A year ago, just 2–3 months after New York City announced its partnership with mental telehealth provider Talkspace to offer free services to teens, I suspected something could be amiss. This was due to my familiarity with the criticism Talkspace had faced previously for its data collection and marketing practices. I also sit on the New York State Department of Education's Data Privacy Advisory Committee, and spend a lot of time considering the issue of data, AI, and kids.
I knew that any questionable signup flow would be particularly troublesome if targeted to teens. And unfortunately, I was right, but in the case of this NYC partnership, it should have been straightforward—New York State privacy laws prevent any data collection from students for marketing purposes. However, there was a catch: the Talkspace partnership is with the Department of Health.
Here is my previous coverage of the issue»
The video in this post is for a refresh retelling of what happened (which seems required lest anyone forget we are still toiling away at battle here). Below are the three letters I contributed to in partnership with the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy and the NYCLU.
Media coverage is linked below as well. You might ask: why is this dragging along? Well, it's a cautionary tale of the future… more money, more fights for our data.
Letters on behalf of Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, NYCLU, and AI for Families:
Media Coverage:
Privacy advocates are concerned by NYC’s online teen counseling service, State Scoop, September 2024
Data privacy advocates raise alarm over NYC’s free teen teletherapy program, Chalkbeat, September 2024
$26M Talkspace contract with NYC stirs student data privacy concerns, K-12 Drive, September 2024
Advocates raise alarm about privacy with NYC’s teen mental telehealth service, NY Daily News, September 2024
Teen Mental Health App Sent Kids’ Data Straight to TikTok, Gizmodo, February 2025
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