Karissa Brennan, a therapist who has been contracting with Talkspace for two years, says the company contacted her about a resource she shared with a patient. She says the company told her to keep her customers in the app. Brennan told the paper that she believes she sent an anxious worksheet to her client.
The company’s co-founders say Talkspace analyzes encrypted and anonymous data to warn therapists of potentially dangerous language use by their clients. The company also uses this data to capture inappropriate behavior by its contractors. The Franks say the company’s approach can operate it for almost 10 years without claims of malpractice within its network.
They also claim that only two employees, his chief medical officer and chief technology officer, have access to all the original transcripts, and both must agree to view them. According to the Franks, this has only happened a “handful of times.” In addition, Talkspace received permission from a patient each time. An attorney for Talkspace also disputed allegations that the company had once used patience data for marketing purposes.
In addition to mining the data of its users, the company may have other dubious practices. De New York Times reports that the startup gave employees phones to post false positive reviews in the App Store and Play Store, a practice that both Apple and Google prohibit in their developer guidelines.
