In recent years, there has been a rise in discussions in the news and on community websites, such as Reddit, about how online therapy companies use or sell user data. And in some cases, these concerns have been proven to be well-founded. That's why when deciding on which online therapy company to use, make sure you're taking a look at the company’s privacy policy. If a company states outright that it never sells data, then it is probably a safer choice. Even better are companies that state they operate on HIPAA-compliant platforms, which means that they abide by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law protecting personal health information. Some red flags around privacy to look out for include: no privacy policy is provided by the company no mention of HIPAA requests for personal information before being able to search the site for a therapist or fully sign up for therapy