Reviewed Jun 2026 · some cells re-verified Aug 2026 · policies are checked weekly for changes · stated — every cell is read from BetterHelp's published policy; none has been tested (run by us) yet.
1Accessstated
A documented in-app request path exists (“Menu > My Account > My Personal information … request a copy of your data”) with a 24-hour acknowledgment — but no fulfillment window is stated and the policy warns “we are not always able to respect your request for data access”. (Therapist session notes sit outside the copy scope — the HIPAA-standard psychotherapy-notes carve-out, which does not bear on this score per calibration C5.)
BetterHelp Privacy Policy — data access · accessed Aug 2026 ↗1Portabilitystated
The copy request covers contact information, questionnaire answers, worksheets, messages and journal entries, but no file format is stated, there is no instant download, and therapist session notes are excluded — the request-only, format-unstated level.
BetterHelp Privacy Policy — data access scope · accessed Aug 2026 ↗1Frictionstated
Requests are in-app or by email with identity verification (including a FaceID option); “in exceptional circumstances, we may charge a reasonable fee after discussing the fee with you”; advertising cookies are opt-in and a do-not-sell preference is implemented, but the policy never names GPC or Do Not Track.
BetterHelp Privacy Policy — exercising rights · accessed Aug 2026 ↗2Deletionstated
Unusually precise stated timelines: for members who never started therapy, “your data is erased within 24 hours of the erasure request”; for therapy members, most categories erase within 24 hours while the Clinical Health Record, complaint records and third-party-disclosure logs “are erased after 10 years” — a disclosed, legally grounded medical-records carve-out.
BetterHelp Privacy Policy — retention table · accessed Aug 2026 ↗1Sells / sharesstated
“We aren’t paid by anyone for any data”, advertising cookies are opt-in, retargeting is forsworn even for opted-in members, and a stated firewall keeps therapy content from advertisers — but consented cookie use “may be considered a ‘sale’” under California law, so sharing for ads exists behind a consent gate.
BetterHelp Privacy Policy — Do you sell my data? · accessed Aug 2026 ↗1Trains AIstated
AI is used operationally, and Therapy Data is excluded from model training “unless you agree otherwise” — but the carve-out covers therapy content only: nothing is stated about training on visitor, onboarding or engagement data, and no opt-out mechanism is described.
BetterHelp Privacy Policy — AI and NLU · accessed Aug 2026 ↗
§Enforcement action — deducts 2 points (severity 1); data practices without the penalty scored C (7/12)verified
The US FTC ordered BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million in 2023 for revealing consumers' email addresses, IP addresses and health-questionnaire answers to Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo and Pinterest for advertising, despite privacy promises — the FTC's first action returning funds to consumers over compromised health data. The final order bans sharing health data for advertising and re-targeting.
US Federal Trade Commission · Mar 2023, final Jul 2023 ↗
0API access — feeds Agent Readiness, not the /12stated
BetterHelp publishes no API of any kind — no developer documentation exists and the privacy policy and terms never mention one; the only data path out is the in-app copy-of-data request.
BetterHelp (no developer platform) · accessed Aug 2026 ↗
Graded 2026-08-31 against the BetterHelp Privacy Policy (last updated Mar 17, 2026). Consumer surface = betterhelp.com and the BetterHelp apps (including Regain, Teen Counseling, Pride Counseling and other d/b/a brands named in the FTC order), operated by BetterHelp, Inc. (San Jose, CA). The post-order posture is stated plainly: advertising cookies are opt-in, retargeting is forsworn, and a therapy-content firewall bars therapist communications from ad partners. The Clinical Health Record — therapist notes plus onboarding questionnaire answers — survives erasure for a stated 10 years as a medical-records carve-out, and sits outside the copy-of-data scope. The enforcement lane carries the FTC's 2023 order ($7.8M, health data to ad platforms), which deducts separately and scores no cell. All cells stated, not tested.
Events
Breaches, policy changes, and export-format changes we’ve recorded at BetterHelp — other parties’ actions, alongside the enforcement record above. An event never changes a grade by itself. All events →
No events on record for BetterHelp.
Grade history
Every change to this company’s grade since it was first published, and why. All grade changes →
1 Sep 2026Accessnote
Score unchanged (1). Rationale re-anchored under new calibration C5 (mandated-retention neutrality): the Clinical Health Record’s exclusion from the copy scope is the HIPAA-standard psychotherapy-notes carve-out, a legal mandate rather than a company choice, and no longer counts among the deciding facts. The cell rests on the missing fulfillment window and the “not always able to respect your request” hedge.