We reviewed mental health apps for privacy and didn’t like what we found

Turns out, reviewing mental health apps for privacy is bad for your mental health. See *Privacy Not Included’s reviews of 32 mental health and prayer apps to kick off Mental Health Awareness Month ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ [ * * * Mozilla * * * ](8Qj9yps_/ZElvSURpZ3ZHTmVJR0o2VVBvTkJiWjZDRlA2dDNUbThwRjhKWkF0VURXbEJxMk5xODNpVWMxdXFlZUZEbXorK3FUTmdqMmg1M09TTERmSmpkWkF0UUh6Sk9rL2N1OXNWcWk0QndzNkR4aDA9S0/) [New *Privacy Not Included Research FindsMental Health Apps Are Terrible at Privacy ]( New *Privacy Not Included Research Finds Mental Health Apps Are Terrible at Privacy Hi there, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. With so many people struggling with mental health issues recently, there has been a rapid rise in the use of mental health apps. These apps help people access online therapists, meditate to reduce stress, or find someone (or something) to listen to their problems. Unfortunately, *Privacy Not Included learned through our research that mental health apps are a growing industry with a lot of growing pains — privacy concerns are at the top of that list. For our [mental health app guide](, we reviewed the privacy and security of 32 popular mental health and prayer apps, including [Better Help](, [Talkspace](, [Calm](WQ-gjWT~/ZElvSURpZ3ZHTmVJR0o2VVBvTkJiWjZDRlA2dDNUbThwRjhKWkF0VURXbEJxMk5xODNpVWMxdXFlZUZEbXorK3FUTmdqMmg1M09TTERmSmpkWkF0UUh6Sk9rL2N1OXNWcWk0QndzNkR4aDA9S0/), [Headspace](, [Wysa](, [Pray.com](, and [Glorify](QkvAXFR/ZElvSURpZ3ZHTmVJR0o2VVBvTkJiWjZDRlA2dDNUbThwRjhKWkF0VURXbEJxMk5xODNpVWMxdXFlZUZEbXorK3FUTmdqMmg1M09TTERmSmpkWkF0UUh6Sk9rL2N1OXNWcWk0QndzNkR4aDA9S0/). What we found was frightening. In the six years we’ve been doing privacy research for *Privacy Not Included, we've never seen any group of products as bad at protecting and respecting privacy as mental health apps. [Read Our Reviews]( A few of our findings: - 28 of the 32 apps we reviewed earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label. - Weak passwords ranging from “1” to “11111111” were allowed on numerous apps. - Two apps earned our Best Of distinction — [PTSD Coach](, an app created by the US Department of Veterans Affairs to help treat PTSD in veterans, and [Wysa](_Jk9yNFw/ZElvSURpZ3ZHTmVJR0o2VVBvTkJiWjZDRlA2dDNUbThwRjhKWkF0VURXbEJxMk5xODNpVWMxdXFlZUZEbXorK3FUTmdqMmg1M09TTERmSmpkWkF0UUh6Sk9rL2N1OXNWcWk0QndzNkR4aDA9S0/), an AI chatbot app with a very solid privacy policy. Our main concerns with these apps are: - They collect an incredible amount of very personal information. Things like if you’re feeling depressed, how often you feel anxious, if you are having suicidal thoughts, if you are seeing a therapist and how often, and personally identifying information like name, location, sexual orientation, gender identify, and so much more. This is information that should be handled with extreme caution and care. - But it’s not. Too many of these mental health and prayer apps use your personal information as a business asset to help them make money. They can share this information with third-party advertisers to target you with interest-based advertising, they can sell your information, they can combine your information with additional information they gather from outside sources such as social media platforms and data brokers. - They don’t always give users the option to access and delete the personal information they collect. - And too often they don’t take appropriate measures to secure and protect all this extremely sensitive personal information you share. So, what can you do? We thought very carefully about what guidance to offer people because these mental health apps do have benefits. They provide access to more affordable and accessible therapists, they offer research-backed strategies to help cope with everything from anxiety and depression to suicidal thoughts, OCD, and eating disorders, they help us meditate to calm down and reduce stress. Unfortunately, too often this comes at the cost of privacy. If you use a mental health-related app, please consider doing the following. - [Read the reviews]( of the apps we provide in our new *Privacy Not Included guide to educate yourself on what data is collected and how it can be used. Choose apps that respect your privacy whenever possible. - Never sign up to or link your social media account such as Facebook or Google to these apps as that allows these social media companies to collect even more data on you, like the fact you’re using a mental health app, how often, and when. - Provide as little personal information as possible to access the service. - Do not give consent to allow your data to be shared, sold, or used for advertising purposes if you are able to opt out. Unfortunately, you won’t always be able to opt-out. - Always use a strong password to protect the information stored in these apps. - If your employer offers you access to an app through a wellness program, ask them what data they can receive from the app and how your privacy as an employee will be respected. Mental health is an incredibly important issue in our world today. We want to do what we can to help you access the help you need while understanding the risks to your privacy. Thank you for reading and supporting our *Privacy Not Included mental health apps guide. Please share this important information with your friends, family, and colleagues. [SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS]( ✔️32 apps tested ❌28 failed. Despite dealing with our most sensitive personal data, research from @mozilla finds that mental health apps including @betterhelp & @talkspace routinely fail to protect their users’ privacy and security. [#privacynotincluded]( Thank you, Jen Caltrider & Misha Rykov Your *Privacy Not Included Team Mozilla Connect with us [YouTube](2Mw/ZElvSURpZ3ZHTmVJR0o2VVBvTkJiWjZDRlA2dDNUbThwRjhKWkF0VURXbEJxMk5xODNpVWMxdXFlZUZEbXorK3FUTmdqMmg1M09TTERmSmpkWkF0UUh6Sk9rL2N1OXNWcWk0QndzNkR4aDA9S0/) [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Thanks for reading! You're receiving this email because we think you're neat, AND you subscribed to hear from us. If our emails aren't sparking joy, we'll understand if you [unsubscribe](. You can also update your [email preferences]( at any time. 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