn’t have scientific proof to back up their health benefit claims.
The complaints filed by the Department of Justice on the FTC’s behalf say each defendant — a pediatrician, a nurse practitioner, and a former registered nurse — claimed during a series of webinars that doTERRA’s products could prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19. The FTC says they touted their medical expertise in promoting doTERRA’s products.
To settle the lawsuits, each defendant has agreed to pay a $15,000 penalty. The three defendants also agreed to stop making claims that aren’t approved by the FDA about preventing/treating/curing COVID-19. And the defendants will have to have scientific proof for any health claim they make.
When it comes to spotting unsupported claims about the prevention, treatment, or cure of COVID-19:
- Stay informed. Visit the FDA’s website to learn about treatments for COVID-19. When there’s a medical breakthrough, you’re not going to hear about first through an ad or sales pitch.
- Ask your doctor. If you’re curious about a product that claims to treat any disease, talk to your doctor or health care provider about it.
- Know that unproven products and treatments might be dangerous. Taking unproven products might mean that you stop or delay taking proven medical treatments ordered by your health-care provider. Unproven products might also cause bad interactions with your medications or with other products you might take.
Read Common Health Scams to learn more.
Topics
Scams
_________________________________________________________________
For Release
National Consumer Protection Week 2023 Begins Sunday, March 5
FTC and partners to participate in events to promote consumers’ rights and protections against fraud, scams, and identity theft
March 3, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Tags:
National Consumer Protection Week 2023 begins this Sunday, March 5.
The Federal Trade Commission and its partners, including consumer organizations, national advocacy organizations, and other federal, state, and local government agencies will participate in virtual and in-person events to promote consumers’ rights and protections against fraud, scams, and identity theft.
The FTC and partners will host and participate in town halls, roundtables, Twitter chats, webinars, and other events focused on helping people understand their consumer rights and avoid fraud, scams, and identity theft. Please see the list below for details on the week to come:
All week
- Follow the FTC on social media for quick, shareable consumer tips all week long.
- Facebook: Federal Trade Commission
- Twitter: @FTC, @LaFTC
Saturday, March 4, and Sunday, March 5
- (In-person event) 9:30am – 4pm MST:Visit the FTC table at the 65th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market at 2301 North Central Avenue in Phoenix, AZ. FTC staff will give out free resources on avoiding scams and identity theft.
Monday, March 6
- (In-person event) 10:30am EST:Join the FTC, the Georgia Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Division, and AARP Georgia for a panel discussion on identity theft and scams at the Elaine H. Lucas Senior Center at 132 Willie Smokie Glover Drive in Macon, GA.
- 10:30am MST: Join the FTC and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office of Financial Empowerment for a virtual workshop about consumer financial protection tools from federal, state, and local government.
- 2pm EST:Join the FTC for a special NCPW webinar about the top frauds reported in 2022, with a special focus on how they affect older adults and how to protect people from scams.
Tuesday, March 7
- (In-person event) 10am PST: Join the FTC, Nevada Consumer Affairs, Nevada AG, and BBB for a Town Hall event at the Reno + Sparks Chamber of Commerce at 4065 South Virginia Street #101 in Reno, NV.
- 2pm EST: Join the FTC, AARP Fraud Watch Network, and the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services for a virtual town hall discussion with librarians about how to spot and avoid the top scams affecting older patrons.
- (In-person event) 1pm PST: Join the FTC and the United States Postal Inspection Service for a presentation on tax, mail, and impersonator scams and how to avoid them, at the Northshore Senior Center at 10201 East Riverside Drive in Bothell, WA.
- (In-person event) 2pm – 4pm PST:Join the FTC for a Fraud Prevention Round Table at Mercy Oaks at 100 Mercy Oaks Drive in Redding, CA. FTC staff will discuss ways to avoid common scams.
Wednesday, March 8
- (In-person event) 10am – 2pm HAST:Visit the FTC table at the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs NCPW Fair at the King Kalakaua Building Courtyard at 335 Merchant Street, in Honolulu, Hawaii. FTC staff will give out free resources on avoiding scams and identity theft.
- (In-person event) 10am – 1pm PST: Visit the FTC table at the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office Fraud Prevention Fair at Mercy Oaks at 100 Mercy Oaks Drive in Redding, CA. FTC staff will give out free resources on avoiding scams and identity theft.
- 10am CST:Join the FTC and Texas Senior Medicare Patrol for a webinar about fraud against older adults.
- 1pm EST: Join the NCPW Twitter chat @laFTC (in Spanish) for advice on avoiding common scams. Follow the conversation by using the hashtag #NCPW2023.
- 1pm EST: Call in to join the FTC and AARP Ohio for a Tele-Town Hall about how to avoid scams.
- 3pm EST: Join the NCPW Twitter chat @FTC (in English) for advice on avoiding common scams. Follow the conversation by using the hashtag #NCPW2023.
- 3pm CST: Join the FTC and the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Education for a webinar on top frauds and how to avoid them.
- 5pm EST:Call in to the Cleveland WEWS News Channel 5 NCPW Consumer Phone Bank and speak with FTC staff and consumer advocates for advice on consumer issues. Tune in during the evening telecast to get the call-in number.
Thursday, March 9
- All Day:Watch and share Instagram Reels (in English and Spanish) from the FTC and Social Security Administration on how to avoid impersonator scams.
- 1pm EST:Join the FTC for a special NCPW webinar about how to spot and avoid the top frauds reported in 2022 with a special focus on how they affect older adults.
Saturday, March 11
- (In-person event) 10am-11am EST:Visit with FTC and volunteer attorneys for a Legal Advice Clinic at the Cleveland Public Library, Jefferson Branch at 850 Jefferson Avenue in Cleveland, OH. Volunteer attorneys will be available to listen to listen to consumer-related and other civil issues (non-criminal) and will then offer brief advice or referrals to useful resources. Attendees will be seen on a first-come, first-serve basis.
For information on how to get involved, visit ftc.gov/NCPW.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
Contact Information
Media Contact
Office of Public Affairs
Sara Rex
Office of Public Affairs
__________________________________________________________
Business Blog
FTC says online counseling service BetterHelp pushed people into handing over health information – and broke its privacy promises
By
Lesley Fair
March 3, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
In the hierarchy of confidential data, health information ranks right up there. And in the hierarchy of health information, details about a person’s mental health may be among the most confidential. But according to the FTC, that’s not how online counseling service BetterHelp viewed it. The FTC says the company repeatedly pushed people to take an Intake Questionnaire and hand over sensitive health information through unavoidable prompts. And it promised to keep that information private through statements like: “Rest assured – any information provided in this questionnaire will stay private between you and your counselor.” But from the FTC’s perspective, a truthful statement would have been “Rest assured – we plan to share your information with major advertising platforms, including Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest.” A proposed FTC settlement with BetterHelp includes $7.8 million for partial refunds for BetterHelp customers and conveys an unmistakable message about just how seriously the FTC takes this kind of betrayal of trust.
BetterHelp offers online counseling services through that name and through specialized versions for particular audiences – for example, Pride Counseling for members of the LGBTQ community, Faithful Counseling for people of the Christian faith, Terappeuta for Spanish-speaking clients, and Teen Counseling for teenagers who enroll with parental permission.
Since BetterHelp was founded, more than two million people have signed up, entrusting the company with their personal information, much of it related to the status of their health – and their mental health. For example, the company’s Intake Questionnaire asked people to disclose if they’re “experiencing overwhelming sadness, grief, or depression,” if they’re having thoughts they “would be better off dead or hurting [themselves] in some way,” if they’re taking medication, and if they’ve been in therapy before.
Image
To assuage concerns about revealing personal information online or through an app, BetterHelp made a variety of confidentiality promises to consumers. Visitors to the site were told at the outset that the company collected “general and anonymous background information about you and the issues you’d like to deal with in online therapy” so the person can be matched “with the most suitable therapist.” Although the exact wording changed over time, the company assured people that aside from a few narrow uses related to providing online counseling services, their private information would remain private. In addition, for more than three years, BetterHelp told people thinking about signing up for Faithful Counseling, Pride Counseling, or Teen Counseling that their email addresses would be “kept strictly private” and “never shared, sold or disclosed to anyone.”
Despite those promises, the FTC says BetterHelp used a wide variety of tactics to share the health information of over 7 million consumers with platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest for the purpose of advertising. You’ll want to read the complaint for details, but here are just a few examples. In 2017, BetterHelp allegedly uploaded the email addresses of all current and former clients to Facebook – nearly 2 million in total – to target them with ads to refer their Facebook friends to BetterHelp for mental health services. During another period, the FTC says BetterHelp disclosed to Facebook for advertising purposes the previous therapy of 1.5 million people who visited or used BetterHelp’s site. The source of that information: their responses to the intake question “Have you been in counseling or therapy before?”
But that’s not all. According to the complaint, BetterHelp broke its privacy promises by disclosing to Snapchat the IP and email addresses of approximately 5.6 million former visitors to target them with BetterHelp ads. In addition, for a six-month period, the company disclosed to Criteo the email addresses of over 70,000 visitors – including people who had looked into Pride Counseling and Faithful Counseling. Similarly, for a one-year period, BetterHelp disclosed visitors’ email addresses to Pinterest. What was in it for BetterHelp? According to the complaint, “Using this health information for advertising, [BetterHelp] has brought in hundreds of thousands of new Users, resulting in millions of dollars in additional revenue.”
When a news site revealed in February 2020 that BetterHelp was sharing consumers’ health data with third parties, people complained to the company. As one person put it, “I have not given ANY consent to share my information with ANYONE. ESPECIALLY ads targeting my mental health ‘weakness.’” How did BetterHelp respond? The FTC says the company doubled down on deception by falsely denying it had shared consumers’ personal information – including their health information – with third parties.
The eight-count complaint details how the FTC says BetterHelp’s allegedly deceptive and unfair practices harmed consumers. The proposed order in the case will require BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million that will be used to provide partial refunds to people who signed up for and paid for BetterHelp’s services between August 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020. In addition, the proposed order prohibits BetterHelp from sharing consumers’ health data for advertising or sharing their personal information for re-targeting – serving ads to consumers who had visited the company’s site or used its app. The settlement also includes provisions to limit BetterHelp’s data sharing in the future. The company must contact affected consumers directly about the case and must direct third parties to delete consumers’ health and other personal data that BetterHelp shared with them. Once the proposed settlement is published in the Federal Register, you’ll have 30 days to file a public comment.
The case offers a key guidance point for other companies: Honor your privacy promises. Tell the truth and get consumers’ affirmative express consent before sharing any health information.
Here are other takeaways to take into consideration.
“Personal information” may be “health information” simply due to the nature of the product or service. Generally speaking, an email address might not be considered “health information” – unless, of course, the source of the information is a health-related service. In the case of BetterHelp, most people visited the site to seek mental health assistance. Therefore, just the fact that BetterHelp, Pride Counseling, or Faithful Counseling was the source of their email or IP address revealed highly sensitive information to third parties. The message for others in the industry: Context counts.
Institute policies, practices, and procedures to protect health information. As the FTC’s complaint makes clear, a lack of appropriate safeguards can lead to unfair and deceptive practices related to the collection, use, and disclosure of health information. For example, the complaint alleged that BetterHelp failed to have written policies and procedures for protecting the privacy of health information. And it failed to properly train and supervise employees that handled that health information. It also didn’t get consumers’ affirmative express consent before disclosing their health information to third parties and it failed to contractually limit those third parties from using the data for their own purposes.
Ditch deceptive design. As the complaint discusses in detail, while BetterHelp moved consumers through a series of prominent prompts in an effort to get them to turn over their personal information, the company put privacy “disclosures” behind hard-to-find and hard-to-read links. Even a portion of the website with a link to its privacy policy included this reassurance: “We never sell or rent any information you share with us.” Once BetterHelp made that promise, how likely is it that consumers would pursue the issue further? What’s more, the FTC says even if people were able to navigate to the company’s privacy policy, they still weren’t given the straight story about how BetterHelp turned over their highly personal information to advertising platforms.
“Slinging hash” won’t necessarily protect consumers’ personal data. Although BetterHelp hashed people’s email addresses before sharing them with third parties – in other words, converted them into a sequence of letters and numbers through a cryptographic tool – the hashing was done just to hide the addresses in case of a security breach. The FTC says BetterHelp knew that third parties like Facebook would effectively undo the hashing to reveal the email addresses of people who had gone to the BetterHelp site for mental health services. Once Facebook had those addresses, it would easily match them to the email of people with Facebook accounts. What can other companies learn from that example? Certainly there are instances where hashing may be called for, but it won’t protect the privacy of consumers’ information if third parties can un-hash the data.
Monitor data flows to all third parties your site or app may transmit to via web beacons, pixels, or other tracking technologies. It’s illegal to make privacy promises to consumers without taking into account any information that’s going to third parties through various forms of ad tech. It boils down to this: Don’t make privacy promises that your practices don’t live up to.
Image
When it comes to conveying claims to consumers, a picture can be worth a thousand words. Almost all of BetterHelp’s pages displayed multiple seals from third parties. Among them was a depiction of the medical caduceus and the term “HIPAA.” The complaint alleges that BetterHelp’s use of that visual falsely signaled to consumers that a government agency or other third party had reviewed the company’s practices and determined they met HIPAA’s requirements. Have you checked your site recently for graphics that could send similar deceptive messages?
Until the FTC’s proposed settlement with BetterHelp is final, we can’t offer specifics about the refund process. Bookmark the FTC’s refund page and watch for more information.
Tags:
Business Blog
FTC says online counseling service BetterHelp pushed people into handing over health information – and broke its privacy promises
By
Lesley Fair
March 3, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
In the hierarchy of confidential data, health information ranks right up there. And in the hierarchy of health information, details about a person’s mental health may be among the most confidential. But according to the FTC, that’s not how online counseling service BetterHelp viewed it. The FTC says the company repeatedly pushed people to take an Intake Questionnaire and hand over sensitive health information through unavoidable prompts. And it promised to keep that information private through statements like: “Rest assured – any information provided in this questionnaire will stay private between you and your counselor.” But from the FTC’s perspective, a truthful statement would have been “Rest assured – we plan to share your information with major advertising platforms, including Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest.” A proposed FTC settlement with BetterHelp includes $7.8 million for partial refunds for BetterHelp customers and conveys an unmistakable message about just how seriously the FTC takes this kind of betrayal of trust.
BetterHelp offers online counseling services through that name and through specialized versions for particular audiences – for example, Pride Counseling for members of the LGBTQ community, Faithful Counseling for people of the Christian faith, Terappeuta for Spanish-speaking clients, and Teen Counseling for teenagers who enroll with parental permission.
Since BetterHelp was founded, more than two million people have signed up, entrusting the company with their personal information, much of it related to the status of their health – and their mental health. For example, the company’s Intake Questionnaire asked people to disclose if they’re “experiencing overwhelming sadness, grief, or depression,” if they’re having thoughts they “would be better off dead or hurting [themselves] in some way,” if they’re taking medication, and if they’ve been in therapy before.
Image
To assuage concerns about revealing personal information online or through an app, BetterHelp made a variety of confidentiality promises to consumers. Visitors to the site were told at the outset that the company collected “general and anonymous background information about you and the issues you’d like to deal with in online therapy” so the person can be matched “with the most suitable therapist.” Although the exact wording changed over time, the company assured people that aside from a few narrow uses related to providing online counseling services, their private information would remain private. In addition, for more than three years, BetterHelp told people thinking about signing up for Faithful Counseling, Pride Counseling, or Teen Counseling that their email addresses would be “kept strictly private” and “never shared, sold or disclosed to anyone.”
Despite those promises, the FTC says BetterHelp used a wide variety of tactics to share the health information of over 7 million consumers with platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest for the purpose of advertising. You’ll want to read the complaint for details, but here are just a few examples. In 2017, BetterHelp allegedly uploaded the email addresses of all current and former clients to Facebook – nearly 2 million in total – to target them with ads to refer their Facebook friends to BetterHelp for mental health services. During another period, the FTC says BetterHelp disclosed to Facebook for advertising purposes the previous therapy of 1.5 million people who visited or used BetterHelp’s site. The source of that information: their responses to the intake question “Have you been in counseling or therapy before?”
But that’s not all. According to the complaint, BetterHelp broke its privacy promises by disclosing to Snapchat the IP and email addresses of approximately 5.6 million former visitors to target them with BetterHelp ads. In addition, for a six-month period, the company disclosed to Criteo the email addresses of over 70,000 visitors – including people who had looked into Pride Counseling and Faithful Counseling. Similarly, for a one-year period, BetterHelp disclosed visitors’ email addresses to Pinterest. What was in it for BetterHelp? According to the complaint, “Using this health information for advertising, [BetterHelp] has brought in hundreds of thousands of new Users, resulting in millions of dollars in additional revenue.”
When a news site revealed in February 2020 that BetterHelp was sharing consumers’ health data with third parties, people complained to the company. As one person put it, “I have not given ANY consent to share my information with ANYONE. ESPECIALLY ads targeting my mental health ‘weakness.’” How did BetterHelp respond? The FTC says the company doubled down on deception by falsely denying it had shared consumers’ personal information – including their health information – with third parties.
The eight-count complaint details how the FTC says BetterHelp’s allegedly deceptive and unfair practices harmed consumers. The proposed order in the case will require BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million that will be used to provide partial refunds to people who signed up for and paid for BetterHelp’s services between August 1, 2017, and December 31, 2020. In addition, the proposed order prohibits BetterHelp from sharing consumers’ health data for advertising or sharing their personal information for re-targeting – serving ads to consumers who had visited the company’s site or used its app. The settlement also includes provisions to limit BetterHelp’s data sharing in the future. The company must contact affected consumers directly about the case and must direct third parties to delete consumers’ health and other personal data that BetterHelp shared with them. Once the proposed settlement is published in the Federal Register, you’ll have 30 days to file a public comment.
The case offers a key guidance point for other companies: Honor your privacy promises. Tell the truth and get consumers’ affirmative express consent before sharing any health information.
Here are other takeaways to take into consideration.
“Personal information” may be “health information” simply due to the nature of the product or service. Generally speaking, an email address might not be considered “health information” – unless, of course, the source of the information is a health-related service. In the case of BetterHelp, most people visited the site to seek mental health assistance. Therefore, just the fact that BetterHelp, Pride Counseling, or Faithful Counseling was the source of their email or IP address revealed highly sensitive information to third parties. The message for others in the industry: Context counts.
Institute policies, practices, and procedures to protect health information. As the FTC’s complaint makes clear, a lack of appropriate safeguards can lead to unfair and deceptive practices related to the collection, use, and disclosure of health information. For example, the complaint alleged that BetterHelp failed to have written policies and procedures for protecting the privacy of health information. And it failed to properly train and supervise employees that handled that health information. It also didn’t get consumers’ affirmative express consent before disclosing their health information to third parties and it failed to contractually limit those third parties from using the data for their own purposes.
Ditch deceptive design. As the complaint discusses in detail, while BetterHelp moved consumers through a series of prominent prompts in an effort to get them to turn over their personal information, the company put privacy “disclosures” behind hard-to-find and hard-to-read links. Even a portion of the website with a link to its privacy policy included this reassurance: “We never sell or rent any information you share with us.” Once BetterHelp made that promise, how likely is it that consumers would pursue the issue further? What’s more, the FTC says even if people were able to navigate to the company’s privacy policy, they still weren’t given the straight story about how BetterHelp turned over their highly personal information to advertising platforms.
“Slinging hash” won’t necessarily protect consumers’ personal data. Although BetterHelp hashed people’s email addresses before sharing them with third parties – in other words, converted them into a sequence of letters and numbers through a cryptographic tool – the hashing was done just to hide the addresses in case of a security breach. The FTC says BetterHelp knew that third parties like Facebook would effectively undo the hashing to reveal the email addresses of people who had gone to the BetterHelp site for mental health services. Once Facebook had those addresses, it would easily match them to the email of people with Facebook accounts. What can other companies learn from that example? Certainly there are instances where hashing may be called for, but it won’t protect the privacy of consumers’ information if third parties can un-hash the data.
Monitor data flows to all third parties your site or app may transmit to via web beacons, pixels, or other tracking technologies. It’s illegal to make privacy promises to consumers without taking into account any information that’s going to third parties through various forms of ad tech. It boils down to this: Don’t make privacy promises that your practices don’t live up to.
Image
When it comes to conveying claims to consumers, a picture can be worth a thousand words. Almost all of BetterHelp’s pages displayed multiple seals from third parties. Among them was a depiction of the medical caduceus and the term “HIPAA.” The complaint alleges that BetterHelp’s use of that visual falsely signaled to consumers that a government agency or other third party had reviewed the company’s practices and determined they met HIPAA’s requirements. Have you checked your site recently for graphics that could send similar deceptive messages?
Until the FTC’s proposed settlement with BetterHelp is final, we can’t offer specifics about the refund process. Bookmark the FTC’s refund page and watch for more information.
_____________________________________________________________
Consumer Alert
What’s your next job search move?
By
Jim Kreidler
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC
March 1, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Image
Say you’re looking for a job. You’ve found some you’re qualified for on a well-known employment website and you apply to a bunch of them. If you get a message saying “You’re hired! We just want some more info from you,” what’s your next move?
If you said, “Check out the company and the job by doing my own research before giving them any personal information,” that’s a great answer and a good first step.
It’s easier than ever to apply to lots of jobs with just a few clicks. It’s also incredibly easy for scammers to pose as legitimate employers. While there’s no sure-fire way to detect a job scam, there are important steps to take before giving anyone your money or personal information.
- Do your own research. Search the company and job name with the words “scam,” “complaint,” or “fraud.” You might find they’ve scammed other people. Scammers pretend to be both well-known and smaller companies, posting jobs on employment websites. So, reach out to the company directly using contact information you know is legit.
- Don’t pay to get a job. If someone says you’ve got the job, but you have to pay them for something — or if they say you have to deposit a check and send money back, those are scams. Period. No legitimate job will make you pay for expenses or fees to get the job.
- Never give personal info up front. Some scammers will try to get your bank account, routing, or Social Security number as soon as you’re in contact. They might say, “to set up your direct deposit.” Stop. That’s a scam.
- Talk to someone you trust before you take a job offer or business opportunity. Ask them what they think. Then listen to what they say.
If you think you’ve spotted a job scam, or if you’ve lost money to one, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
_______________________________________________________________
Consumer Alert
Can a biosimilar reduce the cost of your medication?
By
Colleen Tressler
FTC, Division of Consumer and Business Education
February 28, 2023
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedIn
Image
If you have arthritis, diabetes, kidney conditions, cancer, macular degeneration, or some chronic skin and bowel diseases, you may be using a biologic medication. Biologics are medications generally made from living sources like bacteria and yeast. These medications are often expensive — sometimes unaffordable. That’s where biosimilars might be able to help.
A biosimilar is a biologic that is highly similar to an original biologic already approved by the FDA. Both products are made from the same types of sources (such as living cells or microorganisms). This means biosimilars are as safe and effective as the original biologic for their approved uses. Biosimilars may also save you money.
If you’re concerned about cost, talk with your health care provider about switching to a biosimilar. To help you have a more meaningful conversation, the FTC and FDA developed the publication, Are you on a Biologic Medication? What to know about biosimilar treatment options. The publication helps answer common questions including:
- Is a biosimilar the same as a generic?
- Should I be concerned if my doctor prescribes a biosimilar?
- What is the difference between a biosimilar and an interchangeable biosimilar?
- Will my insurance cover a biosimilar?
The FTC and FDA also have released a joint Summary Report on the FDA/FTC Workshop on a Competitive Marketplace for Biosimilars held on March 9, 2020.
To learn more, visit fda.gov/biosimilars. For more information on health-related issues and advertising, visit ftc.gov/health.
Search Terms
Topics
