• The FTC announced a settlement with BetterHelp over allegations of sharing user data with third parties.

• BetterHelp will be banned from sharing the data with outside parties for advertising, and pay $7.8 million in partial refunds.

• Users who signed up from August 2017 through 2020 may have had their data improperly shared, per the FTC.

The Federal Trade Commission is banning online therapy provider BetterHelp from sharing sensitive user data with third-party advertisers, part of a ruling that also includes a $7.8 million fine that will be used toward partial refunds for consumers.

In a Thursday ruling, the FTC said customers who signed up for the popular telehealth company from August 2017 through the end of 2020 may have had their personal information shared with social media platforms including Facebook and Snapchat, among others.

Per the FTC, BetterHelp misled consumers by sharing personal information like email, IP addresses, and answers to health questionnaires with advertisers after promising users their information would not be shared with outside parties.

"When a person struggling with mental health issues reaches out for help, they do so in a moment of vulnerability and with an expectation that professional counseling services will protect their privacy," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

He continued: "Instead, BetterHelp betrayed consumers' most personal health information for profit. Let this proposed order be a stout reminder that the FTC will prioritize defending Americans' sensitive data from illegal exploitation."

Users who filled out a questionnaire indicating interest in the company or confirming they had been in therapy before may have then been shown targeted ads for BetterHelp's paid counseling programs, the FTC said.

BetterHelp said in a statement that the settlement is "no admission of wrongdoing," and maintains it has never shared members' real names or "clinical data from therapy sessions," nor has it received payment from a third-party in exchange for user information.