Opinion: NIDA should beware of funding companies that violate people’s privacy
STAT July 22, 2024
In a ground-breaking settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, two online addiction and mental health treatment companies, Monument and Cerebral, admitted to deceptively and widely sharing sensitive personal and health information with third-party advertising platforms including Meta (Facebook) and Google. They aren’t alone.
Our research at the Opioid Policy Institute has found more than a dozen other online addiction treatment companies engaging in similar deceptive behavior that contradicts their claims of private, secure, or confidential services. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of these business practices is the role of federal funding for these services.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the premier drug addiction research branch of the National Institutes of Health. For decades, NIDA’s work to reduce...