Headway, a popular online therapy platform, says it will require clients and providers to undergo biometric scanning, and there\u2019s no way to opt out other than leaving the platform.On April 3, Headway sent an email to clients informing them of the upcoming requirement: \u201cTo make sure Headway stays a safe and reliable place to get care, you’ll soon be asked to verify your identity by taking a picture of a valid government-issued photo ID in your portal,\u201d the email said, which a user shared with 404 Media. \u201cAs part of this process, you’ll also be asked to take a clear photo of your face to confirm your identity. The facial image is never used for anything but identity verification.\u201d The facial scan involves using your devices\u2019 camera and moving your head from side to side.\u00a0The email said that the platform was asking clients to verify their identity \u201cproactively\u201d so that they\u2019d have \u201cplenty of time to complete this,\u201d but didn\u2019t specify when identity verification would be required. \u201cWe’re not asking you to verify because of any specific behaviors or concerns,\u201d Headway said in the email. \u201cIt’s a requirement for anyone seeking medication management on Headway.\u201d\u00a0\ud83d\udca1Do you know anything else about biometric scanning in healthcare or therapy? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at sam.404. Otherwise, send me an email at sam@404media.co.Headway says identity verification for patients \u201cis rolling out in waves over the coming weeks, starting with patients of prescribers,\u201d but eventually all providers will be required to undergo facial scanning. Providers and clients I spoke to told me they haven\u2019t yet needed to do this step, and the uncertainty of when they\u2019ll be required to hand over their biometric data\u2014and if they don\u2019t, lose access to the platform and their clients or care\u2014is adding to their concern about the process.Many mental health providers or the practices they work for use Headway to help them get credentialed with insurance companies and process billing and other administrative tasks. Through Headway, providers can be in-network with a much wider variety of insurance plans.\u00a0Headway is telling clients in customer support chats and emails that it will use the third-party vendor Persona to verify identities, according to emails viewed by 404 Media. Persona is part of the portfolio of Founder’s Fund, Peter Thiel\u2019s investment firm, according to Founder\u2019s Fund\u2019s website. Earlier this year, Discord ended its extremely short-lived contract with Persona, but many other platforms use it, including Doordash, Uber, and Roblox.\u00a0In its biometric data policy, Headway states that when processing biometric data, it will \u201cInform each User in writing of the manner in which the User may opt out of the collection, processing, storage or usage of their Biometric Data.\u201d But last month, 404 Media asked Headway if users can opt out. \u201cNo, identity verification is currently a required safety step for patients seeing prescribers as part of our commitment to safe, verified care,\u201d a Headway spokesperson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve let patients know they can contact Headway support for a manual review in extenuating circumstances.\u201d\u00a0Users and providers haven\u2019t been able to get a straight answer about when this requirement is starting or how opting out works other than not using Headway at all. A customer support person at Headway told one client that they can choose not to undergo identity verification, but if they do, they won\u2019t be able to meet with a prescriber on Headway, according to copies of the chat viewed by 404 Media.\u00a0“Do I give up my privacy or do I burn all my progress and then just go to a different company and try and find somebody else, and start over?”Headway said in an email to providers that sessions \u201cmay be auto-cancelled if verification is incomplete,\u201d and \u201cproviders in your group will be unable to confirm sessions without completing their own identity verification.\u201d\u00a0One client who\u2019s used Headway for several years and sees providers for both medication management and talk therapy told me that \u201copting out\u201d as Headway defines it isn\u2019t as simple as switching platforms. \u201cIt’s not just a consumer choice thing,\u201d they said. \u201cHealthcare is a totally different thing. I’ve talked to my providers, and they’re not on any alternative [platforms]. It’s possible that your provider is also on some alternative, but that’s not the case for me.\u201d Switching providers would mean starting over, finding new providers that could be a good fit and take their insurance, and hoping there\u2019s no lapse in treatment in the meantime.\u00a0\u201cIt’s just not a good situation,\u201d they said. \u201cIt\u2019s a rock and a hard place. Do I give up my privacy or do I burn all my progress and then just go to a different company and try and find somebody else, and start over?\u201dThe client I spoke to said they were especially concerned in light of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s intentions to link databases of autism patients using federal health insurance programs including Medicare and Medicaid. Kennedy has also said the Center for Disease Control is \u201cfinally confronting the long-taboo question of whether SSRIs and other psychoactive drugs contribute to mass violence,\u201d and has recently targeted antidepressants, which psychiatrists say is a dangerous oversimplification of millions of Americans\u2019 experiences with mental health and medications.\u00a0\u00a0Headway is also informing providers\u2014whether they prescribe medication or not\u2014that facial scanning and identity verification is coming soon, and is coaching them on how to talk to clients who are wary of handing over their biometric data, to convince them to go through with it.\u00a0The platform is also telling providers who haven\u2019t gone through identity verification themselves that their payments might be restricted. \u201cWe\u2019re reaching out because our payment processor let us know that your account is missing information that will soon impact and restrict your payouts from Headway,\u201d an email Headway sent to one provider said. It directed them to use a link to update their payment information to become verified, but the link in the email didn\u2019t go to a verification process, the provider who received it told me. The platform hasn\u2019t informed providers or patients about when identity verification or facial scans will start being required.\u00a0Headway did not respond to my questions about when specific groups would be required to undergo identity verification or if verification status will affect provider\u2019s payments.\u00a0A spokesperson for Headway told 404 Media: \u201cConfirming that Headway has recently started to enforce identity verification to our network. To clarify\u2014today, we require identity verification for patients receiving prescriptions through Headway, as prescribers have a heightened obligation to confirm they are treating a verified patient before writing a prescription, and this process helps them meet that standard. It also protects patients by ensuring that prescriptions, medical records, and billing are tied to the right person.\u201d\u00a0\u201cIdentity verification is currently a required safety step for patients seeing prescribers as part of our commitment to safe, verified care. We\u2019ve let patients know they can contact Headway support for a manual review in extenuating circumstances,\u201d the spokesperson added.\u00a0The Headway spokesperson said identity verification \u201cis run through a HIPAA-compliant, SOC 2-certified platform,\u201d and identity data \u201cis stored in a centralized, encrypted, access-controlled record with detailed audit logs.\u201d\u00a0Headway\u2019s site says the new requirements are \u201csimilar to showing your ID at the front desk of a doctor’s office.\u201d But facial scanning and biometric data isn\u2019t the same as presenting identification at the doctor or at a store. Privacy experts agree that online identity verification systems like those now required to access adult content and age-restricted material in many places around the world pose new and different risks, including the possibility of breaches, third-party sellers, and invasive tracking. Headway says it won\u2019t use this data for marketing, and that it will protect it from hacks. Users are forced to take the platform\u2019s word for it.The Headway spokesperson claimed that the response from users to the new requirements has been \u201cmostly positive.\u201d But providers I spoke to said they\u2019re concerned and considering leaving the platform because of it. One provider I spoke to, who is a psychotherapist and doesn\u2019t prescribe medication but received emails from Headway informing them of the impending changes anyway, told me they feel \u201cfrankly afraid\u201d because there\u2019s no option to opt-out other than severing care, especially for patients. \u201cWhen I initially got the email indicating that they would be rolling out biometric scanning, my stomach dropped,\u201d they said. \u201cThe email indicated that they would start with prescribers and their clients and then move onto everyone else. My mind started racing, what are the ethics around this? Where is this data going? The only time I’ve had to do a biometric scan is to do something for the IRS. This is not common practice in my field.\u201d\u00a0They said they\u2019re not sure yet if they\u2019ll stay on Headway. \u201cIt feels values-inconsistent to continue to work them for a variety of reasons, but this perhaps is the nail in the coffin for me,\u201d they said. \u201cIn some ways I don’t have a choice because I am not independently credentialed with all of the plans that I am credentialed with through Headway. Meaning, I cannot see those clients outside of Headway. I do not (and will not) want to abandon those clients.\u201d\u00a0Another provider I spoke to said that although there\u2019s a lot of conversation happening among providers about leaving the platform, it\u2019s easier said than done. \u201cSo many of us need this for our income, so it’s a real sacrifice\u201d to stop using Headway at this point, they said. \u201cThat’s kind of the dilemma people are in.\u201dJoseph Cox contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"