Forwarded from ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐๐ (_ScalpS_)
$7.8 million. That's the fine.
2 million people. That's how many got sold.
BetterHelp is the most downloaded mental health app on earth. Millions chose it specifically for privacy. No insurance. No paper trail. No employer finding out. It felt safer than the traditional system.
It wasn't. It was the opposite.
You answered a questionnaire to match with a therapist. BetterHelp took your answers. Your email. Your IP. The single fact that you, specifically you, had sought mental health counseling.
Then they packaged it and sent it to Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Criteo.
The purpose: "lookalike audiences." Find users who look like someone who sought therapy. Target them with ads. The therapy platform became an ad machine. The users were the inventory.
BetterHelp's own privacy policy said: "we will never use your information for advertising purposes."
March 2023, the FTC said: you lied.
Your traditional therapist is bound by HIPAA. Federal law. They cannot share your records without explicit consent. Built specifically because health data is uniquely sensitive.
BetterHelp is not bound by HIPAA.
Legally, they're a tech company. Licensed therapists operate inside their app, but the data architecture runs under tech company rules. No federal health privacy law. No mandatory protections. Just whatever their privacy policy says. And if they break it, it's an FTC matter. Civil. No one goes to prison.
Talkspace. Calm. Headspace. Woebot. All the same structure.
Why the fine didn't fix anything.
BetterHelp never admitted wrongdoing.
They paid $7.8 million. Kept the same business model. The existing data, already inside ad networks, was untouched by the agreement. A company with hundreds of millions in annual revenue paid less than a week of profit and continued operating as the most downloaded mental health app on earth.
The fine was the cost of doing business. The model was worth more than the penalty.
https://x.com/sharbel/status/2036463056318771462
2 million people. That's how many got sold.
BetterHelp is the most downloaded mental health app on earth. Millions chose it specifically for privacy. No insurance. No paper trail. No employer finding out. It felt safer than the traditional system.
It wasn't. It was the opposite.
You answered a questionnaire to match with a therapist. BetterHelp took your answers. Your email. Your IP. The single fact that you, specifically you, had sought mental health counseling.
Then they packaged it and sent it to Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Criteo.
The purpose: "lookalike audiences." Find users who look like someone who sought therapy. Target them with ads. The therapy platform became an ad machine. The users were the inventory.
BetterHelp's own privacy policy said: "we will never use your information for advertising purposes."
March 2023, the FTC said: you lied.
Your traditional therapist is bound by HIPAA. Federal law. They cannot share your records without explicit consent. Built specifically because health data is uniquely sensitive.
BetterHelp is not bound by HIPAA.
Legally, they're a tech company. Licensed therapists operate inside their app, but the data architecture runs under tech company rules. No federal health privacy law. No mandatory protections. Just whatever their privacy policy says. And if they break it, it's an FTC matter. Civil. No one goes to prison.
Talkspace. Calm. Headspace. Woebot. All the same structure.
Why the fine didn't fix anything.
BetterHelp never admitted wrongdoing.
They paid $7.8 million. Kept the same business model. The existing data, already inside ad networks, was untouched by the agreement. A company with hundreds of millions in annual revenue paid less than a week of profit and continued operating as the most downloaded mental health app on earth.
The fine was the cost of doing business. The model was worth more than the penalty.
https://x.com/sharbel/status/2036463056318771462
๐ฑ2๐ฅ1
Coming tomorrow...
Signup at https://aetherczar.substack.com/ to receive an email notification.
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๐5
Forwarded from Andrew Bridgen
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Mark Zuckerberg, an outspoken advocate of "man-made climate change", shows off his new $300 million, 287-foot mega yacht, powered by four gigantic diesel engines.
Yet another stark reminder that Net Zero is only for the peasants!
Do you think heโl suffer under energy lockdowns?
https://t.me/ABridgen
Yet another stark reminder that Net Zero is only for the peasants!
Do you think heโl suffer under energy lockdowns?
https://t.me/ABridgen
๐ฅ3
"Youโve seen Ukraine resist far fiercer attacks from Russia for over four years now, yet Iran is somehow expected to crumble under a laughably weak month-long assault by a country that itself is running out of munitions. Time is clearly on Iranโs side from virtually every possible angle. In particular, politically Iran knows Trump is flushing himself down the toilet, and midterms are fast approaching. Economically, oil continues to rise and itโs been reported that Iran itself is now making far more on oil than it was even before the war. Militarily, the US is running out of all key munitions, and itโs taking greater and greater attrition to its most critical and irreplaceable systems."
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/trump-signals-final-sadistic-punishment#:~:text=You%E2%80%99ve%20seen%20Ukraine,and%20irreplaceable%20systems.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/trump-signals-final-sadistic-punishment#:~:text=You%E2%80%99ve%20seen%20Ukraine,and%20irreplaceable%20systems.
Substack
Trump Signals Final Sadistic Punishment as Consolation For Lost War
"If you must end it emptily, end it loudly."
๐ค1
Forwarded from /CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global (Niklas Larssen)
South Korea is weighing the possibility to extend driving curbs from civil servantsโ use of vehicles to the general public if oil prices hit $120 per barrel, Finance Minister Koo Yun Cheol said.
If enacted, such a measure would be the first in South Korea since 1991 during the Gulf war.
Early on Monday, oil prices were rising by over 2% with Brent Crude topping $115 per barrel amid an escalating conflict which now involves the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
South Korea has already restricted access by vehicle to government buildings in a rotating system based on the last digit of the license plates.
โWe are reviewing whether to extend the system to the private sector to encourage public cooperation, but we hope the war ends soon so that such measures wonโt be necessary,โ the finance minister told broadcaster KBS on Sunday, as carried by Bloomberg.
โIf the Middle East situation worsens, the crisis alert would have to move up to the โwarningโ stage, and around that point we would need to curb consumption,โ Koo added in the remarks carried by Reuters.
South Korea imports most of the crude it consumes from the Middle East and is one of the most exposed Asian importers to Qatari LNG, which is now offline.
South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore are most vulnerable to the loss of Qatari term LNG supply following its force majeure declaration, Vortexaโs LNG analyst Ken Lee said earlier this month.
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Oil Price
South Korea Weighs First Public Driving Restrictions in 35 Years
South Korea is weighing nationwide driving restrictions for the first time since 1991 as Brent crude tops $115 amid an escalating Middle East conflict.
Why would a beloved British celebrity ever be deported โ and what does that reveal about politics, power, and narrative control? In this episode, Andrew Gold speaks with Carl Benjamin about the surprising and little-discussed case involving Joanna Lumley, using it as a lens to explore how moral authority, political signalling, and public perception collide. Rather than focusing on outrage or celebrity gossip, the conversation digs into why certain stories are framed the way they are โ and what gets quietly left out. Carl explains the political and legal context behind Lumleyโs deportation, unpacking how immigration rules, international boundaries, and bureaucratic reality can clash with public expectations. The discussion highlights how celebrity status often shields people from scrutiny โ until it doesnโt โ and why exceptions to the rules can quickly become political flashpoints.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=y6F9q0qG6-0
https://youtube.com/watch?v=y6F9q0qG6-0
YouTube
Why Joanna Lumley Got DEPORTED โ Carl Benjamin
๐ Subscribe to The Daily Heretic for long-form conversations that challenge political myths and unpack the stories behind the headlines:
https://www.youtube.com/@hereticsclips/videos
Why would a beloved British celebrity ever be deported โ and what doesโฆ
https://www.youtube.com/@hereticsclips/videos
Why would a beloved British celebrity ever be deported โ and what doesโฆ
๐ค2
Forwarded from Vox Day
Q and Israel
In light of how the Israel-Iran war is going, one canโt help but wonder if the plan to break the power of Israel over the United States revolves around giving the most rabid Zionists exactly what they have demanded for decades. I mean, itโs hard to imagine a more complete destruction of AIPACโs influence over [โฆ]
https://voxday.net/2026/03/31/q-and-israel/
In light of how the Israel-Iran war is going, one canโt help but wonder if the plan to break the power of Israel over the United States revolves around giving the most rabid Zionists exactly what they have demanded for decades. I mean, itโs hard to imagine a more complete destruction of AIPACโs influence over [โฆ]
https://voxday.net/2026/03/31/q-and-israel/
๐3๐ค1
Forwarded from Disclose.tv
JUST IN - Israel halts weapons sales to France, citing "hostile attitude toward Israel over the last two years."
Read here: https://www.disclose.tv/id/h3ouav9uja/
@disclosetv
Read here: https://www.disclose.tv/id/h3ouav9uja/
@disclosetv
Disclose.tv
Israel halts defense trade with France, citing 'hostile attitude'
Breaking news from around the world.
๐ค2
There is no destruction of value like what this government is doing to our international standing.
Not only did the police prevent the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for prayer this morning, but hours upon hours have passed since then, the entire Catholic world is turning against us, heads of state are issuing horrified statements against us, and from the Israeli side, there is no explanation, no statement from any political figure, no one stepping up to say: "This is not a Jewish declaration of war on the Christian world; these are wartime restrictions intended to protect the safety of the Patriarch and his faithful."
@BellumActaNews
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๐ฅ5
"The institution that co-organised a peace forum in the desert was the same institution that built the intellectual architecture for a war clearinghouse โ one that reserves a right of force projection, processed through opaque early warning indicators, carrying the UNโs stamp of approval, and accountable to no sovereign whose territory it targets."
https://escapekey.substack.com/p/sir-bani-yas#:~:text=The%20institution%20that%20co,whose%20territory%20it%20targets.
https://escapekey.substack.com/p/sir-bani-yas#:~:text=The%20institution%20that%20co,whose%20territory%20it%20targets.
Substack
Sir Bani Yas
No later than 24 October 2010, Jeffrey Epstein received an email.
๐ค1
Forwarded from Imperium Press
[The mafiosi] operate in a way that allows the victim, who is in reality paying tribute to the clan, to deceive themselves into believing it is a voluntary gift or the equivalent of a service rendered, rather than extortion through violence.
โ Gaetano Mosca
โ Gaetano Mosca
๐1
"Game of Thrones changed what writers thought they needed. HBO built a cultural phenomenon out of dragons, violence, and explicit content, and every showrunner in the industry drew the wrong conclusion. The lesson they took was that prestige television requires shock content. Nudity, graphic violence, and profanity became the shorthand for seriousness. Networks and streaming platforms pushed for it. Writers delivered it. The result has been a decade of shows that mistake darkness for depth and explicit content for maturity.
"SG-1 disproved that thesis twenty-seven years ago. Wright knew that a family-accessible show with strong writing, memorable characters, and genuine stakes did not need any of it. He was right, and the ten-season run proved it. The writers who have treated adult content as a crutch since Game of Thrones have produced a long list of cancelled, forgotten, and critically dismissed shows. The ones who built lasting franchises on story still win."
https://substack.com/home/post/p-192735921#:~:text=Game%20of%20Thrones,story%20still%20win.
"SG-1 disproved that thesis twenty-seven years ago. Wright knew that a family-accessible show with strong writing, memorable characters, and genuine stakes did not need any of it. He was right, and the ten-season run proved it. The writers who have treated adult content as a crutch since Game of Thrones have produced a long list of cancelled, forgotten, and critically dismissed shows. The ones who built lasting franchises on story still win."
https://substack.com/home/post/p-192735921#:~:text=Game%20of%20Thrones,story%20still%20win.
Fandompulse
How Brad Wright Fought Showtime To Keep Stargate A Family Show, And Built The Longest-Running Sci-Fi Series In History
Stargate SG-1 ran for ten seasons.
๐5๐ฅ1
"The Professor did not simply write a masterpiece and trust it to eternity. He was carried there carefully, deliberately, and continuously by systems that kept his work alive long after it should have faded into the dust covered editions of library back shelves. Christopher Tolkien built the canon. Rankin/Bass passed it to a new generation. Gary Gygax turned it into a living system people could inhabit. Each reinforced the others. Remove any one of them and Tolkien weakens. Remove all of them, and he doesnโt disappear overnight but he would have done what every other โgreatโ writer eventually does. He fades."
https://arkhaven.substack.com/p/why-jrr-tolkien-should-be-forgotten?r=lp6h7
https://arkhaven.substack.com/p/why-jrr-tolkien-should-be-forgotten?r=lp6h7
Substack
Why J.R.R. Tolkien Should Be Forgotten
The Pitch Nobody Accepts
๐ฅ2
Forwarded from Arkhaven Comics
The Glazing of Bob Iger
Bob Iger is getting quite the tongue bath from the Hollywood trade media.
https://arkhaven.substack.com/p/the-glazing-of-bob-iger
Bob Iger is getting quite the tongue bath from the Hollywood trade media.
https://arkhaven.substack.com/p/the-glazing-of-bob-iger
๐ฅ2
"Equality is the main cause of the Great Descending Wave in which man is embedded. Soft times allowed Equality to flourish. Equality is creating hard times. Equality is the reason a gynecologist in England who lopped off a babyโs head during a delivery is allowed to return back to work, because the doctor is a Victim (a female foreigner) and โaccidents happenโ, but another doctor (male) is stricken from the rolls because he insists โgenderโ is given at birth, a terrible sin against Equality."
https://substack.com/home/post/p-192705271#:~:text=Equality%20is%20the%20main,terrible%20sin%20against%20Equality.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-192705271#:~:text=Equality%20is%20the%20main,terrible%20sin%20against%20Equality.
Substack
There Is No Solution To Crashing Fertility: Good Times Made Soft Men
The hard times are upon us
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Forwarded from Today I Learned
TIL Although Galen's understanding of human anatomy remained a standard in european medicine for over 1000 years, he based all of his knowledge on studying macaque monkeys, since dissecting human corpses was taboo in roman times. Nobody noticed this issue until Andreas Vesalius in the 16th century
https://ift.tt/6pzryP4
https://ift.tt/6pzryP4
Reddit
From the todayilearned community on Reddit: TIL Although Galen's understanding of human anatomy remained a standard in europeanโฆ
Explore this post and more from the todayilearned community
Forwarded from The General
BREAKING: Matt Gaetz confirms the U.S. military is currently in possession of alien technology and has reverse-engineered their weapons, which are now available for use.
@GeneralMCNews
@GeneralMCNews
๐ค3
Forwarded from Today I Learned
TIL in 2023 a Canadian court ruled that a thumbs up emoji ๐ carried enough weight to establish a legally binding contract between two parties
https://ift.tt/qsDY10u
https://ift.tt/qsDY10u
Reddit
From the todayilearned community on Reddit: TIL in 2023 a Canadian court ruled that a thumbs up emoji ๐ carried enough weight toโฆ
Explore this post and more from the todayilearned community