Facebook’s business model is built on collecting as much of our data as possible — even when it includes sensitive and private medical information. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took a big step toward cracking down on that practice this week when it fined online therapy company BetterHelp $7.8 million for sharing data with third parties like Facebook when it said it would not.

While this is just one company, it’s clear that the FTC takes this issue seriously and could potentially go after other sources of Facebook’s trove of user data in the future.

“When a person struggling with mental health issues reaches out for help, they do so in a moment of vulnerability and with an expectation that professional counseling services will protect their privacy,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Instead, BetterHelp betrayed consumers’ most personal health information for profit. Let this proposed order be a stout reminder that the FTC will prioritize defending Americans’ sensitive data from illegal exploitation.”

Actions like this are targeted at the companies forking over our private data, but it’s important to remember that they wouldn’t be doing it if Facebook wasn’t so greedy for our info in the first place.

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