Headspace Privacy Policy

Item: Headspace
Rating: 32
Author: Privacy.Law Editorial Team

Last updated: December 2024 | Reviewed: February 2026

Popular mindfulness app with extensive corporate partnerships that share usage data with employers. The Ginger merger adds clinical data concerns.

Grade D

Privacy Summary: Headspace collects substantial data about your mental wellness activities and, for corporate users, shares aggregate engagement data with employers. Following the merger with Ginger to form Headspace Health, the platform now handles clinical therapy data under separate privacy terms. Research partnerships mean your meditation data may be used in academic studies.

Category Scores

Data Collection 30/100

Data Sharing 22/100

Data Retention 35/100

Security Measures 45/100

User Controls 28/100

Key Findings

🔎 Employer Data Sharing

For users accessing Headspace through employer-provided accounts, aggregate usage data is shared with your organization. While individual session content is not shared, engagement patterns and participation rates are visible to employers.

"For enterprise subscribers, we share aggregate reports with your organization including overall engagement rates, popular content categories, completion rates, and participation statistics."

🔎 Research Data Usage

Headspace actively partners with academic institutions to research meditation effectiveness. Your usage data may be included in studies, though in anonymized form. The company has published numerous studies using user data.

"We may use de-identified data for research purposes to study the effectiveness of meditation and mindfulness practices. This research may be published in academic journals and shared publicly."

🔎 Headspace Health Clinical Data

Following the Ginger merger, Headspace now offers clinical mental health services. If you use these services, therapy session data, mental health assessments, and clinical notes are collected under additional privacy terms.

"Clinical services through Headspace Health involve collection of health information including therapy session notes, clinical assessments, and treatment history. This data is governed by healthcare privacy regulations."

🔎 Extensive Usage Analytics

Headspace tracks detailed usage patterns including session frequency, time of day, content preferences, completion rates, and in-app navigation. This creates a detailed profile of your mental wellness habits.

"We collect information about how you use the app including sessions started, completed, skipped, time spent, content preferences, and navigation patterns within the application."

Data Collection Summary

Data Type	Collected	Risk Level
Meditation History	Yes	Medium
Usage Analytics	Extensive	Medium
Employer Reports	Yes (enterprise)	High
Research Data	Yes	Medium
Clinical Notes	Yes (Health)	Critical
Mood Assessments	Yes	High

Recommendation

Significant Privacy Concerns: The employer data sharing and research usage make Headspace less private than alternatives. If you're using an employer-provided account, be aware your engagement is being monitored.

For Users: Consider paying for a personal subscription instead of using employer-provided access if mental health privacy is important. Avoid Headspace Health clinical services if you want to minimize data collection.