Friends, family, and community provide important support and help to patients who face an illness. Unfortunately, keeping a social network informed about a patient's health status and needs takes effort, making it difficult for people who are sick and exhausted from illness. Members of a patient's social network are often eager to help, but can be…

Today's interconnected technical environment creates unprecedented opportunities while simultaneously introducing risks. With economic, social and personal interactions increasingly occurring in technology-mediated settings new vulnerabilities are continually being introduced. This dissertation seeks to improve extant understanding of how…