Authors

Owen Barenburg

Senior Project Advisor

Shri Mare

Document Type

Project - Campus-only Access

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Keywords

Computer Science, Telehealth, Application Development, Security, Privacy, COVID19, Open-Source, HIPAA, Psychology

Abstract

With the rapid growth of the telehealth industry following the COVID-19 pandemic, government regulations have struggled to address emerging privacy and ethical concerns. During my senior research at WWU, my group developed a functional telehealth platform but we lacked the time to explore the issues that we uncovered in depth. This paper extends that work by investigating privacy risks, unethical data practices, and user manipulation tactics in online healthcare platforms. It draws from my group's comparative analysis, psychological studies, and real-world lawsuits to highlight gaps in current protections. Finally, it proposes both technical and policy-based solutions to improve transparency, user control, and data security in future telehealth systems.

Department

Computer Science

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

Available for download on Friday, July 31, 2026

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