Why is Privacy Not More of a Priority?
In January, Families for New York wrote about a NYC partnership with tele- mental health company Talkspace that compromises teen privacy. A year on and advocates are still fighting City Hall. Why?
Nearly 12 months ago, privacy and responsible AI advocate and parent Shannon Edwards shared with me a flaw in a new NYC Department of Health partnership aimed at teens. The co-branded “Teenspace” platform, while well intended and created to address the teen mental health crisis, exposes sensitive personal details and data of teens. Information such as name address, birthday, school, and numerous details, such as why a child is considering therapy, are asked on pages with more than 60 trackers including from Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat.
You can read my original article here:
Update on Efforts to Address
When you consider the details of this early coverage, it seems unbelievable how this issue has advanced. Since the beginning of the year, Shannon has worked closely with longtime privacy advocates the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, and the New York Civil Liberties Union to encourage City Hall to introduce changes to or end the partnership. The women have sent two letters to City Hall, with the first going largely under-addressed, and the second still awaiting action.
You can read Shannon’s coverage here:
The Details are Shocking
Considering the details contained in both the initial letter, the followup, and even media coverage regarding the issue, why is the partnership still active? Why are trackers still collecting sensitive information from teens?
Data privacy advocates raise alarm over NYC’s free teen teletherapy program, Chalkbeat, Sept 10, 2024
Data Privacy Advocates Raise Alarm Over NYC’s Free Teen Teletherapy Program, The74, Sept 12, 2024
Privacy advocates are concerned by NYC’s online teen counseling service, StateScoop, Sept 11, 2024
$26M Talkspace contract with NYC stirs student data privacy concerns, K-12 Drive, Sept 16, 2024
Student privacy concerns with Teenspace and AI, Talk of out of School, Sept 23, 2024
What You Can Do
I’d love to hear from families about how they feel about Teenspace. When you read the above, are you concerned? Have you used the service? If you would like more information, get in touch or leave a comment, and I’ll connect you with experts to discuss.
Let’s discuss! Please share your thoughts and questions below.