Digital Futures in Mind

Urgent public attention is needed to make sense of the expanding use of algorithmic and data-driven technologies in the mental health context. This report provides the most comprehensive global survey of ‘data harms’ in the mental health context—and it charts a way to prevent them in the future. On the one hand, well-designed digital technologies that offer high degrees of public involvement and can be used to promote good mental health and crisis support in communities. They can be employed safely, reliably and in a trustworthy way, including to help build relationships, allocate resources and promote human flourishing. On the other hand, there is clear potential for harm. The list of ‘data harms’ in the mental health context is growing longer, in which people are in worse shape than they would be had the activity not occurred. Examples in this report include the hacking of psychotherapeutic records and the extortion of victims, algorithmic hiring programs that discriminate against people with histories of mental healthcare, and criminal justice and border agencies weaponising data concerning mental health against individuals. Issues also come up not where technologies are misused or faulty, but where technologies like biometric monitoring or surveillance work as intended, and where the very process of ‘datafying’ and digitising individuals’ behaviour – observing, recording and logging them to an excessive degree – carry the potential for inherent harm. This report offers recommendations to stem the rise of thoughtless digital mental health practices, and to ensure experiments in online support and care are guided by those with the most at stake.