The Privacy Paradox in Mental Health Tech
People want Netflix-level personalization for their mental health, but bank-level privacy for their data. They want our AI to know they're having a bad day, but panic if we actually track their bad days.
September 2, 2024
As CTO of one of India's largest B2B mental health company, I get asked about data privacy almost daily.
And i have been living in this contradiction since many years. People want Netflix-level personalization for their mental health, but bank-level privacy for their data. They want our AI to know they're having a bad day, but panic if we actually track their bad days.
Your therapy app knows you're anxious, but can't remember why from last session because of privacy settings. Your mood tracker can't track patterns because you've anonymized everything. Your crisis support can't provide continuity because every interaction starts from zero.
And the same person who won't share mental health data with a licensed platform will dump their entire emotional state on Instagram stories.
Don't get me wrong, privacy matters and mental health data in wrong hands can destroy careers, relationships, lives. But privacy without care is just sophisticated neglect.
I've spent years building these systems and the hardest part isn't the code complexity. It's explaining to someone having a panic attack why we need their consent to help them effectively.
If we can't solve for this, mental health tech will remain what it is today, well-intentioned tools that help no one deeply.
Your data deserves protection. Yes. But your mental health deserves care.
