This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) covers how Therapists.com collects, uses, shares, and otherwise processes data collected when you visit our website, join our newsletter for the latest insights, resources, and exclusive offers emailed monthly to our community of mental health practitioners (“Newsletter”), and access the resources we offer, such as Live Continuing Education Courses from AATBS, a trial membership with BetterSleep, and a BetterHelp voucher code you can give a friend or family member (“Resources”).. For purposes of this Policy and unless otherwise specified, “data” includes information that is linked to one person or household including things like name, email address, device ID, and IP address. Some jurisdictions might consider this to be “personal data,” or “personally identifiable information” in certain circumstances. In this Policy, we refer generally to activities done with data as “Processing” or “Process.” Examples of Processing include collecting, storing, and using data. If you decide to use any of the Resources, then any data Processed in connection with using those platforms is addressed in and governed by the Privacy Policies of those respective entities. You can find those Privacy Policies below:
1. About us
We are Therapists.com, a platform owned and operated by BetterHelp, dedicated to providing mental health therapists with free and accessible resources to support their professional growth and enhance their therapeutic practice. You can contact us for any matter related to this Policy at support@therapists.com.
We are committed to the use of data in a reasonable and responsible manner, and ensuring that data is collected, retained, used, or disclosed only for purposes described in this Policy. Any information you share will be used only for purposes stated herein, and retained for the amount of time required to achieve them and in accordance with relevant legal requirements.
2. Information We Collect About You
What data you choose to provide depends on how you want to use Therapists.com.
- If you join our Newsletter, then we will request an email address to deliver your content.
- If you claim the Free Resources we offer to our community, then we request Contact Information (First Name, Last Name, Email Address) and Licensure Information (State, License Type, Number). This information helps us offer these resources at no cost to our community of U.S.-based mental health practitioners.
Our systems may also collect information about your browser or mobile device used to visit our website. Data we collect automatically includes the type of web browser or mobile device you use to access the site, your operating system, your IP address, and general geographical location (e.g. country).
Lastly, we also use cookies and similar technologies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. Necessary cookies required for the website to operate effectively are set when you visit the site. All other cookies require your consent before they can be set in the browser. You can review and change your consent to cookie usage at any time on our Cookie Preferences page.
3. How and Why We Use Your Information
In addition to the uses described above, we may use your data for the following purposes:
- Providing you with the Newsletter, Resources, insights, exclusive offers, news, and other relevant information for our community of mental health providers. You can unsubscribe from receiving any commercial email communications from us by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link included in each email.
- Informing you about opportunities to provide therapy with BetterHelp or its other brands.
- Communicating with you. For example, we need to make sure that if you ask a question or have a concern about the Site, we are able to respond to you and provide an answer.
- Analyzing and improving the Site, our Newsletter, and Resources. For example, we may use some data to determine which opportunities may be of interest to you. We may also track some data in order to allocate our research and development resources appropriately.
- Enforcing this Policy and responding to verifiable requests. For example, Processing unsubscribe requests, deletion requests, or complaints.
- Location Data. To help ensure Therapists.com reaches our intended audience of U.S.-based mental health providers, we Process your IP address and rough location data, which tells us the country from which you’re visiting the website.
- Security. We may need to Process certain data to monitor and protect the security of the Site, track potential abuse, and protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity.
- Compliance with Laws. We may use or disclose personal data if required by law, regulations, or other legal requirements to do so, or if we reasonably believe the use or disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or to comply with judicial or regulatory proceedings, a court order, or other legal process.
4. Who Has Access to Your Information
- Authorized Service Providers. We define a Service Provider as a person or company we have a legal agreement with to Process data we collect on our behalf. Some jurisdictions may refer to these as “Third Parties” or “Third Party Service Providers.” Our Service Providers only Process data received from us in the course of performing services specified in our agreement with them, or as reasonably necessary to perform such services. For example, we use Hubspot (a customer relationship management platform provider) to manage and process email communications for us. Other Service Providers we use perform services including, without limitation: website, cloud, and data hosting; email management and communication;; content delivery networks; traffic,usage and reporting analytics; and legal and compliance advising..
- BetterHelp. Therapists.com is owned and operated by BetterHelp, and data you provide to Therapists.com will be used by BetterHelp for marketing and therapist recruitment activities, such as identifying members of our community who already provide therapy with BetterHelp, and those who decide to provide therapy with BetterHelp after being members of our Therapists.com community.
Therapists.com is available to all U.S.-based mental health practitioners, and providing therapy with BetterHelp is not required to use any part of the site or access its Resources. If you decide to join BetterHelp as a member, provider, or both, then you can learn how BetterHelp treats your data by reviewing the BetterHelp Privacy Policy found at betterhelp.com/privacy.
5. Retention and Deletion Requests
We only keep your data for as long as you want to hear from us, stay connected to our work, and utilize the Resources. If you provide Contact and Professional Licensure information to receive the Newsletter or Resources, then we will keep that information until you unsubscribe, or request we delete it. To make such a request, please email support@therapists.com.
6. Do You Sell My Data?
We aren’t paid by anyone for any data. However, in California, the laws define “sale” broadly to include the sharing of personal information in exchange for anything of value. If you opt in to our use of Advertising cookies and web beacons, this use may be considered a “sale” of personal information under that specific California law. For specific information on your data rights as a resident of California, see the additional notice for California residents.
7. Additional Notice for California Residents
This Privacy Notice for California Residents supplements the Therapists.com Privacy Policy to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) of 2020.
The CCPA and the CPRA are California laws that provide its residents with certain rights over information about them, including notice about the categories of personal information we have collected from them in the preceding twelve (12) months and the purposes for which the information is used or disclosed, and correction of personal information.
The following Sections outlined the data that is Processed by us, as well as the purpose for collection, and the categories of sources of such information:
- Information We Collect About You
- How And Why We Use Your Information
- Cookie Preferences
The data referenced at those links may fall in certain defined categories under the CCPA and CPRA. Accordingly, we may have collected:
- Identifiers;
- Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e));
- Internet or other similar network activity;
- Geolocation data;
- Professional or employment-related information; and
As noted in the Section titled “Do you sell my data?”, our “sale” of information (including sale of information about consumers under the age of 16) consists of the disclosure of your information for targeted advertising purposes, and we aren’t paid by any external or Third Party, as defined by the CPRA, for any data. The information that we may have “sold” (for purposes of the CCPA and CPRA) in the past 12 months falls into the following personal information categories under the CCPA and CPRA:
- Identifiers;
- Internet or other similar network activity.
Do I have the right to know what information you have about me?
Yes, as a California resident you can request certain information about what we have Processed over the past 12 months. Once we receive and verify your consumer request, we can provide:
- The categories of personal information we collected about you.
- The categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you.
- Our business or commercial purpose for collecting that personal information.
- The categories of Third Parties with whom we shared that personal information.
- The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you.
- Whether we disclosed your personal information for a business purpose and the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained.
We will verify your identity by matching the information you provide with information that we maintain. You also have the right to request that we correct personal information about you if it is found to be inaccurate. To make such a request, please send an email to support@therapists.com
Can I “opt out” or request that you delete my information?
Yes, you can request that we delete your data as described in the section of this Policy called: Retention and Deletion Requests Once your request is received and verified, we’ll move forward with the process of deleting your information in line with our legal obligations. We cannot fulfill a deletion request and need to retain your information if the data is necessary to:
- Provide you services, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
- Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
- Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
- Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
- Comply with applicable laws, including but not limited to, the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 seq.) and information covered by the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.
- Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
- Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.
As noted above, you do not need to opt in to the “sale” of data about you by withdrawing your consent to accept cookies used for advertising.
Other California privacy rights
California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of data to Third Parties for direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to support@therapists.com.
8. Legal bases and purposes
We are the controller of the Processing of personal data in relation to conducting our activity. We Process your personal data:
- On the basis of your consent when you subscribe to our Newsletter, access the Resources, or when you send us a request through our website.
- As required by BetterHelp to enable our business and pursue our legitimate interests. In particular we use your data for the following purposes:
- to provide services you have requested, and respond to any communications, comments or complaints you send us;
- to monitor the use of our services and to help us monitor, improve and protect our services, content and website;
- to prevent, investigate and/or report fraud, misrepresentation, terrorism, security incidents or crime in accordance with applicable law;
- to comply with applicable laws and protection of BetterHelp’s legitimate business interests and legal rights, including but not limited to use in connection with legal claims, compliance, regulatory, investigative purposes (including disclosure of such information in connection with legal process or litigation).
- In addition, we will send you, based on your consent (if required), direct marketing communication in relation to our relevant services, or other services provided by us, our affiliates and carefully selected partners. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
9. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK General Data Protection Regulation Notice
This section provides additional information about our Policy relevant to you if you are from the European Economic Area (the EEA), United Kingdom, and Switzerland (together “European Area Countries”). It supplements and should be read in conjunction with the rest of the Policy.
Under the European Area Countries’ privacy laws, we are the Controller with respect to your data.
When is my data used?
- When it is in our legitimate interests or an external third party’s legitimate interests (“legitimate interest” is a term defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK General Data Protection Regulation Notice). Our legitimate interests in this instance include managing the Site and our business, safety and security of the infrastructure, prevention of fraud, research, and development, and legal claims.
- When it is needed for the provision of the Site. In particular, for development and internal analytics purposes, and otherwise to improve the safety, security, and performance of the Site. We only rely on our or an external third party’s legitimate interests to Process your data when these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
- When it is necessary to do so to comply with any legal obligations imposed upon us under our contractual obligations or our contractual obligation or applicable law.
- When you have consented to the use of your data, for marketing purposes or through the use of cookies and web beacons. Where consent is the legal basis, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
How we obtain your personal information
Therapists.com obtains the categories of personal information listed above from the following sources:
- Directly from you, such as information when you join the Newsletter. Please note that the Resources are only offered and available to individuals who reside in the United States or any of its territories or possessions.
- Indirectly from you, such as through your actions on our website.
- From external business partners, such as analytics providers.
What are my rights and choices under European Area Countries laws?
European Area Country residents have specific rights regarding their data. This section describes your rights if you are resident in the European Area Countries and explains how to exercise those rights.
- Subject access request: You may be entitled to ask us for a copy of any data which we hold. We will normally send you a copy within one month of your request. However, that period may be extended by two additional months where necessary, taking into account the complexity of the request or the difficulty in accessing the data that you request. There is usually no charge. In exceptional circumstances, we may charge a reasonable fee after discussing the fee with you.
- Right to rectification: If the data we hold about you is inaccurate, you may request rectification. The data will be checked, and, where appropriate, inaccuracies will be rectified.
- Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you may be entitled to ask us to erase your data.
- Right to data portability: In certain circumstances, you may wish to move, copy, or transfer the electronic data that we hold about you to another organization.
- Right to object: You may object to your data being used for direct marketing. You may object to the continued use of your data in any circumstances where we rely upon consent as the legal basis for Processing it. Where we rely upon legitimate interests as the legal basis for Processing your data, you may object to us continuing to Process your data, but you must give us specific reasons for objecting. We will consider the reasons you provide, but if we consider that there are compelling legitimate grounds for us to continue to Process your data, we may continue to do so. In that event, we will let you know the reasons for our decision. In some instances, objecting to certain Processing may impact our ability to provide you with services.
To exercise the rights in relation to your data set out in this section, please contact us at support@therapists.com.
Is my data transferred internationally?
As a part of our standard business practices, we may transfer your data to organizations based in countries that have not been granted an adequacy decision under the General Data Protection Regulation. Where data is transferred to such countries, we shall ensure that specific safeguards or derogations have been established.
These might include where the data transfer is necessary in order to fulfill a contract between us and yourself, where we have received your specific consent after having made you aware of any risks involved, or where contracts are in place between us and the Third Parties involved that ensure the recipient organization has a suitable standard of data protection in place.
You can contact our Data Protection Officer with questions, about this Policy, or about your data by writing to:
Attn: BetterHelp UK: Data Protection Officer
Ametros Group Ltd
Lakeside Offices,
Thorn Business Park
Rotherwas Industrial Estate
Hereford, Herefordshire
England
HR2 6JT
0330 223 2246
dpo@ametrosgroup.com
www.ametrosgroup.com
Attn: BetterHelp EU: Data Protection Officer
Ametros Ltd
Unit 3D
North Point House
North Point Business Park
New Mallow Road, Cork
Ireland
gdpr@ametrosgroup.com
www.ametrosgroup.com
While we’ll always work with you to resolve any concerns you have about the use of your data, under GDPR you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country of residence if you have any concerns about our use of your personal information.
Additional Privacy Notice for non-US, non-UK, and non-EU residents
As a part of our standard business practices, data may be transferred outside of many visitors’ countries of residence and predominantly used, accessed and Processed within the U.S. Fortunately, given the robust and rigorous nature of privacy laws in the US, UK, and EU with which we comply, therapists.com considers that this has the effect of protecting user information in a way that, overall, is at least substantially similar or in many ways exceeds non-US data privacy legal requirements. To the extent we contract with vendors who are outside of the U.S, we ensure that specific safeguards have been established to protect that data.
10. Contact us
You can send us an email at support@therapists.com with any questions requests you may have regarding this Policy.
If we make any material changes to our privacy policy, we will notify you through your email.
Last Updated and Effective: 12/1/2023