Byron Lowens was among 200 young researchers from around the world selected to participate in this year’s Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Heidelberg, Germany.

Byron Lowens, Fred Brooks, and Ivan Sutherland
Read the media release Clemson Ph.D. student to mingle with world’s brightest computer scientists, mathematicians

Byron Lowens’ recent work on Wearable Privacy was published and presented at IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics in Park City, Utah. ICHI is the premier community forum concerned with the application of computer science principles, information science principles, information technology, and communication technology to address problems in healthcare, public health, and everyday wellness. The conference highlights the most novel technical contributions in computing-oriented health informatics and the related social and ethical implications.

Byron presented his work entitled “Wearable Privacy: Skeletons in The Data Closet.” In this work, 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand how users perceive privacy in wearable computing. Results suggest that user concerns toward wearable privacy have different levels of variety ranging from no concern to highly concerned. In addition, while user concerns and benefits are similar among participants in our study, these variables should be investigated more extensively for the development of privacy-enhanced wearable technologies.

Read the paper Wearable Privacy: Skeletons in The Data Closet

Dr. Knijnenburg’s work on Recommender Systems for Self-Actualization was mentioned in a new Pew report and a new NPR report. Read the full article below.

Pew: Code-Dependent: Pros and Cons of the Algorithm Age

NPR: Will Algorithms Erode Our Decision-Making Skills?

An article published in “Information Week” highlights the privacy concerns regarding wearables that were concluded from Dr. Kelly Caine and Dr. Vivian Motti’s study, that was later published into their paper “User’s Privacy Concerns About Wearables”. The article notes the main privacy concerns addressed in the paper, as well as the importance of each of those concerns.

Read the full article from Information Week.

Google has recently released a new extension for Chrome to protect against phishing sites attempting to steal users passwords by mimicking login pages. This extension is called Password Alert, and adds another layer of protection against phishing sites in addition to the already implemented “Safe Browsing” feature. Anytime a user enters their password to a bogus page, they are given an opportunity to immediately reset the password. This is especially beneficial for users who create one password across many sites, as it helps to prevent breaches of several of the users’ sites simultaneously.

Read the full article here.

Dr. Caine’s study published in the journal Personal and Ubiquitous Computing is receiving much attention. The results of this study, which included 325 patients, showed that texting may be a more efficient option for treatment than mobile apps. A remarkable 80% of patients surveyed used texting, which may have implications that texting is available to most patients. Incorporating such a widely used technology in treatment may allow wider treatment options, such as direct contact with a health care provider, and serve as a more beneficial aid to large numbers of patients.

Read the full article from Behavioral Healthcare.
Read the full article from Medical Daily.

Published in theJournal of General Internal Medicine, Dr. Caine looks at patient preferences on the sharing of electronic health records (EHR). In one study, they looked at 105 patients in a hospital-based primary care adult medicine practice in Indiana. They gave them the option to control access of EHR from physicians and other hospital staff. The results showed that 45 patients limited access, and 36 patients restricted access to all personal information. Dr. Caine’s standpoint on the topic is “if we fail to design systems that meet patients’ needs and desires about the extent to which their health data are shared, patients will reject them or even refuse care.” Several articles cite her study to look at the importance of patients having the ability to control what is released in their records, so they feel comfortable seeking care when they need it.

Read the full article from Healio.
Read the full article from Counsel & Heal.
Read the full article from Pharmacy Times.
Read the full article from News- Medical.

Dr. Caine gives her take on being monitored in enclosed elevators, and how rapidly advancing technology allows for devices to be placed in small spaces when people believe that no one is watching.

Read the full article on The Washington Post.

Anna Simon talks with researchers Dr. Kelly Caine and Dr. Jacob Sorber on the AMULET project. They discuss the ideas behind the project and how human behavior influenced the design. They also explain how privacy is maintained on the device, and the mechanisms that are utilized to assist patients with conditions such as diabetes or asthma.

Listen to the full broadcast here.

The National Science Foundation highlights the research team involved in the AMULET project and the impact it may have on healthcare. It manages all devices, including those that measure physical activity and overall health, as well as other fitness devices. This allows the transfer of health information between the devices in a secure manner.

View the full video here.