Obsessive compulsive disorder - OCD treatment and therapy from NOCD

About our Privacy Practices

2 min read
Stephen Smith
By Stephen Smith

Dear NOCD Community,

We are writing to address an article that appeared on the Mozilla Foundation website today discussing our privacy practices. We want to reassure you that this article is completely inaccurate and entirely misconstrues our practices.  As we discuss below, we have gone above and beyond to make sure your data is secure.  The authors of this article never sought to learn about our actual practices – which are highly protective of your privacy – before publishing.  We will be following up with them to be sure this is taken down, but in the meantime wanted to communicate this to you as soon as possible.  

To address one of the more egregious allegations here, they claim that we share your personal health information with third parties such as data brokers.  This assertion is completely false, as we share only limited data and only as needed to provide treatment.  The only third parties we share that limited data with are those that enable us to provide treatment to you and make it affordable – for example, the health plans that we must share data with in order to process insurance claims so that your treatment is covered.  We do not share any of your session notes, your triggers, your messaging with your therapist, or anything related to your OCD with any third party unless upon your request (should you submit an ROI for your information to be released).  

We have taken the utmost care to secure your privacy.  The only disclosures we do make are fully compliant with HIPAA and limited to helping you gain and obtain coverage for treatment (to file a claim with your insurance plan); it is not a sale of your data.  We have all Business Associate Agreements needed in place as required under HIPAA; we encrypt your data while in transit and at rest; we protect your data using Aptible, which explains its security measures as follows:  “AWS computing environments are continuously audited, with certifications from accreditation bodies across geographies and verticals, including ISO 27001, FedRAMP, DoD CSM, and PCI DSS.”

We care deeply about all of you, our community, and your privacy.  We understand that this article may have caused you distress, so please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions to stephen@nocdhelp.com or privacy@nocdhelp.com.

Sincerely,
Stephen M. Smith 
Cofounder and CEO of NOCD

NOCD Therapists specialize in treating OCD

View all therapists
Taylor Newendorp

Taylor Newendorp

Network Clinical Training Director

I started as a therapist over 14 years ago, working in different mental health environments. Many people with OCD that weren't being treated for it crossed my path and weren't getting better. I decided that I wanted to help people with OCD, so I became an OCD therapist, and eventually, a clinical supervisor. I treated people using Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and saw people get better day in and day out. I continue to use ERP because nothing is more effective in treating OCD.

Gary Vandalfsen

Gary Vandalfsen

Licensed Therapist, Psychologist

I’ve been practicing as a licensed therapist for over twenty five years. My main area of focus is OCD with specialized training in Exposure and Response Prevention therapy. I use ERP to treat people with all types of OCD themes, including aggressive, taboo, and a range of other unique types.

Madina Alam

Madina Alam

Director of Therapist Engagement

When I started treating OCD, I quickly realized how much this type of work means to me because I had to learn how to be okay with discomfort and uncertainty myself. I’ve been practicing as a licensed therapist since 2016. My graduate work is in mental health counseling, and I use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy because it’s the gold standard of OCD treatment.

Want to work with one of our therapists?
Schedule a free call to learn more.

Stephen Smith

Stephen founded NOCD after feeling frustrated with a lack of treatment resources and support during his own OCD recovery. He enjoys running hill sprints, listening to audiobooks, and eating breakfast no matter the time of day.