Ethics

1) The ethical principles and rules of the Code of Ethics also apply when services are performed with the support of remote communication technologies (see Article 1 of the Code of Ethics). These principles and rules must be explicitly stated in documents on the website or platform of the professional providing the service.

Adequacy

2) It is the responsibility of each psychologist, before starting an online intervention, to evaluate the appropriateness of this tool based on the characteristics of the intervention and the subjects involved.

Expertise

3) Psychologists should provide online services within the limits of their competence derived from their training, education, internship experience, or other professional experience, and should understand the limitations and applications of different technologies.

4) The development of remote communication technologies enables psychological e-health interventions. These application contexts, due to their complexity and specificity, require professionals to have access to appropriate technologies and possess specific skills in their use.

5) Psychologists should make their expertise identifiable to clients by declaring their identity (e.g., specifying a geographic location) and providing evidence of their identity, including qualifications, relevant experience (including experience providing online services), and membership of any relevant registers/registers and governing bodies, and direct clients on how/where they can verify this information; psychologists’ websites should also convey this information in a professional, grammatically correct, and jargon-free manner.

6) Psychologists will have to take responsibility for continuously evaluating their skills in this area.

7) Psychologists offering services online must communicate to their professional association the web address where they perform their services, the type of software used, and the type of media used.

Legal Aspects

8) Psychologists shall be aware of and comply with all laws and regulations when providing online services to clients crosses jurisdictional and/or international boundaries, including determining whether online psychological intervention is permitted in that jurisdiction or whether restrictions apply.

9) The provisions of current legislation apply to the storage of data and information.

10) Psychologists must make it clear to users that their qualifications allow them to provide online services.

Confidentiality

11) Psychologists must (constantly updating themselves) take all precautions (for example, cybersecurity measures) to protect and maintain the confidentiality of their clients’ data and information. They must also inform clients of the precautions taken, including the potential increased risks to confidentiality inherent in the different technologies used (for example, email vs. videoconferencing), as well as the limits that each method poses to confidentiality.

12) Psychologists who use electronic technologies for remote communication are required to use hardware and software systems that provide efficient data protection.

Consent

13) Psychologists must obtain and carefully document informed consent, to the extent possible, in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

14) Consent for e-mental health services must address key issues related to the technology, as well as the process of the intervention, including: privacy and confidentiality, the structure and duration of the services provided, potential risks, limitations of the respective means of communication used and for which the service will/can be provided online, fees, security measures adopted, reliability of the online connection, technological equipment and skills, limits on communication and the possibility for misunderstandings that may occur, record keeping (how and where personal information will be recorded and stored and who will have access to it), risk management strategies, availability (time and manner) to be contacted, participation/termination rules and cancellation policies, as well
as alternatives to online psychological intervention.

Crisis Management

15) Psychologists should provide referrals to clinical facilities in the client’s geographic location in case of emergency, before starting the online intervention.