MANAGING ANXIETY THROUGH MOBILE APPLICATION TRAINING SUITES; CONSUMER PROTECTION OF MEDICAL DATA IN RESPONSE TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES 376 views

The rapid growth of technology along with the ever-increasing need for more data have created new concerns over data privacy. The technical thesis will be the development of a mobile application of the web application MindTrails, run by the research group of the same name. A mobile application not only will increase ease of use, but allow for more data collection that can be used by the research group. The STS thesis will be on the lack of proper medical data regulation, its causes and how it can be fixed. This can showcase problems in the current regulation process and encourage others to propose alternative solutions. The two topics relate to each other since the mobile application has the goal of collecting personal medical data of users. MindTrails currently exists as a web application helping users with anxiety disorders through cognitive bias modification treatment. Creating a mobile application will enable the research team running MindTrails to collect more data that they can use for research. It also will create a more user-friendly platform, increasing its audience and user retention. Work on the app was done by a team of eight people, lasting two semesters. The team split up work into smaller groups in order to maintain a proper workflow. The application has most of the intended functionality original set out on. It is currently in a state where the MindTrails team can finalize the application. The architecture now allows any desired changes to be implemented easier than the previous architecture. While the app is not ready to be published, both the capstone team and the MindTrails team are happy at the final product and believe it functions as a good launching point for the new user interface that another capstone group made for the MindTrails team. Advances in data science, and in the ability to collect and store vast quantities of data has threatened the data privacy of many consumers. This is especially true in the medical field, since medical data is so highly valued and traded. Existing regulation has failed to tackle these issues while new regulation has been inadequate. Through an actor-network theory analysis using case studies of recently passed data regulation, the research will highlight areas where consumer needs are downplayed or ignored. New data, such as from google searches or from wearable technology, can be used to effectively track or evaluate medical conditions. Consumers often do not know what data is being collected, and have even less knowledge of who that data gets sold to. Even when new regulation is made, the wishes of businesses are weighted far more than the wishes of the consumer. Recent regulation has worked to fix this issue, but has left serious gaps in protection and caused unforeseen side-effects. This is why regulatory bodies should incorporate a board specifically entrusted to gather and represent specifically consumer opinion. Technology will continue to grow, and data will continue to be harvested in extreme amounts. Regulatory bodies must be able to react quickly to new technology, and be able to create regulation that meets the needs of consumers.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Medical Data Regulation; MindTrails; HIPAA; Consumer Data Privacy

School of Engineering and Applied Science Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Technical Advisor: Catherine Baritaud STS Advisor: Ahmed Abrahim Technical Team Members: Jeffrey Gerken, Danielle Newman, William Ngu, Jacobo Pacheco, Brady Page, Daniel Zarco

English

All rights reserved (no additional license for public reuse)

2020-05-07